The Transformers franchise is hardly great with maybe only the first two being passably entertaining, the rest just action-porn with non-sensical plot and CGI vs. CGI fights that were more tiresome rather than exciting.
Backtrack had an interesting enough premise, a hitman falling for his target, but the execution was less than effective, though Dennis Hopper’s performance was something to behold.
The Batman is a good film. Not great. I did like that Matt Reeves had a different and unique take on the character who has seen the big screen a handful of times dating back to 1989 and while there is room for improvement.
The Jesus Rolls is the long-awaited spin-off of the popular side character from The Big Lebowski starring John Turturro who also co-scripted and directed, clearly a passion project.
The Big Lebowski has garnered a huge following over the course of 20 years and it’s easy to see why with some easy to quote lines that, often times, relates so well to real life. I’ve never been a huge fan of the movie though have grown to appreciate it over time.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is hardly the high point of action but I must admit that I actually mostly enjoyed this installment possibly because the previous sequel was so bad that it made this film look like Citizen Kane. In any case, once again the visual effects are incredible and the story was at least acceptable.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen takes the action up a notch as sequels do but, somehow, dumbs down the story and makes me not care on bit about any of these characters, mechanical or human.
Transformers is something I more or less hold the same opinion about when I watched it in theaters, 10 years later. It’s not terrible by any stretch and most of the action is well done, but the acting is subpar and the dialogue even worse.
Transformers: The Last Knight is another poor entry into a franchise that just won’t die, though its $605M worldwide gross was the lowest so there is hope. In any case, I didn’t feel this was as bad as Age of Extinction but that’s not saying much.
Hands of Stone isn’t a half-bad boxing drama biopic and yet by the end, I wasn’t exactly connected on any level with the story and outside of some nice performances, there’s not much that stands out.
To Live and Die in L.A. is I think a bit of a forgotten crime-drama from the ‘80s and features a wide array of great performances headlined by William Petersen (though I felt he was better in Manhunter) and Willem Dafoe with some amazing cinematography and a vibrant color palette.
Romance & Cigarettes is an odd ball of a film, a mixture of genres and while I can appreciate what director John Turturro attempted to do, it just didn’t quite work but with a cats like this headlined by the great James Gandolfini, to go along with Susan Sarandon and Kate Winslet, might make at least watchable.
State of Grace might not be the most well known drama especially in Sean Penn’s extensive filmography but it is a well done, if not overdrawn, flick worth checking out mainly for the performances especially by Gary Oldman who is at his finest. The Blu-ray released by Twilight Time has sufficient audio/video but is limited in the special features department.
Exodus: Gods and Kings had the best of intentions especially in the technical departments from costumes, construction and visual effects, but for all the talk and lengthy running time, it all feels empty, void of any interesting actors not to mention some unintentional humor. The Blu-ray release offered by Fox is pretty basic with an OK commentary track and selection of deleted scenes, but little else given the bulk of features were reserved for the 3D Blu-ray combo pack.
Transformers: Dark of the Moon is hardly the high point of action but I must admit that I actually mostly enjoyed this installment possibly because the previous sequel was so bad that it made this film look like Citizen Kane. In any case, once again the visual effects are incredible and the story was at least acceptable.