Sort by
Listing Movies
Display Movies
The In-Laws (2003)
He's not losing his daughter. He's gaining a madman.
Filmmaker(s): Andrew Fleming

Right before his daughter's wedding, a mild-mannered foot doctor discovers that his new in-laws are international smugglers.

Hidden Agent Albert Brooks breaks my heart. Every time I encounter him I see near greatness. All he has to do is decide. But there must be some price he is unwilling to pay, because every outing (acting, directing, writing) there is a palpable holding back, an...


Published January 20, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
Blade Trinity (2004)
The final hunt begins.
Filmmaker(s): David S. Goyer

For years, Blade has fought against the vampires in the cover of the night. But now, after falling into the crosshairs of the FBI, he is forced out into the daylight, where he is driven to join forces with a clan of human vampire hunters he never knew existed—The Nightstalkers. Together with Abigail and Hannibal, two deftly trained Nightstalkers, Blade follows a trail of blood to the ancient creature that is also hunting him—the original vampire, Dracula.

Misplaced Zombies These kinds of movies are very easy to evaluate. They need to be merely competent in terms of action, motion and noise. Where they need to excel is in the engineering of a unique style and the concurrent weaving of the mystical or occult...


Published January 19, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
JCVD (2008)
The Biggest Fight of His Life!
Filmmaker(s): Mabrouk El Mechri

Between his tax problems and his legal battle with his wife for the custody of his daughter, these are hard times for the action movie star who finds that even Steven Seagal has pinched a role from him! This fictionalized version of Jean-Claude Van Damme returns to the country of his birth to seek the peace and tranquility he can no longer enjoy in the United States, but inadvertently gets involved in a bank robbery with hostages.

Hostages Divided Some friends recommended this because of the enfolded reality and story. Jean Claude, an actor in the film, plays himself as an actor between films who gets entangled in a “Dog Day Afternoon” movie-like robbery. If there was charm in this construction, it would have...


Published January 19, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
They can't keep their hands off each others assets.
Filmmaker(s): Joel Coen, Ethan Coen

A revenge-seeking gold digger marries a womanizing Beverly Hills lawyer with the intention of making a killing in the divorce.

Acting Out Trains I celebrate the Coens. I like how they try to surround the craft by doing projects of different kinds. It seems only Woody and these brothers like to walk on the edge of the universe to see how big it is. So even...


Published January 19, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Twos |
Tagged: , ,
Into the West (2005)
Filmmaker(s): Omar Naim

The lives of two families, one white American, one native American, become mingled through the momentous events of American expansion, between 1825 and 1890.

Not Reinvented I’m constantly amazed. No matter how repetitive and unimaginative mainstream movies get, TeeVee always is worse, much worse. The western has been reinvented and “made honest” so many times there’s no way one can find its centre any more. So you have two choices, either...


Published January 19, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
Iron Man (2008)
Heroes aren't born. They're built.
Filmmaker(s): Jon Favreau

After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.

Too Contained I did not expect much from this. Marvel just seems to make what seems to me ordinary, boring movies. I was hopeful this time because the three main actors have done some rather elaborate work so far as reflected acting. Downey is something of...


Published January 19, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
Invisible (2007)
Life, death and something in between.
Filmmaker(s): David S. Goyer

After an attack leaves him in limbo -- invisible to the living and also near death -- a teenager discovers the only person who might be able help him is his attacker.

Disembodied Eye Many of these teen movies have to distinguish themselves by leveraging narrative tricks. That’s because the market restricts the story so much that it is impossible to stand out. The narrative device that interests me is when the viewer is deliberately placed in the...


Published January 19, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Twos |
Tagged: , ,
Invictus (2009)
His people needed a leader. He gave them a champion.
Filmmaker(s): Clint Eastwood

Newly elected President Nelson Mandela knows his nation remains racially and economically divided in the wake of apartheid. Believing he can bring his people together through the universal language of sport, Mandela rallies South Africa's rugby team as they make their historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship match.

Locker Room Lockup To my mind, this is less about South Africa, sport and Mandela than about another man. Oh, the drama was really there. It doesn’t matter that it was not as significant in uniting a nation as depicted. How could it be? How could it? But...


Published January 19, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
Black Snake Moan (2006)
Everything is hotter down south.
Filmmaker(s): Craig Brewer

A God-fearing bluesman takes to a wild young woman who, as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, is looking everywhere for love, but never quite finding it.

Too Costly All films cost the viewer something. We have to relinquish certain core parts of ourselves in a negotiation with the filmmaker, as a contract to collaborate with him/her in a shared adventure. Never, ever is this cost slight; in fact the ability to place...


Published January 19, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Ones |
Tagged: , ,
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Something wicked this way comes.
Filmmaker(s): Alfonso Cuarón

Year three at Hogwarts means new fun and challenges as Harry learns the delicate art of approaching a Hippogriff, transforming shape-shifting Boggarts into hilarity and even turning back time. But the term also brings danger: soul-sucking Dementors hover over the school, an ally of the accursed He-Who-Cannot-Be-Named lurks within the castle walls, and fearsome wizard Sirius Black escapes Azkaban. And Harry will confront them all.

Spaniard in the Works This franchise is being managed extremely well, better than any other. The “Lord of the Rings” films were all of a single whole, while these Harry Potter movies are each cognisant of what went before, changing and maturing just as would an...


Published January 19, 2024
| Categorised as IMDB Comments, Threes |
Tagged: , ,
preloader image