‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ pays homage while forging a new direction
Star Trek Into Darkness is a lot like the 2009 Trek movie, which is generally a positive thing. You can nitpick about the flaws and plot holes of both movies and director J.J. Abrams’ style all you want, but the fact of the matter is that Abrams has done something very hard to do: he has [...]
Movies MMSR: Gatsby isn’t a bust, but he’s still not the (Iron) man
The Great Gatsby had some potential to be a big bust. Coming out right after a movie that will be one of the biggest grossers of all-time in Iron Man 3, it was very possible audiences weren’t going to line up to re-experience high school English set to a Jay-Z soundtrack. Plus there was the [...]
‘The Great Gatsby’ is a visual feast, for good and bad
This Baz Luhrmann production is the fifth film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel, often considered one of the best examples of classic American literature. Even the cover of the celebrated novel is iconic. Commissioned by Francis Cugat, it depicts disembodied eyes and a mouth over a blue skyline, with images of naked women reflected in the [...]
‘Ender’s Game’ and ‘Odd Thomas’ trailers released
Two popular books have movies coming out soon–the 1985 novel Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, and the Dean Koontz book Odd Thomas, which came out in 2003. Both books spawned at least four more books, so the prospect for sequels is easily built into both if the movies are successful. Ender’s Game has to [...]
‘Iron Man 3′ is a fun ride
Iron Man 3 is a fun movie. Written in part and directed by Shane Black, who also wrote Lethal Weapon, the movie wisely takes Tony Stark in a different direction from the first two movies. By the third movie of many franchises the premise and characters start to wear thin, so Black puts Tony Stark [...]
Tough not to love ‘Mud’
This movie, written and directed by Jeff Nichols (Shotgun Stories), is a true Southern gothic–a modern twist on Mark Twain’s American classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, including the banks of the Mississippi, a confused youth, an outlaw on an island, a flood, bounty hunters and a fantastical conclusion. Filmed beautifully, with the Mississippi River [...]
Movies MMSR: ‘Iron Man 3′ absolutely kills it overseas
A couple of weeks ago I wrote that Oblivion kicked off the summer movie season, but Iron Man 3 will really kick it off this week. Marvel’s latest superhero offering opened this weekend in 42 markets outside the US, and it has already made a whopping $195.3 million dollars according to the movie’s distributor, Disney. [...]
‘Pain and Gain’ delivers the American Dream on a small(er) Bay budget
The American Dream. We all have it in some form or another. But for Miami bodybuilder Daniel Lugo (Mark Wahlberg) in the new film Pain and Gain, the American Dream is what life is all about. And he’s going to get it–because just like his favorite TV advice guru says, he is a doer, not [...]
Movies MMSR: Smart, scheduling ‘Oblivion’ early
Oblivion was the only major movie released this weekend. That seems to have been a good move by its producers. While getting a slightly above average reception from critics and audiences, it does not seem like the kind of movie that will hold its strength against the real summer blockbusters coming in May–sequels to The [...]
‘Oblivion’ starts the summer movie season with a ‘meh’
If Hollywood says it’s the time for the big summer movies, then by God it’s time for the big summer movies. If you don’t like it, move to Europe or something. Never mind–Oblivion already opened there last week. Hey, I enjoy movies. I don’t have a problem with wheeling out some of the big guns [...]