Captain America: The First Avenger has a few things going for it, mostly in the set design, costume design and cinematography but most everything else was standard and unimaginative including actor Chris Evans himself. There’s certainly a fine jump off point for this potential franchise I think in the hands of a better director, it could achieve so much more.
Faces in the Crowd hardly breaks new ground in the genre, but it has a few things going for it Milla Jovovich turns in a good performance, the mystery aspects are at least compelling and what writer/director Magnat does by putting the audience in the main character’s mindset is unique and effective.
“Robot Chicken” is easily one of the funniest shows on television and a personal favorite of mine. This fifth season, while not the strongest in its run, has some funny bits and like before, a great collection of guest voice talents. Seth Green and company also know how to package a home video release with plenty of features to justify the price given each episode is only 11-12 minutes long.
Monte Carlo doesn’t break any new ground and is in fact predictable in almost every aspect of the story. The direction is only average even though they managed to film in two of the most beautiful cities in the world and yet thanks to Selena Gomez and the safe story, there’s a certain amount of charm. Now, this isn’t a film that will resonate for me beyond this review but I think enough of it works to make it at least a lukewarm recommendation.
Indian Summer is a great film that hits all the right notes. It not only brings out the nostalgia for anybody who has attended summer camp but the story is well rounded with the right balance of comedy and drama. The cast is also pitch perfect with the highlights coming from Bill Paxton, Diane Lane and Alan Arkin.
While Pulp Fiction isn’t a masterpiece of filmmaking as some might contend, it’s still a very well made picture with the sharp writing we expect from Tarantino and one of the better ensemble casts put together.
The Ledge has some things going for it with two good performances and two others that are pretty much forgettable, but worse yet, the story doesn’t quite connect and even so, it’s so heavy handed and one-sided that it plays it too safe in making one character somewhat tolerable while the other has little redeemable value, though they try to give him a dramatic back story.
Scooby-Doo: Legend of the Phantosaur is a solid entry into the long-running, enduring animated franchise. Obviously if you’ve one, you’ve basically seen them all, but for the most part this is a fun movie for the whole family with good humor, at least a half-decent mystery (even if you can see who the villain is 5 miles away) and fine voice talents.
Airplane is a timeless comedy, one where one doesn’t necessarily have to get the references in order to find it funny. The Blu-ray, a Best Buy exclusive at the time of this writing, has a good video transfer and adequate audio.
Scream 4 might’ve come a few years too late after the last installment, but I for one enjoyed it as Wes Craven and company were able to update the franchise for the 21st century. The original cast slips into their roles nicely while the new generation offer up a certain and needed freshness, though writer Williamson didn’t succumb to the horror sequel clichés (though there a few).
As far as creature features go, Mimic is a well made movie, but little more than that. The characters are fairly one-dimensional despite the attempts in fleshing them out, though it was enough to give reason for at least the two main something to fight for. The effects and creature designs aren’t anything spectacular yet still evoke enough fear to give them weight and danger.
Scary Movie 2, while not an awful film, is just simply not very funny. It pales in comparison to the original and makes the two other sequels look absolutely brilliant. I’ve now seen this film twice and nothing has changed over the years; I might’ve chuckled a couple of times but otherwise I just had a blank stare counting down the minutes until it was over.
Set Up wants to be some personal revenge/vendetta-centric crime drama but instead we get poor writing, even worse acting and uninspiring direction not to mention an odd portion where some dark comedy is thrown in at random.
Hostage is an effective enough thriller with Willis fitting into his role of a worn out veteran cop like a glove, heck probably better than in Live Free or Die Hard even, but the story itself doesn’t quite past muster despite some decent performances from the supporting cast.
Despite some plot holes, Hanna is an entertaining film with three great performances from Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Tom Hollander and a serviceable one from Eric Bana.