Category: Ratings
-
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (***): If you can work it in
The Amazing Spider-Man 2: 2014 Director Marc Webb Starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Campbell Scott, Embeth Davidtz, Colm Feore, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field Screenplay Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner The opening segment of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 seems like it could really be fun. The actor most suited for the role, Andrew Garfield,…
-
Guardians of the Galaxy (*****): Super Awesome Mix, Vol.1
Guardians of the Galaxy – 2014 Director James Gunn Starring Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Lee Pace, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, John C. Reilly, Glenn Close, Benicio del Toro, Peter Serafinowicz Screenplay Gunn & Nicole Perman I just saw the movie event of the summer. And I waited until I saw it…
-
CPE & Em: Muppets Most Wanted – The Unnecessarily Extended Edition (***1/2)
Muppets Most Wanted – 2014 Director James Bobin Starring Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell, Tina Fey Written by Nicolas Stoller & Bobin I never thought I needed to see Ricky Gervais break into song, talking about being #2. I never thought I needed to see Tina Fey pretend she had a really bad Russian accent. Never did…
-
CPE, Em and El: The Princess Bride – As You Wish
The Princess Bride – 1987 Director Rob Reiner Starring Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, André the Giant, Christopher Guest, Fred Savage, Wallace Shawn, Billy Crystal, Carol Kane, Mel Smith, Peter Cook, Peter Falk Screenplay William Goldman There may be no more perfect story told for the benefit of an entire family than The…
-
Sabotage (**): Well, so much for the winning streak
Sabotage – 2014 Director David Ayer Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington, Olivia Williams, Terrence Howard, Joe Manganiello, Harold Perrineau, Martin Donovan, Max Martini, Josh Holloway, Mireille Enos Screenplay Skip Woods and Ayer David Ayer was on his way to a good thing. He wrote Training Day, Dark Blue, The Fast and the Furious, U-571 and most…
-
Heaven Is For Real questions what we think we believe
Heaven is for Real – 2014 Director Randall Wallace Starring Greg Kinnear, Kelly Reilly, Connor Corum, Lane Styles, Margo Martindale, Thomas Haden Church Screenplay Wallace and Christopher Parker based on the book by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent Heaven is for Real starts out in a familiar enough place for faith-based films. Todd Burpo is perhaps the best person in a good town…
-
Oculus: If there is more than one, then it would be Oculi
Oculus – 2014 Director Mike Flanagan Starring Karen Gillan, Brendan Thwaites, Rory Cochrane, Katee Sackoff Screenplay Flanagan and Jeff Howard Oculus is a good little story whose conceit is that it can change the perspective of anyone onscreen to match whatever it needs for the moment. Shame of it is, its characters start out with the…
-
Divergent aims low, but hits the mark
Divergent – 2014 Director Neil Burger Starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoë Kravitz, Miles Teller, Tony Goldwyn, Maggie Q, Kate Winslet, Ansel Elgort Screenplay by Eva Daugherty, Vanessa Taylor, based on the book by Veronica Roth Divergent is another movie covering the ever-increasing line of books made for younger readers, but enjoyed by…
-
Bad Words: Finally Bateman is not the nice guy
Bad Words – 2013 Director Jason Bateman Starring Jason Bateman, Kathryn Hahn, Rohan Chand, Ben Falcone, Philip Baker Hall, Allison Janney Screenplay by Andrew Dodge Black comedy is an all or nothing venture. You either have to go into it with total disregard or settle for School of Rock territory. It’s not that the latter category is a loser, it just doesn’t…
-
Snowpiercer gets to the heart of the matter
Snowpiercer – 2013 Director Boon Joon-Ho Starring Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Go Ah-sung, Jamie Bell, Alison Pill, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, Ed Harris Screenplay Joon-Ho and Kelly Masterson An inadvertent addition to the growing trend of movies going straight to video on demand, Boon Joon-Ho’s Snowpiercer, along with Mike James’ Roger Ebert opus, Life Itself have forever changed my mind on the value…
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 