DEVIL

3.5 Stars
Year Released: 2010
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 80 minutes

“Devil” is a genuinely original scary movie that scares rather than repulses. What it lacks in ambition, it makes up for with sheer competence and craft, along with a genuine sense of goose-bumping fun…


Posted on September 19, 2010 by

SURVEILLANCE

2 Stars
Year Released: 2009
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 97 minutes

IN LIMITED RELEASE JUNE 26TH! If you don’t figure out the puzzle early on, you simply sit there waiting for the reveals. If you’ve figured them out already, the film is almost unbearably dull.


Posted on May 30, 2009 by

TERMINATOR SALVATION

2.5 Stars
Year Released: 2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 115 minutes

For a film that constantly opines about the strength of the human heart, “Terminator Salvation” lacks the very heart and soul that brought humanity to the first three pictures.


Posted on May 27, 2009 by

BIG MAN JAPAN

3.5 Stars
Year Released: 2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 113 minutes

“Big Man Japan” is awfully funny, with surprisingly potent social commentary just underneath the quirkiness.


Posted on May 26, 2009 by

ANGELS & DEMONS

ANGELS & DEMONS
2.5 Stars
Year Released: 2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 127 minutes

While this fast-moving film is technically better than “The Da Vinci Code,” that’s basically like stating that a firing squad is more merciful than a hanging.


Posted on May 18, 2009 by

STAR TREK

2 Stars
Year Released: 2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 126 minutes

BOLDLY GOING…NOWHERE? By the time a climactic phaser shoot-out occurs, I couldn’t help thinking how much more emotionally involved I was in said shoot-out at the end of, say, “Galaxy Quest.”


Posted on May 12, 2009 by

STATE OF PLAY

4 Stars
Year Released: 2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 127 minutes

By mourning the death of traditional journalism, traditional movie stars, and even traditional movies, “State of Play” represents a fine example of all three relics.


Posted on April 23, 2009 by

DANTE’S INFERNO (DVD)

2.5 Stars
Year Released: 2008
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Running Time: 76 minutes

The whole project reeks of a certain film school “look how clever we are” approach.


Posted on April 18, 2009 by

OBSERVE AND REPORT

4 Stars
Year Released: 2009
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 86 minutes

“Observe and Report” may be the smartest dumb comedy since “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle.”


Posted on April 10, 2009 by

WINGED MIGRATION (Blu Ray)

3.5 Stars
Year Released: 2003
MPAA Rating: G
Running Time: 90 minutes

A visually stunning and genuinely watchable travelogue unlike “March of The Penguins,” which anthropomorphosizes its penguin stars and humanizes what is likely instinctual behavior.


Posted on April 5, 2009 by

ADVENTURELAND

3 Stars
Year Released: 2009
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 107 minutes

What separates “Adventureland” from something like “Garden State” is a commitment to realism and plausibility.


Posted on April 2, 2009 by

THE EDUCATION OF CHARLIE BANKS

3 Stars
Year Released: 2009
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 101 minutes

The film works well enough as a character study and a tone poem. But it is not terribly potent and lacks deeper meaning beyond surface thoughts regarding nature vs. nurture and whether or not people can change.


Posted on March 29, 2009 by

KNOWING

3.5 Stars
Year Released: 2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 122 minutes

“Knowing” may not be a great film, but it is a genuinely good science fiction thriller that is genuinely haunting.


Posted on March 23, 2009 by

WATCHMEN

3 Stars
Year Released: 2009
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 127 minutes

“Watchmen” was a story of its time, and it still works as an individual character study. But its themes and ideas are no longer ground breaking, and they may not be relevant anymore.


Posted on March 9, 2009 by

STREET FIGHTER (Blu Ray)

3 Stars
Year Released: 2009
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 101 minutes

M. Bison proves that if you’re going to have a villain say something like “Why do they still call me a warlord? And mad? All I want to do is to create the perfect genetic soldier. Not for power, not for evil, but for good.”, then he sure as hell better be wearing a cape.


Posted on March 9, 2009 by
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