This classic film from perennial filmmaker Otto Preminger is a haunting tale filled with amazing performances from its core cast headed by the great Laurence Olivier while Carol Lynley is mesmerizing in the starring role.
Judgment at Nuremberg is an engrossing, engaging and thought provoking court room drama featuring incredible performances from Spencer Tracy, Burt Lancaster and Richard Widmark.
Flaming Star is a different sort of film from Elvis Presley who gives a nice performance in an otherwise OK western (which admittedly is not my favorite genre)
The Twilight Samurai released by Twilight Time is a well made film headlined by a great performance by Hidoyuki Sanada and a strong core story and characters.
22 Jump Street, as with its predecessor, was a surprisingly hilarious movie both mocking the genre while also giving us a half-decent plot, even if its copied from the first for a fair portion of the movie, and two leads who share some great on-screen comedic chemistry and timing.
Squirm is gleefully cheesy and although it is pretty bad, it’s one of those so bad, it’s good films which got ribbed on “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” although I would suggest watching this version first as the “MST3K” one edited out the gory parts.
Jersey Boys is clearly a passion project for producer/director Clint Eastwood and although the cast perform admirably enough, I never quite found the feature that engrossing but admittedly, I also don’t have much of a connection with the music or the group, so those who do (older crowd) might get more out of the movie than others.
A Most Wanted Man isn’t as great of a movie that I’m sure the filmmakers felt it was but, however, it does excel mostly on the shoulders of the late (and great) Phillip Seymour Hoffman along with an commendable supporting cast including Rachel McAdams and Robin Wright, the latter who was underutilized.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For not only is a movie a few years too late, the narrative isn’t quite as strong as the first and the acting, save for a few of the key players, isn’t all that memorable, though Rourke, under seemingly heavier does of make-up, is the biggest highlight with Eva Green taking a close second for her performance and… ahem… assets.
Tammy is yet another lame comedy (with attempts at sappy drama) from McCarthy and company following the tepid Identity Thief but I’m hoping at some point the actress, who can be funny, widens her range instead playing the same type of characters made famous in Bridesmaid.
It’s clear that Deepsea Challenge is a passion project for James Cameron and being one of the richest filmmakers, he can afford to, at least partially, finance an expedition of this magnitude, creating new devices to reach further depths than every explored before.
Drive Hard had a nice concept, and a good cast with Jane and Cusack to boot, but the execution was lousty despite some decent dialogue, however the car scenes were poorly done making for missed opportunities.
The Doctor and the Devils might not be a well known horror-thriller but it’s a well made one headed by fine performances by Timothy Dalton and Jonathan Pryce with a good and darkly fun story.
Good People tells the same story that has been done countless times before but does excel, albeit on a limited-basis, to a fine cast including James Franco, Kate Hudson and Tom Wilkinson, all three of whom do a good job while relative newcomer Omar Sy, to the U.S. anyway, is wasted with a cardboard cutout bad guy character laughably nicknamed Genghis Khan.
I acknowledge that Hercules is not a great movie but as summer blockbuster entertainment, it’s more than functional especially thanks to an ensemble cast led by Dwayne Johnson and some (purposefully) humorous moments that I enjoyed myself.