Monthly Archives: June 2014
22 Jump Street
Just as 2012’s 21 Jump Street knew it was a film adaptation of a television series, its sequel 22 Jump Street knows it’s a sequel. The co-directors of both films, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, have lots of fun with this concept. Not since Mel Brooks or the directing team of Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker […]
A Million Ways to Die in the West
When you’re directing a comedy, a good rule of thumb is to have at least one character who is consistently funny. One of A Million Ways to Die in the West‘s main problems is the fact that there is not one character who is in the least bit funny, interesting or remarkable to watch. All worthwhile […]
Chef
The legendary François Truffaut once said “Today, I demand that a film express either the joy of making cinema or the agony of making cinema. I am not at all interested in anything in between; I am not interested in all those films that do not pulse.” I was thinking of that quote after watching writer/director/star Jon Favreau’s latest film, […]
2001: A Space Odyssey
What else can you say about this movie that hasn’t been said before? Released in 1968, 2001: A Space Odyssey remains one of the most talked about, respected and polarizing science-fiction films of all time. It is a film that has been analyzed, theorized, criticized and idolized in constant reviews, commentaries, blogs, books, talk shows […]
Edge of Tomorrow
One of my favorite film sub-genres has long been the Time Travel Movie. These are movies that can, if done well, stretch the limits of imagination and film making ingenuity, or, can test your patience and frustrate you to no end. Some of my favorite Time Travel Movies (or TTMs) include Back to the Future, The Terminator, […]
X-Men: Days of Future Past
For those of you keeping count, this is the seventh time that Hugh Jackman has played that lovable Canadian superhero Wolverine (though his hilarious turn in X-Men: First Class was only a cameo). It says a great deal about the actor and the character that we aren’t tired of him yet (it says even more […]
Locke
About thirty seconds after the film ended and the credits began to roll, the young woman sitting next to me could be silent no longer. “That was the worst movie I’ve ever seen in my life,” she declared to the man sitting next to her. “A man driving in a car, talking on a phone […]
Top Shelf Movies 