COENS WITH CLOONEY IN HAIL, CAESAR

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggcnhDbL_huu7cDZMufHgGqsegC89W36ifIIOIMjsYCbmnUzkAYq2ic-iP6PINVL-O7EO3LgaNgxfW_LrNb-C4wBUCgonn1bLLaC5cpa8ONZ-JxEV1gcy3OqnOZpsiqClGB6XQiSwhCwI/s1600/1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggcnhDbL_huu7cDZMufHgGqsegC89W36ifIIOIMjsYCbmnUzkAYq2ic-iP6PINVL-O7EO3LgaNgxfW_LrNb-C4wBUCgonn1bLLaC5cpa8ONZ-JxEV1gcy3OqnOZpsiqClGB6XQiSwhCwI/w640-h360/1.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>George Clooney in HAIL, CAESAR</u><br></td></tr> </tbody></table> No matter the talent of the actor or actress, there are a few things mighty hard if impossible to sell. Like a twenty-something Jack Nicholson playing a virgin in the beginning of CARNAL KNOWLEDGE. Or when William Redfield points out that Charles Bronson's original DEATH WISH character is a bleeding-heart liberal, and was a conscientious objector in the Korean war before becoming an urban vigilante. Or especially when Jane Fonda, in COMING HOME, slowly figures out that Vietnam isn't so great. And in the case of the latest Coen Brothers/George Clooney quirky collaboration, HAIL, CAESAR!, Clooney's A-list though bad acting Baird Whitlock is cast in a big budget time-period movie (titled HAIL, CAESAR!) that shouldn't be made despite being made, or something, and on his first day of shooting is kidnapped by a group of outsiders who are never<i> NOT</i> part of anything concerning the 50's... those being, Communists...<br> <br>

2015, coen brothers, george clooney, quirky

COENS WITH CLOONEY IN HAIL, CAESAR

George Clooney in HAIL, CAESAR No matter the talent of the actor or actress, there are a few things mighty hard if impossible to sell. L...

ZIPPING THROUGH FORCE AWAKENS OF THE FOURTH TIME

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8GLx0C5c6ATKiEgJN11tTrY6GpefuRGWNTCR6EFS1hAkR6_pEu1lB30Z2P9meX2V_l8O6sgzI1liIIVy4I1uVS89q9RYb8ldzVP3A_DHOd_rIxwfVHHKLl0lW4e0hehbLRObZUXRvqw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-01-23+at+1.31.44+AM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn8GLx0C5c6ATKiEgJN11tTrY6GpefuRGWNTCR6EFS1hAkR6_pEu1lB30Z2P9meX2V_l8O6sgzI1liIIVy4I1uVS89q9RYb8ldzVP3A_DHOd_rIxwfVHHKLl0lW4e0hehbLRObZUXRvqw/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-01-23+at+1.31.44+AM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Director Abrams brings back the classic imagery that made it all shine</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Often, you can return to a movie you enjoyed and discover it wasn't as good as it seemed, but STAR WARS THE FORCE AWAKENS has worked the complete opposite, and after the third (and now fourth) viewing, is actually getting better. Here are some of the things that make it a pretty great ride: For one, the suspense during the climactic battle, by the Star-Killer thrusting the sun's rays to blow up planets, is maintained perfectly. As long as there's sunshine, we have a last-minute chance replacing the famous "Almost There" pilot in the original STAR WARS. And the Star-Killer surface is snow, resembling Hoth while Leia's outpost is Endor forest-green and the main beginning location Jakku is the new Tattooine. Not so original, but sure beats the hell out of those busy prequel planets that we'll get to soon enough...<br>

2015, franchise, star wars

ZIPPING THROUGH FORCE AWAKENS OF THE FOURTH TIME

Director Abrams brings back the classic imagery that made it all shine Often, you can return to a movie you enjoyed and discover it wa...

TWO TRIBUTES: JUNE FAIRCHILD & DICK BAKALYAN

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEuuexnW6PgM6FFRP-U6nE6WGpP1ArBzTLhO1DternX3EGRtVsG20b1pmL7eYXWeYzXIu1DcFUnBx-W3k-DF_49TgPYSEZDXeceHERg3-ck2x8948jwvOr_WNYeC5kQCgHY-IrQe89feM/s1600/10329748_799928026686828_468043571816417334_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEuuexnW6PgM6FFRP-U6nE6WGpP1ArBzTLhO1DternX3EGRtVsG20b1pmL7eYXWeYzXIu1DcFUnBx-W3k-DF_49TgPYSEZDXeceHERg3-ck2x8948jwvOr_WNYeC5kQCgHY-IrQe89feM/s1600/10329748_799928026686828_468043571816417334_o.jpg"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><u>BEGINNING WITH A TRIBUTE TO THE LOVELY CULT STARLET JUNE FAIRCHILD</u></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px;">There are actresses and actors who had more than potential, because potential can be a four-letter word in show business, assuming that whatever they did wasn't enough, or they almost reached or fulfilled the expected criteria compared to the more successful or revered people around them... But even in small roles, June Fairchild went beyond natural beauty. </span><br> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjII-1D1wY3ZPL9Af2MATmyKVn7ftKGqxyoyFIMmuGWhSDXQuL3k7tcWHKAnVzvb7hWz-57wvOWHT1sTaSsf4UOCyHe6NReFYfsFZd0koxxhwhU79_IgpCpktPaT38xgbrab50Fc-JVBrc/s1600/j31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjII-1D1wY3ZPL9Af2MATmyKVn7ftKGqxyoyFIMmuGWhSDXQuL3k7tcWHKAnVzvb7hWz-57wvOWHT1sTaSsf4UOCyHe6NReFYfsFZd0koxxhwhU79_IgpCpktPaT38xgbrab50Fc-JVBrc/s320/j31.jpg" width="209"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">In PRETTY MAIDS</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="margin-bottom: 24px;"> </div> <span style="color: #3d596d; font-family: "merriweather" , "georgia" , "times new roman" , "times" , serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px;">There was something very intriguing about her cool attitude, wry humor, swift pizzazz and energetic style – her spontaneous persona practically burst through the screen, including a gust of delicious laughter in PRETTY MAIDS ALL IN A ROW and the iconic part she's mostly known for...</span><br> <div style="color: #3d596d; font-family: Merriweather, Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 25.5px; margin-bottom: 24px;"> CHEECH & CHONG'S UP IN SMOKE took the world by storm during a time when the hippie drug culture was being replaced by a good and bad thing – punk rock and disco...<br> <br> June’s frantic “Ajax Lady” represents a kind of old school "hang-around chick" that would do anything for a buzz, including snorting whatever was in powder form: an intrepid Wile E. Coyote of cokeheads leading to an incredible face-contorting bit equaling any famous physical comedian. And the girl she protected from Stacy Keach’s formidable cop, Cheryl Smith, had that same kind of cinematic “potential,” but that’s for another post, another time.</div>

2015, jack nicholson, june fairchild, seventies, tribute

TWO TRIBUTES: JUNE FAIRCHILD & DICK BAKALYAN

BEGINNING WITH A TRIBUTE TO THE LOVELY CULT STARLET JUNE FAIRCHILD There are actresses and actors who had more than potential, because...

POINT BREAK REMAKE & THE DANISH GIRL

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJdNHpwLKbL9Atj7KNMzoKd9WL9AeD7-3t_SMwRHKB7DDpQp8dual2QDKDCnRBjB_jBOu0NUnwDLRe8I8fs7f9QJtrpOu1coSggYTM61SdSbBoQh_NxDExwDA1VBv1LHrZXR-xtDcL9g/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJdNHpwLKbL9Atj7KNMzoKd9WL9AeD7-3t_SMwRHKB7DDpQp8dual2QDKDCnRBjB_jBOu0NUnwDLRe8I8fs7f9QJtrpOu1coSggYTM61SdSbBoQh_NxDExwDA1VBv1LHrZXR-xtDcL9g/s640/1.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>An Eclectic Double Feature Review of the POINT BREAK remake and THE DANISH GIRL</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <b><u>POINT BREAK REMAKE</u></b>: As distant memory serves, since POINT BREAK was never a favorite, there was a Zen thing going on with Patrick Swayze's bank-robbing, President-mask wearing, and most important, soul surfing thief who, with a band of fellow crooked cohorts, went to other extremes, like skydiving. But this reboot is like comparing a colorfully vapid Mountain Dew commercial to a bland yet edgy Energy Drink ad, the grayish cinematography making just about all the extreme sports look and seem and feel the same, from climbing canyons to riskier sky-leaps to a daring dirt biking stunt, the latter where we begin with a CLIFFHANGER style prologue involving Keanu Reeve's replacement Luke Bracey as Johnny Utah, an ex professional biker as opposed to a former college football quarterback, who becomes a brilliant rookie FBI agent in the blink of an eye, figuring out how the idealistic antagonists work before quickly joining undercover ranks with the extremely mellow Édgar Ramírez as Bodhi, who uses his powers like a combination of Robin Hood, Al Gore and any subliminally heart-of-gold villain you choose, causing collateral damage in the process of trying to save his perspective of the world's demise.<br>

2015, eddie redmayne, luke bracey, reboot, remake

POINT BREAK REMAKE & THE DANISH GIRL

An Eclectic Double Feature Review of the POINT BREAK remake and THE DANISH GIRL POINT BREAK REMAKE : As distant memory serves, since POI...

FERRELL & WAHLBERG IN DADDY'S HOME

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiO16P1W1Q1OmJFOPFTefIy_NZZJ_rplgvrCsHaqc_KXyUDm0Nqqb7xU4m1EihqxlqqblumKe3xR_oU0IgQx2gJcJfXiFwljcP3PKsIdorUyY9qxEMvJUySxQB6QdYjFDQOS5KwdSo4NI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-12-24+at+8.23.49+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiO16P1W1Q1OmJFOPFTefIy_NZZJ_rplgvrCsHaqc_KXyUDm0Nqqb7xU4m1EihqxlqqblumKe3xR_oU0IgQx2gJcJfXiFwljcP3PKsIdorUyY9qxEMvJUySxQB6QdYjFDQOS5KwdSo4NI/s640/Screen+Shot+2015-12-24+at+8.23.49+PM.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015 cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini, Thomas Haden Church, Scarlett Estevez</td></tr> </tbody></table> In the underrated cop comedy THE OTHER GUYS from 2010, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg had pretty good chemistry as polar opposites stuck together and not getting along. Now with the family-oriented DADDY'S HOME, the entire concept relies on how perfect-looking Wahlberg is compared to the obliviously-naïve, everyman Ferrell. In a nutshell, the boys are playing (i.e. doing an imitation of) themselves, or at least how they're perceived by audiences. The flawless stud verses the funny dud.<br> <br> While low on outright, gut-wrenching hilarity, the plot is breezy enough: Ferrell's put-upon yet extremely patient step-father competes with muscular Wahlberg's returning real dad for the love (and respect) of the kids while mom Linda Cardellini is caught in-between. And right when the realistic premise gets underway... an exaggerated version of what a lot of men actually suffer through... Ferrell's Brad becomes a death-proof Wile E. Coyote as Wahlberg's Dusty kind of just sits around, watching the poor guy fail at everything until, at one point, the tables turn... but not for too long: Within the sparse 96-minutes, very little actually occurs outside the box until an 11th hour situation that not only creatively ties loose ends together, but you'll forgive and forget being somewhat let-down since the overall theme-oriented experience, mostly spoiled in the trailers, isn't altogether terrible.<br> <br> RATING: ***<br>

2015, comedy, family, mark wahlberg, team-up, thomas haden church, will ferrell

FERRELL & WAHLBERG IN DADDY'S HOME

year: 2015 cast: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Linda Cardellini, Thomas Haden Church, Scarlett Estevez In the underrated cop comedy THE O...

TINA FEY & AMY POEHLER IN SISTERS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSizOXyRb0cE9TZxctpLCOKUw0BYCLdDCSa6LesGKYw3o5akT7LvmsHa5-jZI7icn21vMFgNLvbwTp9ndgpkcR-ChnuZb0hyphenhyphenyXGIwVWo1P3aBDbJ8pq8Uxs-__5DijbVh6i-36jrRhfs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-12-22+at+11.13.38+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirSizOXyRb0cE9TZxctpLCOKUw0BYCLdDCSa6LesGKYw3o5akT7LvmsHa5-jZI7icn21vMFgNLvbwTp9ndgpkcR-ChnuZb0hyphenhyphenyXGIwVWo1P3aBDbJ8pq8Uxs-__5DijbVh6i-36jrRhfs/s400/Screen+Shot+2015-12-22+at+11.13.38+AM.png" width="265"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px;">year: 2015</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> Let's go back to LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY. One wild girl keeping the neurotic good one sane while the good girl tries keeping the bad one out of trouble. Well in SISTERS these ladies are related, middle-aged, and... supposedly polar opposites, promised in the trailer itself: showing big bright words THE PERFECT SISTER as we catch glimpses of Amy Poeler's hardworking nurse, Maura Ellis, and THE OTHER SISTER, meaning basically, the black sheep as Tina Fey plays Kate Ellis, with an estranged daughter and no occupation or motivation: So here we have Poeler and Fey as a potential female ODD COUPLE yet both are just as wild, conflicted, stubborn, irritated and... completely unfunny... At least in the present time, where everything really matters despite random conversations about the past, when their differences probably meant something...<br> <br> The plot involves both yearning to spend one last night at their childhood home, just-sold in secret by retired parents, while everything leads to a wild-turned-wilder party that takes up the entire second half, making up for a complete lack of character-development or any sign the siblings have reasons to resolve problems for that crazy night... as equally bland as the daytime one-liners... to mean anything. Leaving the best compliment for the producers: having guts to go up against STAR WARS. And kudos to nostalgic nods to RISKY BUSINESS and PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE, caught by yours truly but already noted in the IMDB trivia section, so that's that.<br> <br> RATING: *1/2

2015, comedy, party, team-up, tina fey

TINA FEY & AMY POEHLER IN SISTERS

year: 2015 Let's go back to LAVERNE AND SHIRLEY. One wild girl keeping the neurotic good one sane while the good girl tries keeping ...

TWO HARDY SQUARED IN LEGEND

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEims8TBGmPBRI1KebXh1vi19SvFdf7qNJSOX3Py5slrfUR-Cq-QUnR05ynDYfrST0LVj_dFVLR5fvr5-10EICbE99_3TSmsFidxVYDaDBq-3HbtGWJCUqHKthUJ24Ch8mrH63DLrlOV6x0/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEims8TBGmPBRI1KebXh1vi19SvFdf7qNJSOX3Py5slrfUR-Cq-QUnR05ynDYfrST0LVj_dFVLR5fvr5-10EICbE99_3TSmsFidxVYDaDBq-3HbtGWJCUqHKthUJ24Ch8mrH63DLrlOV6x0/s640/1.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015 cast: Tom Hardy, Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, David Thewlis, Chazz Palminteri</td></tr> </tbody></table> In THE GODFATHER PART II, Al Pacino's Michael Corleone winds up doing something that would haunt him forever. Forget what we learn in PART III... It all occurs just by his soulless expression during the second film's conclusion: as leaves tumble through the grass while he's sitting for what looks like a mentally torturous eternity after making a decision that's even low for a cutthroat mobster. Meanwhile, in LEGEND, Tom Hardy's Reggie Kray should have had this done from the very beginning... Or at least, halfway through... It would have saved everybody, including the audience.  <br>

2015, biopic, crime, mobster, tom hardy

TWO HARDY SQUARED IN LEGEND

year: 2015 cast: Tom Hardy, Tom Hardy, Emily Browning, David Thewlis, Chazz Palminteri In THE GODFATHER PART II, Al Pacino's Michael...

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiRzke5W94t9_ph8DU_wcsSgHf5_7QJ1sbV2VvFW_By6INXIIP3RZewOEbPE-RMktVGRsytdn6gD5lJh6o13Vy3cwDEuuiFxVSztNIVT2396Saz_FhrU3GVIeVbRnlTD8u9HYS4MC7jyI/s1600/heart-banner-new-10-16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiRzke5W94t9_ph8DU_wcsSgHf5_7QJ1sbV2VvFW_By6INXIIP3RZewOEbPE-RMktVGRsytdn6gD5lJh6o13Vy3cwDEuuiFxVSztNIVT2396Saz_FhrU3GVIeVbRnlTD8u9HYS4MC7jyI/s640/heart-banner-new-10-16.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2015 cast: Chris Hemsworth, Brendan Gleeson, Tom Holland, Cillian Murphy director: Ron Howard</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The movie JAWS, while based on a novel by Peter Benchley, was inspired by MOBY DICK. Probably not the John Huston 50's motion picture as opposed to the novel by Herman Melville. And some of the best scenes during the first half of IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, all of which literally inspired Melville to write his epic, timeless classic, are very similar to the Steven Spielberg film where a 25-foot Great White Shark is being hunted by while hunting... well that's another movie. This one flashes from the "present" time as the young, almost-famous and partially established author is listening to a tale by one of the survivors of a doomed expedition that occurred in 1820, beginning in thriving port town Nantucket, Massachusetts.  <br>

2015, brendan gleeson, chris hemsworth, cillian murphy, ron howard, shark, tom holland

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA

year: 2015 cast: Chris Hemsworth, Brendan Gleeson, Tom Holland, Cillian Murphy director: Ron Howard The movie JAWS, while based on a nov...

WEEKEND REVIEW OF KRAMPUS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzlNrzmiLPBKhLJcdyKDiXnjpVLQAqXFxtHDwcBX7ikmVHwGI_LaTHUWlvaL2BaL_ilAOFVgEdswXAoZ5EZ6ilF3efwXzgXATZp1eY2BWHfYRa1MPVU5rOhYVYa_GFikhFN2gizfh2Rnc/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzlNrzmiLPBKhLJcdyKDiXnjpVLQAqXFxtHDwcBX7ikmVHwGI_LaTHUWlvaL2BaL_ilAOFVgEdswXAoZ5EZ6ilF3efwXzgXATZp1eY2BWHfYRa1MPVU5rOhYVYa_GFikhFN2gizfh2Rnc/s400/1.jpg" width="258"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015</td></tr> </tbody></table> The surprisingly entertaining KRAMPUS has a lot of BLOOD BEACH, TREMORS, PUPPET MASTER, EVIL DEAD, DEAD-ALIVE, GREMLINS and WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE (especially the book) to spawn its perpetual insanity. Although it begins with a rather intentionally silly and fun opening credit sequence seeming straight out of CHRISTMAS VACATION or something goofier like JINGLE ALL THE WAY. And the entire film's promotion is misleading. Like a sort of dark Christmas comedy, which it is, but the eventual body count horror aspect is downright gruesome and, best yet, some of the larger monsters are (or really look like) actual costumed creatures unlike so much CGI spilling out into the spook genre nowadays.<br> <br> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1QPCerK_xlRAPIZcXUsst_WddytcIKm_udcQ3ZwbzQiBGAJLkAwdxHm4D5JR-M0jyXc-cZbt8B_t_ybTWWBkq6cXDqQR1O5bvm7Qogn4GJcqqXvRmdFgTrKrQZ-uEiAXc_OCZl1DBoM/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN1QPCerK_xlRAPIZcXUsst_WddytcIKm_udcQ3ZwbzQiBGAJLkAwdxHm4D5JR-M0jyXc-cZbt8B_t_ybTWWBkq6cXDqQR1O5bvm7Qogn4GJcqqXvRmdFgTrKrQZ-uEiAXc_OCZl1DBoM/s320/2.jpg" width="194"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Adam Scott</td></tr> </tbody></table> Plot centers on a shy little boy who takes Christmas for granite, destroying a letter meant for Santa, and for good reason. His twice-removed family, visiting his rural, lonesome, snowy homestead, couldn't be more obnoxious, including a blunt uncle who's a cross between Randy Quaid and any gun nut that's impossible to argue with. Throw in two fat girl twin cousins and their fatter brother and... To get into all the characters would waste time. Let's just say that young cool dad Adam Scott really fits into the rhythm of the thing, and puts more than his usual hipster mellow as he, once a horde of monsters are conjured up on Christmas Eve, has to be the man of the family. His wimp to warrior progression is well done, and son Max, played by Emjay Anthony, also becomes braver than usual while comic relief goes to David Koechner as the aforementioned Right Wing uncle, and there's a wise German grandmother (Krista Stadler) who all really carry the film... Or rather, are carried by the eclectic creatures with evil, ugly, sinister agendas that, during the entire second half, don't let up. That's not to say the pace drags until that point. The build-up is just as intriguing in this gift under the Christmas tree you thought was a sweater but turned out to be... something else, including a bonus old school animated backstory that's really neat.<br> <br> RATING: **** <br>

2015, adam scott, body count, comedy, david koechner, emjay anthony, horror, toni collette

WEEKEND REVIEW OF KRAMPUS

year: 2015 The surprisingly entertaining KRAMPUS has a lot of BLOOD BEACH, TREMORS, PUPPET MASTER, EVIL DEAD, DEAD-ALIVE, GREMLINS and W...

SAOIRSE RONAN IN BROOKLYN

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfG-KyA9z2XJlLsW78svD9-gmXhdc5e5Q7Z7JLdfkyK2SUyuizMFjl7IR9DGW1gczDAMc0KLmbNVisG2uswRFDGIfKjbFdVYkdXfu4IapsAQdgEM1B2Zx0cOnItYHhzmtUbZSkoNdaGhc/s1600/banner-brooklyn-Brooklyn_Film_844x476.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfG-KyA9z2XJlLsW78svD9-gmXhdc5e5Q7Z7JLdfkyK2SUyuizMFjl7IR9DGW1gczDAMc0KLmbNVisG2uswRFDGIfKjbFdVYkdXfu4IapsAQdgEM1B2Zx0cOnItYHhzmtUbZSkoNdaGhc/s640/banner-brooklyn-Brooklyn_Film_844x476.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2015 cast: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, Domnhall Gleeson</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Ever see a movie or read a story that sets up a young female character on her own, and when she falls completely and hopelessly in love, you wish she had more pain and less... contentment? That happens in BROOKLYN after we begin with Saoirse Ronan's Ellis in her native Ireland, where life seems lovely enough, but she decides to travel to America. BROOKLYN to be exact.<br>

2015, domhnall gleeson, julie walters, romance, saoirse ronan

SAOIRSE RONAN IN BROOKLYN

year: 2015 cast: Saoirse Ronan, Emory Cohen, Jim Broadbent, Julie Walters, Domnhall Gleeson Ever see a movie or read a story that sets u...

BRYAN CRANSTON IN TRUMBO

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPlg2LZbKe30ZPoF3qh1zZW0ZwBfj49ndPza3y54WIh0EynmiSc7g5UEHEChjKteZvpUrNmIogQybwlTG7EUSjetEZW62OUq7CyH3FGWJ9Gj_8Xv2EcOR3lohAM2xHpWXvetq5w2vHnuQ/s1600/trumbo_nws.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPlg2LZbKe30ZPoF3qh1zZW0ZwBfj49ndPza3y54WIh0EynmiSc7g5UEHEChjKteZvpUrNmIogQybwlTG7EUSjetEZW62OUq7CyH3FGWJ9Gj_8Xv2EcOR3lohAM2xHpWXvetq5w2vHnuQ/w640-h358/trumbo_nws.png" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2015 cast: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Louis CK, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, Dean O'Gorman</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> During the first thirty minutes, it seems like Bryan Cranston's Dalton Trumbo utters the same exact lines; not a broken record, but a scratched one. Moving ahead, the best scenes occur in the middle as the Blacklisted scriptwriter keeps working in secret, using fake names or other people to take the credit while he gets a cut of the action, and surreptitiously wins Academy Awards. A closer, more suspenseful and pointed glimpse into that brilliant scheme during the 1950's, and less attention on making John Wayne look like a complete jerk or Helen Mirren's caricature villain of Hedda Hopper, and there would actually be a story about people rather than a forced agenda involving human cliches. <br>

2015, biopic, bryan cranston

BRYAN CRANSTON IN TRUMBO

year: 2015 cast: Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, Louis CK, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, Dean O'Gorman During the first thirty minutes, it...

REVIEW OF VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX4moiRj0fOu1xhYf1ALwXY7VS4yc0jI-gY_ZbpfiWGJe12Yh4wXx5uOhZrcicE1FpxLfi4dB_aRSSeMQzG4YN12sRMmgitbIvys7Ho_Y1fYurGQhiSvj9Iu4ZDQTaOOgOiHE26NjJciE/s1600/Victor-Frankenstein-2015-Poster.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="335" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX4moiRj0fOu1xhYf1ALwXY7VS4yc0jI-gY_ZbpfiWGJe12Yh4wXx5uOhZrcicE1FpxLfi4dB_aRSSeMQzG4YN12sRMmgitbIvys7Ho_Y1fYurGQhiSvj9Iu4ZDQTaOOgOiHE26NjJciE/w640-h335/Victor-Frankenstein-2015-Poster.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015 cast: James McAvoy, Daniel Radcliffe, Andrew Scott, Jessica Brown Findlay</td></tr> </tbody></table> At first, the famous monster movie hunchback is like someone straight out of AMERICAN HORROR STORY FREAKSHOW as the prologue is bizarre and confounding, but then we meet our title character and he's got more than a cure for an abused circus clown who, after a MATRIX style action-packed suspense fight/escape, is re-named Igor and becomes more than an assistant to VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN, an eccentric young man with ambitions just beyond his reach, which is where the surprisingly brilliant Igor comes in...<br>

2015, daniel radcliffe, horror, james mcavoy, max landis, reboot

REVIEW OF VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN

year: 2015 cast: James McAvoy, Daniel Radcliffe, Andrew Scott, Jessica Brown Findlay At first, the famous monster movie hunchback is lik...

REVIEWS OF ROOM & SECRET IN THEIR EYES

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIeeNPTHSrsLB0XN0STyPadUSa-rj0DkbSU3KT1l1Z5WEk2W2aeTn4l_uVo-FRNXgIqSVgD6gMmZHUSHMdhlqVVfLvCfPpbX8gYAgIU137vpZc2t7-0y3Z3Ec10jiDLflPao06gRieESk/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIeeNPTHSrsLB0XN0STyPadUSa-rj0DkbSU3KT1l1Z5WEk2W2aeTn4l_uVo-FRNXgIqSVgD6gMmZHUSHMdhlqVVfLvCfPpbX8gYAgIU137vpZc2t7-0y3Z3Ec10jiDLflPao06gRieESk/s320/3.png" width="258"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>ROOM: </b>This is an intriguing indie film that really takes its time to figure things out, headlined by the intensity of a young girl simply called Ma, played by Brie Larson, raising her son, Jack... who looks very much like a long-haired little girl... in a "room" that has only a sun-roof window and other necessities, resembling a tiny white trash studio apartment.<br> <br> The harsh reality that slowly unveils means everything, and yet, what's really important is the kind of LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL theme of a parent allowing her child to become fully accustomed to a nightmarish situation without a clue that anything is wrong. This is how half the movie plays out, and it's a neatly timed, often intense ride. And yet, since the kidnapper resembles a passive bearded accountant, mother and son never seem in that much danger whenever the suspense mounts. Perhaps this is intentional to make their situation feel mundane, and thus, even more creepy and ironic. And to mention too much about the last half would be a spoiler, but it involves our two main characters struggling to accustom themselves to something quite different than what they, and the audience, experienced, and in that aspect, ROOM, no matter where the location, keeps us closely in touch with the people that matter without too many distractions.<br>

2015, dean norris, julia roberts, nicole kidman, thriller

REVIEWS OF ROOM & SECRET IN THEIR EYES

year: 2015 ROOM: This is an intriguing indie film that really takes its time to figure things out, headlined by the intensity of a young...

BRADLEY COOPER IN STARRING IN BURNT

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-TBsD0SgMaqy7F07FAW4sPDdWUqMVHl7fm3muV-zQGUDn7_HeXBILj1l7gb71OutqgkkGbYwu7lqOKn2U7uQd3mpK48RUCqPecax7gNGdZMnGU3gtos0UZGOND4PrQdosnMSh7TAlcs/s1600/JONES.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf-TBsD0SgMaqy7F07FAW4sPDdWUqMVHl7fm3muV-zQGUDn7_HeXBILj1l7gb71OutqgkkGbYwu7lqOKn2U7uQd3mpK48RUCqPecax7gNGdZMnGU3gtos0UZGOND4PrQdosnMSh7TAlcs/s400/JONES.jpg" width="256" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015</td></tr> </tbody></table> Originally titled CHEF, there was an indie film with the <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/05/chef.html">same title</a> that refused to be changed, so a promo poster with Bradley Cooper adorning the entire frame was simply called ADAM JONES. Doesn't say much about the story; just a first and last name. Easy as pie, and the A-list star could sell just about anything...<br /> <br /> Well it turns out, what became BURNT centers on a complicated guy who happens to be not only a chef/cook, but he's secretly, for those in the know, the best in the world. He has his share of quirks and neurosis, and can't get along with anyone, despite winding up way-too-easily owning an English restaurant to gain a Three Star rating... slightly less than this vehicle deserves... which could be retitled SILVER LININGS COOKBOOK for Cooper's usual spontaneous aura, at times guided by a documentary-style camera: But without a real plot, an engaging ingenue/romance, and a reason for the talented star to be involved in the first place, Cooper's built-in, natural intensity is all but wasted as he deals with fellow chefs, mafia goons, and worst yet, himself, messing things up as they start getting <i>just right,</i> and things never really do... both in his life and the movie itself: simmering without ever sizzling.<br /> <br /> RATING: **1/2

2015, bradley cooper, drama, food

BRADLEY COOPER IN STARRING IN BURNT

year: 2015 Originally titled CHEF, there was an indie film with the same title that refused to be changed, so a promo poster with Bradl...

MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwAvMEk3OL-bOU-53RSl54YX2r7IC8cjMQkC6c5lQTA9LNrqS7WFi4c5x205wVmMnOuqJL7yjjEl5N8vQAmGDRXCsv9m0xkNmuCen8t1QhE79euORUeeBdQ2yA1W5v0mNjfuV2T-fr_zc/s1600/scorch-trials.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwAvMEk3OL-bOU-53RSl54YX2r7IC8cjMQkC6c5lQTA9LNrqS7WFi4c5x205wVmMnOuqJL7yjjEl5N8vQAmGDRXCsv9m0xkNmuCen8t1QhE79euORUeeBdQ2yA1W5v0mNjfuV2T-fr_zc/s640/scorch-trials.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2015 cast: Dylan O'Brien, Patricia Clarkson, Giancarlo Esposito Director: Wes Ball</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> It's difficult for adults to keep up with all these dystopian future teenage literary adaptations, from THE HUNGER GAMES to DIVERGENT to (the original) MAZE RUNNER, an action-packed version of what's usually a doomed-romance thriller. Following a chosen group of youngsters to run a dangerous course that very few can survive, what you see is what you get, including formidable robotic spiders. At the end, the kids wind up behind-the-scenes, sort of...<br /> <br /> And now in this fairly decent, more intriguing and adventurous sequel, using the popular "learning something new every step of the way twist" element, if counting how many times the characters get painted in a corner and then escape at the very... last... second, you'd simply lose count. But what separates SCORCH TRIALS from THE MAZE RUNNER are the number of locations: Instead of just a grass field outside a collection of gigantic cement walls, there's an underground military fortress beneath a vast desert leading to distant mountains where, in-between, is a giant warehouse with gnarly human "creatures" reminiscent of those on a popular television series, a seedy rave, and other destinations – making this more of a journey than just plain exercise.<br /> <br /> RATING: ***1/2<br /> REVIEW OF <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/09/maze-runner.html">THE MAZE RUNNER</a>

2015, franchise, giancarlo esposito, patricia clarkson, road movie, sequel, teen

MAZE RUNNER: THE SCORCH TRIALS

year: 2015 cast: Dylan O'Brien, Patricia Clarkson, Giancarlo Esposito Director: Wes Ball It's difficult for adults to keep up wi...

BILL MURRAY IN ROCK THE KASBAH

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdjCh1ngXqQ5oj8tTQRcutpbBsHe3OkPyOKDgoHW5LFSksWNc-zVuPkECYc_CEe6c14IFKbMyevakEUTOaUfrB2Hylqj6UmcuEMkco0m1KkVF2MGf9_GVjIUeEeKU_sRWMFWvVJjSf5g/s1600/1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgdjCh1ngXqQ5oj8tTQRcutpbBsHe3OkPyOKDgoHW5LFSksWNc-zVuPkECYc_CEe6c14IFKbMyevakEUTOaUfrB2Hylqj6UmcuEMkco0m1KkVF2MGf9_GVjIUeEeKU_sRWMFWvVJjSf5g/s320/1.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015</td></tr> </tbody></table> Unless you go way back to the original SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, after Chevy Chase quit and the new kid took over, and follow Bill Murray's progression from background mediocrity to complete greatness, you'll discover his brilliant persona began with lounge singer Nick Winters. If you haven't seen any clips of this character, just watch MEATBALLS, STRIPES, GHOSTBUSTERS, to name just a few... And Nick's subliminally in all those: An offbeat, charming, sarcastic, lovable loser... Only in ROCK THE KASBAH, with a title taken from a Clash tune and directed by Barry Levinson, Bill's oblivious loser denies being one, but admits to always eventually quitting.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAK301anL43mXl6ajIb8DGzoy2xjMaRJnFOH2elAlk2_pYPqsR7ue6k0idBsptupieqVoZYWePpco9aN3V9yR8q018BOXFAAshT311KzSp1v0p_d8i30oJBacPdr8sTGBthz6_OOGFI68/s1600/2.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAK301anL43mXl6ajIb8DGzoy2xjMaRJnFOH2elAlk2_pYPqsR7ue6k0idBsptupieqVoZYWePpco9aN3V9yR8q018BOXFAAshT311KzSp1v0p_d8i30oJBacPdr8sTGBthz6_OOGFI68/s320/2.png" width="190" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Where it all began</td></tr> </tbody></table> After a second wind of indie films including LOST IN TRANSLATION and almost any Wes Anderson project, Murray became a cool contrary uncle for the millennial hipster generation, and now he's back in breezy old school form: Not that this movie's nearly as great as those aforementioned classics, but it's a personality-driven vehicle for the most part, taking Murray's desperate, low-rent music manager Richie Lanz from America to, of all places... for rushed and not very logical reasons... Afghanistan, where, after losing his flaky, reluctant "talent," winds up discovering a secret local sensation to eventually perform on a reality television show, Afghan Star, their form of American Idol.<br /> <br /> At the very end it's noted this is a true story: And during the third act the plot shifts from Murray conning his way in and out of (never very suspenseful) trouble... often with the help of maverick soldier Bruce Willis and hooker Kate Hudson... into a determined belief that this Afghan singer, a young lady living in a country where females have little to no artistic freedom, will overcome the odds. And while the fusion of comedy and drama becomes a bit awkward, and Murray's Richie is no Nick Winters (his spontaneous sitar rendition of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water" is an obvious attempt at SNL homage) or even John Winger or Dr. Peter Venkman, there are a few witty moments. Yet it's his genuine style of solid acting that not only makes the picture work, but should casually appease all generations of Bill Murray fans.<br /> <br /> RATING: ***1/2

2015, barry levinson, bill murray, biopic, bruce willis, comedy

BILL MURRAY IN ROCK THE KASBAH

year: 2015 Unless you go way back to the original SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, after Chevy Chase quit and the new kid took over, and follow Bill...

VIN DIESEL IN THE LAST WITCH HUNTER

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbdFcbp9L8u9FYr56VtkR1XsuOZ4aOJo-pdFJSMuQUceBQFJG016MV0ZqteRUsRs51MVciV0UVZ4aQ1uOg2A-8x2SAYKzGj7SllHLMZdBE9Ke3hH_Wm3FbakGTvaby4k0cWdMCv7IwsQ/s1600/The-Last-Witch-Hunter-2015-Movie-Poster-4K-Wallpaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="364" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNbdFcbp9L8u9FYr56VtkR1XsuOZ4aOJo-pdFJSMuQUceBQFJG016MV0ZqteRUsRs51MVciV0UVZ4aQ1uOg2A-8x2SAYKzGj7SllHLMZdBE9Ke3hH_Wm3FbakGTvaby4k0cWdMCv7IwsQ/s640/The-Last-Witch-Hunter-2015-Movie-Poster-4K-Wallpaper.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2015 cast: Vin Diesel, Michael Caine, Elijah Wood Director: Breck Eisner</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> There's just so much CGI that kills suspense, and makes any and all evil adversaries look somewhat similar after a while. A kind of demonic dark-red vegetation growing icky tentacles, and always whispering, or hissing, or both... A cinematic villainous plague!<br /> <br /> During this horror adventure involving modern Gothic witches considered normal since a witch hunter, Kaulder, was, long ago, granted an eternal chore to keep them from being their original nasty selves, is a moment when Michael Caine's wise old priest stares out at a New York building and sees what happened in GHOSTBUSTERS when, after the power's shut off, a mad dash of spirits rush up into the skyline: the same exact scene but with much less color.<br /> <br /> At this point we're practically finished with a movie that never let's us know the characters well enough to either boo at or root for. Like young priest/sidekick Elijah Wood in an ultimately wasted role. The witches aren't very distinguished from each other... other than being gorgeous until some reveal their genuinely ancient, crumbling selves: And Vin Diesel's muscular tough guy seems like a legitimate witch ass kicker (he's Vin Diesel and can beat up anyone, right?) yet sporadic dreams of his wife and child in a rural medieval meadow provide a sparse backstory that anyone not familiar with whatever source THE LAST WITCH HUNTER derived will be completely in the dark, waiting for this mediocre time-filler... with a few neat battles for action flick fans to enjoy... to finally conclude. And although the first twenty minutes <i>does</i> attempt to slowly maintain itself into a story we can all follow, once the action starts, everything just sort of frantically blends together.<br /> <br /> RATING: **1/2

2015, horror, michael caine, vin diesel, witch

VIN DIESEL IN THE LAST WITCH HUNTER

year: 2015 cast: Vin Diesel, Michael Caine, Elijah Wood Director: Breck Eisner There's just so much CGI that kills suspense, and mak...

JACK BLACK IN GOOSEBUMPS

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jP7AFKQVerm3EGev0QeGQ-nShjGBjb7djWjSqQzH4U4juve20OJTCoszasFXbs-vrRwYWTkOBu_MoR2WpSNOBLztro5FBeAK0xwIsILUH9SzyWmEx6nyx0yjKmmPRarK_znVT0izENw/s1600/goosebumps-movie-trailer-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7jP7AFKQVerm3EGev0QeGQ-nShjGBjb7djWjSqQzH4U4juve20OJTCoszasFXbs-vrRwYWTkOBu_MoR2WpSNOBLztro5FBeAK0xwIsILUH9SzyWmEx6nyx0yjKmmPRarK_znVT0izENw/s640/goosebumps-movie-trailer-poster.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2015 cast: Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush Director: Rob Letterman</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Steven Spielberg, whose 1941 rolling rollercoaster is paid homage to, was a big Orson Welles fan, and there's a LADY FROM SHANGHAI fun house full of mirrors, which includes reflections of a Charlie McCarthy Doll: kind of like the one on Steven's rollercoaster, only "Slappy" is shrewd and nefarious, and an important cog in R.L. Stine's horror wheelhouse created for kids, immensely popular before Harry Potter monopolized young readers worldwide... But back to the subject at hand...<br /> <br /> Jack Black has the right amount of edgy charisma as the grouchy, reclusive real life Stine – whose work comes to life when hidden manuscript pages are opened – balancing out an oddly cast "new kid in town" teenager, Zach, who doesn't look as neurotic and depressed as he constantly seems to be. Meanwhile, goofy sidekick Champ has almost the same personality, deleting any comic relief status.<br /> <br /> Then of course there's a young beautiful ingenue... a soft, secret part of an otherwise noisy vehicle so full of grandiose special effects, the audience might eventually feel as worn out as the characters, which isn't so bad since going overboard seems intentional: paying a belated, collective tribute to the man whose literary creatures sparked a generation of Millennial nightmares in a big screen transition, more action/adventure than horror while providing thrills instead of chills.<br /> <br /> RATING: ***

2015, horror, jack black

JACK BLACK IN GOOSEBUMPS

year: 2015 cast: Jack Black, Dylan Minnette, Odeya Rush Director: Rob Letterman Steven Spielberg, whose 1941 rolling rollercoaster is pa...

STEVE SPIELBERG DIRECTS TOM HANKS IN 'BRIDGE OF SPIES'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKBtF4zPiFaNP0xZ7oOzYZJCHvJ86J1aV6FIYlLQnci9MbIcIUCEcHpLRq9fImdvkXcRf5JLUMJQQ6tsa6pBZlxtRDvmDXyqZZL1RMNHt8z8uwDn44cveNglW0YoICDHnxuJcpY-wqLqI/s1600/nefpp9ay64f6ig_2_a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKBtF4zPiFaNP0xZ7oOzYZJCHvJ86J1aV6FIYlLQnci9MbIcIUCEcHpLRq9fImdvkXcRf5JLUMJQQ6tsa6pBZlxtRDvmDXyqZZL1RMNHt8z8uwDn44cveNglW0YoICDHnxuJcpY-wqLqI/s400/nefpp9ay64f6ig_2_a.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 2015 director: Steven Spielberg Starring: Tom Hanks</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Cold War thrillers aren't always very thrilling, and mostly rely on mellow, page-turning espionage led by tons of dialogue.<br /> <br /> Thus Steven Spielberg creatively glides through the real life story of James B. Donovan...<br /> <br /> Who was a very reluctant insurance lawyer hired to take on an inconvenient, controversial, potentially dangerous yet legitimately lawful case in 1957, an era when most movies have American bigwigs, from the FBI to the CIA to all things Military, behaving worse than demonic mobsters.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiEc-unZ6oYyEpOBpKDOKTaxRTab3feRCj6r3Nu-kZwcaxuxKfEZzPScX2SBh4Sl4gbLhsmOwFMwOGQUne4DtMC2nsuysAegqJgFAuhiHhM_hWtZi1m_xXW1_D0fsm89CEcccK6T_onQQ/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-10-19+at+12.47.08+AM.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiEc-unZ6oYyEpOBpKDOKTaxRTab3feRCj6r3Nu-kZwcaxuxKfEZzPScX2SBh4Sl4gbLhsmOwFMwOGQUne4DtMC2nsuysAegqJgFAuhiHhM_hWtZi1m_xXW1_D0fsm89CEcccK6T_onQQ/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-10-19+at+12.47.08+AM.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> This particular vehicle is really a simple tale tha<i>t, </i>despite making the accused, kindhearted, soft-spoken Russian Spy seem a bit too perfect compared to his riled-up U.S. captors, Hanks fits everything together, not playing the role like a modern progressive stuck in a one-dimensional decade while somehow reflectively "knowing better," as happens in a lot of post-WWII history flicks: he really seems (and looks) like he's from that particular era, learning while moving from one semi intriguing obstacle to the next. <br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> If it's said that BRIDGE OF SPIES is a slow and/or boring motion picture, well, there is one scene in a fast moving car, and Spielberg gets his war-action on when a spy plane is shot down with a last-minute parachute...<br /> <br /> And that pilot (plus an added young man, not very fleshed-out but representing "the future" educational system) is a possible trade-off for Hanks' Russian client, originally sentenced in what plays out like a dressed-up Kangaroo court, becoming a sort of older, wise mentor while sharing a Ben Kingsley/Liam Neeson SCHINDLER'S LIST style chemistry with Hanks: needing few spoken words to genuinely bond, and, eventually, when our hero goes from America to the divided Germany,  there's never a feeling of serious, impending danger. But his determined discomfort is palpable enough to drive the story of an otherwise common man hired for the last thing he wanted to be part of, and, thinking on his toes, makes for an interesting "character" in a nicely flowing Cold War flick that's perfectly lukewarm... feeling like it intentionally settles for pretty good instead of Oscar-bait greatness, and in that, succeeds.

2015, cold war, fifties-era, spy, steven spielberg, tom hanks

STEVE SPIELBERG DIRECTS TOM HANKS IN 'BRIDGE OF SPIES'

year: 2015 director: Steven Spielberg Starring: Tom Hanks Cold War thrillers aren't always very thrilling, and mostly rely on mellow...

MICHAEL FASSBENDER AS STEVE JOBS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GgWrl8XUK0RBLf5-TNWTdvzwoEe6f22SayHVCyo5_l0W7nrHuKApX1R7DiaDlHWeIRXARxzGWq3OE-_s-evdabKqRoIMJ4Vdj_SI8XCKYqCvY_7QxE8BtANh2AtBGEuQnxiCvxMN5Xk/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-10-17+at+4.23.35+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8GgWrl8XUK0RBLf5-TNWTdvzwoEe6f22SayHVCyo5_l0W7nrHuKApX1R7DiaDlHWeIRXARxzGWq3OE-_s-evdabKqRoIMJ4Vdj_SI8XCKYqCvY_7QxE8BtANh2AtBGEuQnxiCvxMN5Xk/s320/Screen+shot+2015-10-17+at+4.23.35+AM.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015 director: Danny Boyle</td></tr> </tbody></table> What could have been titled, YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO TALK RIGHT NOW? or CAN'T WE DISCUSS THIS LATER ON? is an art-house jigsaw representation of the STEVE JOBS legacy, covering all the sketchy mere-moments before three various Product Launches: the first post-Apple II Macintosh Computer; the failed yet subliminally strategic NeXT system; and the iMAC that brought both Jobs and Apple back to life: Right before Steve hits each stage we get frantic discussions from various people including Seth Rogen's sarcastic yet bluntly serious and logically effective Steve 'Woz' Wozniak, who was Job's partner in the beginning garage days, and simply wants his groundbreaking technological importance revealed and complimented, aloud; Jeff Daniels, as former Pepsi turned Apple CEO John Scully, loathes his own stiff suit reputation; and most important of all, Jobs' unwanted daughter, Lisa, hanging around backstage, is what everything is really about. But not entirely...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAs9DIJB37ri8Fy5n_L3oXaKRt_WMhqsR58YjjTw08MxxaMjbyjsYOPQ8k_UNiQ_E26BSqO7CIKwbPlFcYU1FV8hu7_88z-Otwz9dmauha1xxqKNw4wfVxEuOmSGECxgQaNScHBELhRfU/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-10-17+at+11.51.47+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAs9DIJB37ri8Fy5n_L3oXaKRt_WMhqsR58YjjTw08MxxaMjbyjsYOPQ8k_UNiQ_E26BSqO7CIKwbPlFcYU1FV8hu7_88z-Otwz9dmauha1xxqKNw4wfVxEuOmSGECxgQaNScHBELhRfU/s1600/Screen+shot+2015-10-17+at+11.51.47+AM.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michael & Kate</td></tr> </tbody></table> Kate Winslet more than deserves second tier credit as marketing executive/faithful assistant Joanna Hoffman, speaking with a partial, never-distracting accent in a thankless yet equally significant role as she gathers all Steve's concerns, sets him up with each guest/visitor, stubbornly remains an ignored moral compass and makes sure he's able to rule each show without a single hitch. The biggest catch is we never see any actual speech or demonstration that's been fervently planned: Cutting to the next level before each vignette concludes, STEVE JOBS is a hybrid of RESERVOIR DOGS (hectically discussing what's never witnessed within confined, often claustrophobic boundaries) and A CHRISTMAS CAROL, the man himself a sort of mechanical Scrooge not quite owning-up to each "ghost" – haunting him like (what often seems like) guilt-driven hallucinations. <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jPJpaIuZ9YALZidKIKk44UgdIVDGOCW16xhGnM1zO4u8NcgO9UG0vQsSURCsEQHkAil2rpcV8nu6uWUNXi0inymU2i9ykUvPfs_sM9quZwYetShNIPHfv-mWJkJAUwe-vAQ_HYMuy9I/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2jPJpaIuZ9YALZidKIKk44UgdIVDGOCW16xhGnM1zO4u8NcgO9UG0vQsSURCsEQHkAil2rpcV8nu6uWUNXi0inymU2i9ykUvPfs_sM9quZwYetShNIPHfv-mWJkJAUwe-vAQ_HYMuy9I/s320/2.jpg" width="269" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cult Film Freak's retro work station</td></tr> </tbody></table> Already controversial for making Steve look like a complete scoundrel, Michael Fassbender actually plays the role with such subtle and natural finesse that might have been more dramatic, dynamic and edgy had the original choice, Christian Bale, remained on board... For in this case, the energy just sort of happens <i>around </i>Fassbender as we learn... also through creatively edited flashbacks... how Apple came about; then broke off into Mac; Jobs being fired and all that modern history jazz you can simply read about online or view in other projects <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2013/08/jobs-vs-pirates.html">(PIRATES OF SILICON VALLEY with Noah Wyle recommended over Ashton Kutcher as JOBS)</a>...<br /> <br /> It's during the literally last-minute problems that the man, the myth, the legend, and most of all, the resilient entrepreneur surprisingly never gets too frantic or frazzled while being perpetually cornered, and whose headstrong denial drives him, and the movie itself, past any flaws... And there <i>are </i>a few: Things get a bit stagey as we occasionally detour into Soap Opera territory. But like this old Macbook computer being used right now, it's the stuff inside the machine that causes things to flow so nicely, making one unaware what can possibly go wrong, because during each moment it all just seems... pretty alright while it's... you know... all going on.<br /> <br /> RATING: ****

2015, biopic, danny boyle, jeff daniels, kate winslet, michael fassbender, seth rogen

MICHAEL FASSBENDER AS STEVE JOBS

year: 2015 director: Danny Boyle What could have been titled, YOU ACTUALLY WANT TO TALK RIGHT NOW? or CAN'T WE DISCUSS THIS LATER ON...