Tad: The Lost Explorer is a harmless animated adventure the entire family can enjoy and the animation itself is fairly impressive especially for a studio outside of the big three or four (i.e. Disney, Fox, DreamWorks).
this Friday the 13th: The Complete Collection box set is not terribly bad in spite of the lack of any new material, it pretty much matches the DVD set released by Paramount a few years back, and unrated cuts of Jason Lives.
“The Vampire Diaries”: The Complete Fourth Season is, for a lack of a better term, a compelling soap opera guised as a vampire fantasy-drama. The core cast share great chemistry and this year fans of “Delena” (Damon & Elena) will rejoice. All in all, season four moves at a brisk pace even when the plots, and subplots, get kind of convoluted.
Jennifer 8 isn’t a terrible thriller but it’s half-baked in spite of OK performances from Andy Garcia (mind you, this is 90s Garcia, so he is a bit cheesy in his delivery), Uma Thurman and Lance Henriksen in a bit seeing playing somewhat against type.
The Talented Mr. Ripley isn’t the perfect suspense-drama and could have been so much better with a cast consisting of Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law and Cate Blanchett and with Anthony Minghella at the helm, but it still has some superb moments.
Prince of Darkness might not be John Carpenter’s well known film like Halloween and to some extent The Fog, it is probably one of his finer more complete films. The concept is fascinating and scary while the cast headlined by Donald Pleasance are great.
“NCIS: Los Angeles” is what I would call diversionary programming. It’s not terribly creative, outside of an episode or two, but the cast holds it together with wonderful chemistry.
Empire State had a lot to offer beginning with a semi-respectable cast beginning with Dwayne Johnson and Liam Hemsworth, both of whom were wasted and Emma Roberts was even worse with a bit role with very few lines and not a whole lot to do.
this Day of the Dead “Collector’s Edition” has it all between impressive audio/video transfers to a good selection of features that is satisfying to any fan of the series. The movie itself is great full of fun scares and gore though I still have a preference for Dawn of the Dead myself.
Star Trek Into Darkness is a fun summer blockbuster featuring a great cast, decent story (even with some of the lazier plot points) and amazing visual effects. It’s a good addition to the Star Trek franchise and hopefully leads to a third film.
Star Trek Into Darkness is a fun summer blockbuster featuring a great cast, decent story (even with some of the lazier plot points) and amazing visual effects. It’s a good addition to the Star Trek franchise and hopefully leads to a third film.
The Stranger Within is not the worst movie I’ve seen this year, but it’s still really bland. The story is all over the place and the acting isn’t anything special, though special credit to Estella Warren for being able to keep a straight face. This is something I’d expect to air on the Lifetime Channel but that might be an insult to Lifetime as some of their movies are at least acceptable entertainment; this one is merely forgettable.
The Great Gatsby has a lot going for it: a charismatic lead actor, a solid supporting cast, some good adaptation work by screenwriters Luhrmann and Craig Pearce, lavish award-worthy set and costume designs and wonderful cinematography, but otherwise it’s empty on any emotional level mainly because Luhrmann smashes over the head what the movie’s message is rather than let it unfold in a more natural way.
“Person of Interest”: The Complete Second Season continues its upward trajectory from its inaugural season. The storylines are richer and more connected; the new supporting characters are great additions with two getting recurring main roles next year.
The Fugitive remains one of the best action-thrillers I’ve seen in many years and easily a standout of TV to screen adaptations. Despite being 130-minutes long, the film flies by and utilizes each minute with little filler. The performances from Ford and Jones are phenomenal even though neither of them shared more than a few minutes of screen time together.