A solid improvement over Rise, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has director Matt Reeves taking the franchise to the next level providing some well written and finely directed scenes.
The Space Between Us of course isn’t good and clearly aimed at the tween crowd; the plot isn’t as cool as it might sound and it’s utterly predictable, but if there’s any saving grace, it’s with the cast, namely Gary Oldman and Carla Gugino.
The final chapter in the Harry Potter saga, Deathly Hallows Part 2 is a fantastic ending highlighted by an intense, action-pakced, third act and nicely closes out giving a fitting conclusion to our favorite characters.
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix isn’t great but still quite good and highly entertaining, excelling due to its amazing ensemble cast as we see the young ones grow up right before our eyes.
Man Down does shine light on the important subject of PTSD for returning soldiers and as commendable as that is, it’s unfortunate the screenplay does it little justice but I will say Shia LaBeouf’s performance is amazing and it does feature a respectable supporting cast.
Criminal is your run-of-the-mill action/thriller that succeeds mostly with a strong ensemble cast led way by Kevin Costner who gives a nice performance while Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones and Ryan Reynolds are more background noise. This is the perfect movie as a rental, but not much more.
Criminal is your run-of-the-mill action/thriller that succeeds mostly with a strong ensemble cast led way by Kevin Costner who gives a nice performance while Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones and Ryan Reynolds are more background noise. This is the perfect movie as a rental, but not much more.
Romeo is Bleeding is certainly a unique movie though also kind of typical Gary Oldman from the 1990s turning in a bizarrely fascinating performance as does Lena Olin who manages to keep up with his insanity, and at times topping it. It’s not perfect but with Oldman and Olin, well worth checking out.
Léon: The Professional is a masterpiece of work from Luc Besson and is easily my favorite and most emotion-filled film to date. The performances by Jean Reno (who deserved an Oscar nomination), Natalie Portman and Gary Oldman were all fantastic in their own distinctive ways and it’s just an all around well made flick with good mixture of drama and suspense.
The Fifth Element is a mixed bag of a film with some great flare and style but then you add in Chris Tucker and his obnoxious character to balance all that good out. On the plus side, Gary Oldman, as outlandish as his character is, is a lot of fun to watch and Milla Jovovich provides a nice spark.
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.
RoboCop actually isn’t that bad of a movie and taken on its own, it’s at least enjoyable enough. However, unlike its 1987 counterpart, it’s unlikely to be remembered years from now and like Total Recall (a movie I actually liked), will be a mere footnote alongside so many other remakes and reboots. This one has a few things going for it from an eclectic cast to wonderful production design and cinematography.
Paranoia is the latest exercise in mediocrity despite having a few very talented actors attached. The story is clichéd filled and the performances, again despite the talent, are at best phoned in. It’s not a terrible film and as passable entertainment might be worth a whirl (rental), but otherwise pass it by.
Although the Harry Potter Wizard’s Collection is quite expensive ($345 on Amazon as of this writing), for fans of the series, it might be worth it. I know fans will have already owned it but there might be enough here to make it worth your while. As for the set itself, there’s an enormous amount of features including some new featurettes which expands on the behind-the-scenes world and how the franchise was made.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy excels in the acting category, and more specifically an excellent performance from Gary Oldman, but the story doesn’t hold as much water as I’d hoped.