Adventure, 100 Minutes, 2014
This is a completely formula, by-the-numbers family film. Bright, colorful animated characters voiced by famous people. Lots of jokes with popular references. Fast action! A simple plot! A super-sappy emotional message!
Folks, sometimes formula works. Sometimes formula works really, damn well.
Zombie alert!
See the review of “Zombie Cheerleading Camp” on our sister site, MoreBrains.com dedicated to all things zombie!
Thriller, 88 Minutes, 2009:
Thomas Jane [IMDB] stars in and directs this dark, psychological thriller. Dick (Jane) and Gina (Lauren German [IMDB]) met, fell in love and got married all in the same day. But that’s the kind of thing that happens in Las Vegas. They’re driving Gina’s old Ford through the desert at night – it’s the only way to beat the heat – so that they can start their new life together. Things go from bad to worse when they run down an accident victim and have to deal with a quickly unraveling set of circumstances.
In Not Guilty: Superman Returns revisited, blastr.com’s Cher Martinetti expands on a point I’ve been making for years: “Superman Returns” [IMDB] rocked. While I normally prefer to defend the position by suggesting opponents lack the ability to find their elbows with both hands, Cher has decided to present well-constructed arguments instead.
I agree with every point she makes. The movie was a delicate homage and spiritual climax to Richard Donner’s 1978 classic, “Superman” [IMDB] and his sadly marred vision for “Superman II” [IMDB] (which was only realized partially decades later with his labor-of-love, special edition, “Superman II: Richard Donner Cut” [IMDB]). It also does the world a favor by completely ignoring the existence of “Superman 3” and “Superman 4: The Quest for Peace” (sorry, folks: I won’t even link to them).
The three movies together, “Superman”, “Superman II: Richard Donner Cut” and “Superman Returns” perfectly transition Superman across multiple generations. I was eight years-old when I first saw “Superman” in the theater and my son was eight years-old when I took him to see “Superman Returns”. I was thrilled to be able to share Superman with him. Not a “reimagining” or an “interpretation” but – essentially – the same Superman that had made such an impact on me.
I’m not against change. I loved “Man of Steel” [My Review] and I’m looking forward to seeing more of our new Superman. Still, I’ll always be thankful to “Superman Returns” for allowing me to share a new adventure of my Superman with my son.
Zombie alert!
See thereview of “Dead Heads” on our sister site, MoreBrains.com dedicated to all things zombie!
Comedy/Romance, 89 Minutes, 2012
Bruce (Chris O’Dowd [IMDB]) is a jerk. A royal douchebag. A super-deluxe, extra-cheese, leather-trimmed, super-sized asshole. He also styles himself a film director and spent most of his life torturing his little brother, Frankie (Charlie Hunnam [IMDB]), on film for his own amusement. After an egotistic meltdown and months in rehab he’s back. Frankie’s having issues of his own. Having recently been left horribly at the altar he’s assumed a self-imposed exile to try and finish his novel. Parental guilt brings him back home to celebrate his brother’s sobriety and things go south from there.
“Thor: The Dark World” on IMDB
Action/Fantasy, 112 Minutes, 2013
Thor, you crazy asgardian god, what’s going on?! Why are you throwing your hammer around? You look like somebody kicked your puppy. What? Your little friend from down in that other dimension get herself all infected with all-powerful ancient evil? Well, I’m sure she’ll be alright.
Sci-fi/Horror, 86 Minutes, 2012
Stop me if you heard this one before: a bunch of scientists in a secret underground base are creating monsters. Something goes very wrong (or very right, I suppose) and the monsters get out. The base goes dark. The government sends in a crack squad of soldiers to clean up the mess and kill anybody left breathing. When they get there it’s more than they bargained for and everything goes pear-shaped. One of the experimental subjects turns out to be the former lover of one of the commandos. He ignores his orders to kill her on sight. The head scientist doesn’t want to see his greatest achievement killed and he tries to sabotage the mission…
Sci-fi/Horror, 126 Minutes, 2007
The tale of the 47 Ronin is based on an actual event that took place in Japan early in the 18th century. It’s widely considered to be the most important example of the samurai’s code of Bushido. The tale describes how a feudal lord was unjustly forced to commit ritual suicide and how his former Samurai planned for almost two years to avenge him knowing that they would share, and accept, the same fate. It has come to epitomize the Japanese sense of loyalty, honor and duty and is one of the most adapted stories in Japanese culture. Some call it, the country’s “national legend”.
Horror, 120 Minutes, 2006
I’m not sure where this movie has been hiding for 10 years, but it should have come out and waved a long time ago! Classically themed monster movies are something of a rarity; especially in the United States. Luckily, as is often the case, the foreign market – in this case South Korea – is often ready to step in and pick the slack when Hollywood decides that moony-eyed-teen-love-triangles is the only thing that will sell.
