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Archive for the ‘Popcorn movies’ Category

“CONTRABAND”: Lost at sea

Posted in Popcorn movies, Uncategorized, tagged , on January 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

“CONTRABAND” My rating: C-  (Opening January 13)

110 minutes | MPAA rating: R

Absolutely nothing.

Those were the two words that came immediately to mind after viewing “Cotnraband,” the latest from the hugely productive actor/producer Mark Wahlberg.

This crime drama generates a couple of generic thrills, but that’s about it.

Well, one supposes that not everything Wahlberg touches can be gold.  Every movie can’t be “The Fighter.” But, sheesh, he’s not even trying here.

The premise finds former international smuggler Chris Farraday (Wahlberg) living the straight life in New Orleans with his wife (Kate Beckinsale) and their kids. He long ago quit the criminal trade and now installs homes security systems. (more…)

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“WAR HORSE”: Spielberg’s David Lean moment

Posted in Popcorn movies, tagged , , , on December 24, 2011| 2 Comments »

“WAR HORSE”  My rating: C+ (Opening wide on Christmas Day)

146 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

Visually rich and dramatically undernourished, “War Horse” is director Steven Spielberg’s attempt at a David Lean-style epic.

It’s big. It’s gorgeous.

And, unfortunately, it is largely uninhabited despite a deep cast of yeoman British thespians.

The source material, Michael Morpurgo’s 1982 book for children, already has become a hit West End and Broadway show. The dominant critical view of the stage version is one of indifferent material elevated by brilliant staging, with breathtaking life-size puppets portraying the equine characters.

The question going into the Spielberg film, then, was whether the yarn would still deliver in a “real” world without that awe-inspiring stagecraft. The answer: Every now and then the movie is magic. But too often it feels overplotted and plodding.

(more…)

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“THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN”: What you see is all you get

Posted in Popcorn movies, tagged , , , , on December 21, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN: THE SECRET OF THE UNICORN” My rating: B- (Opening wide on Dec. 21)

107 minutes | MPAA rating: PG

Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin” has so many jaw-dropping moments of visual splendor that it takes a while to realize that there’s really nothing much of interest here except the jaw-dropping visual splendor.

Employing the motion-capture animation techniques employed in films like “The Polar Express” and the Jim Carrey “Christmas Carol,” this screen adaptation of the late Herge’s universally popular comic book hero should please long-time fans. But it’s hard to imagine it winning many new converts to the Tintin brand.

Tintin (voiced by Jamie Bell of “Billy Elliott” fame) is a perpetually boyish, carrot-topped newspaper reporter who goes nowhere without a tan trench coat, brown knickers and a white pooch named Snowy.

He’s sort of like a junior Sherlock Holmes who’s always up to his neck in one mystery or another.

(more…)

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“SHERLOCK HOLMES: GAME OF SHADOWS”: St. Vitus Dance

Posted in Popcorn movies, tagged , , , on December 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Downey as Sherlock...man of 1,000 disguises

“SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS”  My rating: C 

129 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

The Robert Downey Jr.-powered “Sherlock Holmes” franchise, like the “Transformers” franchise, makes me feel very, very old.

Both series are hugely successful. Apparently they make other moviegoers terribly happy.

But they leave me feeling…empty. For all their visual razzle dazzle, there’s no there there. I might as well be beating myself over the head with an inflated pig bladder for all the pleasure these movies provide.

I know, I know. What a disagreeable old man I have become.

It’s not that I cannot appreciate superficial charm.  But these movies aren’t charming. Just superficial.

(more…)

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“MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL”: The further adventures of Wile E. Coyote

Posted in Popcorn movies, tagged , , , , , on December 16, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL” My rating: B

133 minutes | MPAA rating: PG-13

If “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol”  feels like a live-action version of a cartoon, it only stands to reason.

The man behind the camera is animator Brad Bird, who gave us “The Iron Giant,” “Ratatouille” and “The Incredibles,” three of the smartest and most ambitious animated features of recent years. And he brings to the “M:I” franchise the same breathless pacing, eye for action and sly humor that has marked his animated work. (more…)

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“YOUNG ADULT”: Comedy of selfishness

Posted in Popcorn movies, tagged , , , , on December 16, 2011| 2 Comments »

Charlize Theron...sizing up the competition

“YOUNG ADULT” My rating: B

94 minutes | MPAA rating: R

“Young Adult” doesn’t always work. But it takes enough chances to be kind of endearing…sort of like a Christmas package with a bomb inside.

For their sophomore effort director Jason Reitman and screenwriter Diablo Cody — who hit indy film gold a couple of years back with their teen pregnancy laugher “Juno” — deliver another comedy, albeit one from a considerably darker place.

(more…)

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“SAINT”: Bah. Humbug.

Posted in Popcorn movies, tagged , , on December 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“SAINT” My rating: C

85 minutes | No MPAA rating

Those who prefer their holiday cheer with a bracing dose of bad temper have an ally in Patrick Matthews, operator of the Screenland Crossroads.

Recognizing his establishment as the home of young, hip, thoroughly unsentimental moviegoers, he has in recent years made a point of booking anti-Christmas movies in December.

Last year it was the Finnish “Rare Exports,” a very black comedy which postulated that Santa Claus was actually an ancient demon with a voracious appetite for the flesh of young humans.

This year the Crossroads brings us “Saint,” which through a dark glass views Danish images of old St. Nick.

(more…)

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“HUGO”: A film about film

Posted in Popcorn movies, tagged , on November 23, 2011| 1 Comment »

Asa Butterfield as "Hugo"

“HUGO”  My rating: C+ 

127 minutes | MPAA rating: PG

This is a great idea for a movie.

Of course, that’s not the same thing as actually being a great movie.

“Hugo” finds American master Martin Scorsese turning his attention from R-rated mayhem to family-film friendliness.

But he struggles to put himself on a child’s wavelength. “Hugo” is too cerebral, too methodical, too cool in its emotional palette. There’s just not a lot of joy here.

Plenty of eye-popping visual magic, though. The film is Scorsese’s first in 3-D and it looks terrific. The settings and effects are splendid.

Still, this feels more like an elaborate test reel meant to try out visual tricks than a fully-shaped and inhabited drama.

(more…)

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“THE RUM DIARY”: Dissipation in paradise

Posted in Popcorn movies, tagged , on October 28, 2011| Leave a Comment »

“THE RUM DIARY” My rating: C- (Opening wide on Oct. 28)

120 minutes | MPAA rating: R

“The Rum Diary” is such a drab affair it  bears mentioning only as an example of how great movies stars can squander their popularity.

“Rum” marks the second time actor Johnny Depp has played famed gonzo journalist Hunter M. Thompson (actually here he plays a Thompson-like character). One can only assume that Depp finds inspiration or at the very least an acting challenge in portraying the chemically-addled, terminally sardonic writer/wastrel.

His first outing as Thompson was 1998’s “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” a surreal pigout that was fairly faithful to the book but still unremarkable.

“Rum”  is based on Thompson’s autobiographical novel about his early career as a newspaperman in the Caribbean.

The trailers make it look like a laugh-heavy dip into debauchery beneath the palms — all drink, drugs and beautiful women.

In truth, this is a sour, joyless tale of idealism run aground. And that would be acceptable if the film were better made.

(more…)

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“THE THING”: Who goes there? And why bother?

Posted in Popcorn movies, tagged , , , , , on October 14, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Mary Elizabeth Winstead battles "The Thing"

“THE THING” My rating: C (Opening wide Oct. 14)

103 minutes | MPAA rating: R

We’ve already seen two very good versions of “The Thing” (based on the classic sci-fi/horror story “Who Goes There?”), so anyone making yet a third “Thing” had better bring some new ideas to the table.

In the case of the film opening today, first-time feature director Matthijs van Heijningen and writer Bill Lancaster attempt to stir things up by making our protagonist a woman.

That’s it?  That’s the big twist?

(more…)

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