Mike's Movie Tips

2.5/4 Starring (voices): Brianne Sidall, Tony Pope, Jamieson Price, Michael Reisz, Rebecca Forstadt, Scott Weinger, Simon Prescott Rated PG-13 for Violence and Images of Destruction One can call Rintaro's "Metropolis" (not the 1927 Fritz Lang classic) many things, but no one can claim that it is not ambitious.  On the whole, the movie doesn't work, but at least it tries to do something different.  And as is usually the case (except for when the director is completely in over his head or on an ego trip), it's more interesting for all the themes and ideas it presents. The city of Metropolis is the city of the future.  It consists of three zones which together form a fully functioning society.  A major politician (and the city's unofficial leader), Duke Red (Price), has just completed the Ziggurat, a technological breakthrough of a building.  The opening of the Ziggurat is besmirched by a revolution, where anti-robot protesters are revolting against the i...

0.5/4 Starring: Jennifer Jostyn, Erin Daniels, Chris Hardwick, Rainn Wilson, Sid Haig, Bill Mosely, Karen Black, Sheri Moon Rated R for Strong Sadistic Violence/Gore and Language If you're going to pay homage to something, make sure that it's worthy of such an honor. "House of 1,000 Corpses" is Rob Zombie's love letter to those cheesy exploitation films that littered the underground theaters in the 70's.  Strictly speaking, I haven't seen one of them straight through, but I know enough about them to know what they are.  While I can see the appeal of some of them to a certain kind of audience (Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino made "Grindhouse," a double feature designed to emulate these movies), I can't really see anyone finding much to appreciate with Rob Zombie's directorial debut. There's really not much of a plot.  It starts out like many other horror movies, where a few young people make an amazingly stupid decision...

1.5/4 Starring: Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba, Kate Hudson, Simon Baker, Eilas Koteas, Ned Beatty Rated R for Disturbing Brutal Violence, Abberant Sexual Content and Some Graphic Nudity “The Killer Inside Me” is one of those annoying movies where everyone talks but doesn’t say anything.  That may work for classic literature, but not for a potboiler like this one.  Screenwriter John Curran doesn’t understand this, since he wrote this movie (based on the book by Jim Thompson) and directed the equally senseless “Stone.”  At least this one has a semblance of a plot (much as Curran tries to hide that fact). Lou Ford (Affleck) is a sheriff’s deputy in a small Oklahoma town.  One day, he is sent to run a prostitute (Alba) out of town.  He meets her and after beating her, they discover that they both have an interest in S&M.  After a few weeks of nightly encounters, she tells him that she is being run out of town because the son of Chester Conwa...

2/4 Starring: Dane Cook, Kate Hudson, Jason Biggs, Alec Baldwin, Lizzy Caplan, Riki Lindhome The version being reviewed is the unrated one.  For the record, the theatrical cut was rated R for Strong Language and Sexual Content Throughout, including Graphic Dialogue and Some Nudity These days, when audiences want a comedy, they want it raunchy and they want it raw.  The more disgusting and the more outrageous, the better.  But, it's a bonus if they can add a dose of sweetness to it, like in " American Pie " (also starring Jason Biggs) or "There's Something About Mary," which arguably started the trend of sweet but raunchy comedies.  "My Best Friend's Girl" tries, with some success, to enter into this arena.  Despite the sharing of three of four words in the title, this should not be confused with " My Best Friend's Wedding ."  It's raunchy, but it's not nearly as funny or romantic. Dusty (Biggs) is a shy guy who is ...

2.5/4 Starring: Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf Rated R for Disturbing and Graphic Depiction of Violent Anti-Social Behavior, Sexuality and Language "Fight Club" is a mixture of brutal violence, philosophy and film noir.  It contains elements of " The Matrix ," "Office Space," and " My Dinner With Andre ."  Needless to say, this is not a boring movie.  Overlong, yes, but it's still interesting. A man (Norton) is living with insomnia.  He's going through each day like it's deja vu.  His doctor blows him off and tells him to go to support groups to know what real pain is.  Surprisingly, the culture of honesty and openness is therapeutic and he gets addicted.  That fizzles out when he meets another support group tourist named Marla Singer (Carter), who becomes distracting.  One night, after one of his numerous and dehumanizing business trips, he comes home to find that his apartment has exploded.  He g...

2.5/4 Starring: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox Rated R for Strong Disturbing Violence including Rape and Some Language I've heard "Deliverance" described as a "classic" in some circles.  Such a description confounds me.  While there are some intense scenes and a little philosophical musings in the first act (which always impresses the critics, although none of it is developed or enlightening), the film is a bore.  The themes and ideas that the film is built upon are trite, and they've been done better in other films.  "Deliverance" brings to mind a number of later films, including " The Descent ," for reasons which are obvious (including a word for word line that serves the same purpose), "A Simple Plan," and, surprisingly, "I Know What You Did Last Summer."  All three of those movies are superior to "Deliverance." The Cahulawassee River is about to be dammed up, turning much of it i...

3/4 Starring: Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith, Robert DeNiro Rated R (for Graphic Violence and Some Language...I guess) "The Untouchables" is one of those grand gangster epics that brings to mind "Goodfellas" and "The Godfather."  Director Brian De Palma widens the scope with huge, spacious shots to increase the size of the film...so to speak.  It's not flawless, but it is entertaining. In the 1920's, Prohibition was in full swing.  Because the demand for alcohol is still high, the law leaves an opening for the mob to battle for the control of liquor.  The so-called "Beer Wars" are ravaging Chicago, with legendary mafioso Al Capone (DeNiro).  Capone has his fingers in every part of the law, so he's essentially untouchable.  A Treasury officer named Elliot Ness (Costner) has been sent in to take down Capone, although it's tough going.  Then he meets a beat cop named Malone (Connery), who tells...

3/4 Starring: Halle Berry, Abigail Breslin, Morris Chestnut, Michael Eklund, Roma Maffia, Evie Thompson Rated R for Violence, Disturbing Content, and Some Language "The Call" is a thriller that depends on how many wrenches and new twists the writer can throw in the story.  With "The Call," screenwriter Richard D'Ovidio (who came up with the story with Nicole D'Ovidio and John Bokenkamp) comes up with enough ideas to sustain a 90 minute movie, and director Brad Anderson keeps things moving fast enough that he never loses our interest. Jordan Turner (Berry) is a 911 dispatcher in what appears to be Los Angeles.  She's very good at what she does, able to calmly help everyone who calls from people who have shot someone or witnesses to an injury, or the local drunk.  One day she gets a call from a young girl, Leah Templeton (Thompson) who is in a panic because there is a man who is breaking into her house.  But when Jordan makes a mistake that leads t...

3.5/4 Starring: Simon Pegg, Andy Serkis, Isla Fisher, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Curry, Jessica Hynes, Ronnie Corbett Rated R for Some Sexual Content, Disturbing Images and Language There's nothing wrong with changing the facts to make it a better story.  It happens all the time.  In the case of "Burke and Hare," the story of two murderers in 1828 London, an entire genre.  Admittedly, there's something creepy and sinister about making two serial killers into lovable rogues, but at least the film is honest about it.  And with John Landis at the helm (who established long ago that he has an offbeat sense of humor), rest assured that it's going to be an unusual tale. In 1828, there is a competition between two rival surgeons, Dr. Robert Knox (Wilkinson) and Dr. Alexander Monro (Curry).  They're battling over a lot of research money and recognition, and both will do anything to get ahead.  Meanwhile, two con men, William Burke (Pegg) and William Hare (Serkis), ...

3/4 Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Vince Vaughn, Vincent D'Onofrio, Dylan Baker, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Jake Weber Rated R for Bizarre Violence and Sexual Images, Nudity and Language If I had to pick one word to describe "The Cell," it would be this: ambitious.  Tarsem Singh's feature film debut (after directing music videos) attempts to do a startling amount of things within a 107 minute time frame.  This includes: tell a crime story about a serial killer, explore the psychology behind said serial killer, establish and use a pseudo-science that the plot depends on, and tell a coming of age story (of sorts) of a social worker.  In the end, it's a little too much for Tarsem to juggle, but that doesn't mean it's a failure. Catharine Deane (Lopez) is a social worker with an extremely unusual practice.  Instead of talking to her patients, she uses a machine to go deep into their subconscious.  There, according to her, is where they can she can see what her...

3.5/4 Starring: Andy Garcia, Mick Jagger, Julianna Margulies, Olivia Williams, James Coburn, Anjelica Huston Rated R for Language and Sexual Content I'm a writer.  That should be plainly obvious since I write movie reviews for about 99.9% of the movies I watch.  No, but seriously.  I write novels in my free time.  I just finished one earlier this year.  I guess this is one of the many reasons why I responded so well to the characters in "The Man from Elysian Fields."  The characters in this film are intelligent and articulate, and the subject matter about the process of writing rings true.  Any writers or lovers of literature would do well to see this film.  And any lover of good, intelligent cinema. Byron Tiller (Garcia) is a talented but unsuccessful writer.  His first novel, "Hitler's Child," got great reviews, but didn't sell.  His newest work (which he spent the last seven years on) has been rejected by his publisher. Desper...

3/4 Starring: Chris O'Donnell, Robin Tunney, Bill Paxton, Scott Glenn, Nicolas Lea, Izabella Scorupco, Steve Le Marquand, Ben Mendelsohn Rated PG-13 for Intense Life/Death Situations and Brief Strong Language "Vertical Limit" succeeds because of the excellent staging by director Martin Campbell.  The film is Screenplay 101 (okay, it's well written for an action movie, but still), but because of the top-notch performances and especially the energetic direction, this movie is a real winner. Peter Garrett (O'Donnell) and his sister Annie (Tunney) have been climbers all their lives.  They were taught how by their father, renowned climber Royce Garrett (Stuart Wilson).  After a tragedy on a climb, Peter hasn't been on a mountain since.  Annie, however, has become internationally famous, which brings her into contact with business mogul Elliot Vaughn (Paxton).  Vaughn wants to climb to the top of K2 and wave on the inaugural flight of his new ai...

2/4 Starring: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff, Joey King Rated PG for Sequences of Action and Scary Images, and Brief Mild Language As anyone who has seen the trailer for "Oz the Great and Powerful" can attest, the film looks fantastic.  There's eye candy a plenty to be found in Sam Raimi's tour of Oz.  Sadly, while it has enough visual dazzle for a whole summer release window, it lacks in other areas, like story and acting. Oz (Franco) is an arrogant, small time magician who wants to be a great man.  After he's proven to be a charlatan when asked to perform an impossible task (making a little girl (King) walk again), he's run out of his show.  Later on, when he's being chased by the Strongman (for reasons not explained), he escapes into a hot air balloon.  It's short-lived relief because he ends up flying into a tornado (a cool, but overlong, sequence, by the way) and landing in a bizarre world called, wai...

2/4 Starring: Thure Lindhardt, Zachary Booth, Julianne Nicholson Not Rated (Contains Strong Graphic Sexuality and Nudity, Explicit Sexual Dialogue and Drug Use) "Keep the Lights On" is one of those movies that has solid material, but it feels like you're only getting half of the story.  There are lots of holes that should be plugged, and the characters' relationship feels half-baked.  I bought everything I saw except the final act, but I felt like I was missing a lot of what went on behind the scenes. Erik (Lindhardt) is a filmmaker living in New York City.  He's single, but craves love.  He fills the void with anonymous sex, which is how he meets Paul (Booth), a closeted publisher.  But like Erik, Paul has his own demons, specifically an addiction to crack cocaine. The first problem is that the beginning of the romance between Erik and Paul is rushed through to the point of being non-existent.  In order to have an investment in their fates, we ha...

2/4 Starring: Cuba Gooding, Jr., Anthony Hopkins, Donald Sutherland, Maura Tierney, John Ashton, George Dzundza Rated R for Some Intense Violent Behavior Sometimes the choice of a director can tank a film.  Take "Die Another Day," Lee Tamahori's Bond entry.  It was so bad that it sent Hollywood's longest running franchise into turnaround.  While it's unfair to lay the blame of "Instinct's" inadequacies solely at the feet of Jon Turteltaub (script problems are ever present too), a lot of it is because Turteltaub, known previously (and after) for kid's movies like "3 Ninjas" and "While You Were Sleeping."  This is not the kind of pedigree one needs for an emotionally charged psychological drama/thriller.  Instead of the thematically complex and provocative film I was hoping for, I ended up with a shallow, occasionally preposterous and frequently overblown misfire. Theo Caulder (Gooding, Jr.) is a psychiatrist on his way ...

2.5/4 Starring: Jason Scott Lee, Louise Lombard, Sean Pertwee, Jack Davenport, Michael Lerner, Shelly Duvall, Christopher Lee Rated R for Violence and Gore, and for Some Language There are two ways to look at this movie.  As a straight horror movie, it's the definition of mediocrity.  As a cheesefest filled with unintentional laughs, it approaches the level of "guilty pleasure."  The acting is decent, but the special effects are embarrassingly bad.  So bad, in fact, that they produce laughter rather than chills. A group of archaeologists, led by Sir Richard Turkel (Lee), has unearthed a long forgotten tomb under the sands of Egypt.  But just as they open the tomb, a mysterious force turns them all to stone.  Fifty years later, Turkel's granddaughter, Samantha (Lombard), follows his footsteps and unearths a mummy (whose burial has absolutely zero connection to anything that happened in Ancient Egypt, but that's par for the course).  Back in Engl...

3/4 Starring: Penelope Ann Miller, Tom Sizemore, Linda Hunt, James Whitmore, Clayton Rohner, Chi Muoi Lo Rated R for Monster Violence and Gore, and for Language Monsters, museums, science (well, what passes for it in a horror movie)...yes please! "The Relic" is a very silly movie.  There's no doubt about that.  It's also a lot of fun.  But only if you're into this sort of thing.  Anyone who doesn't appreciate loving nods to the genre conventions with a sizable amount of gore need not put this into the DVD player. The film opens up deep in the Amazon, where a scientist (Lewis Van Bergen) is attending a ritual of a local tribe.  They give him a potion to drink, but once he does, he loses it.  A week later, a ship arrives from Brazil with lots of blood splattered everywhere and severed limbs in a container.  Detective Vincent D'Agosta (Sizemore) is on the case, which grows more strange when a security guard at the museum is found decapitated and...

3.5/4 Rated PG-13 for Language I'm not the world's biggest documentary fan.  Due to the nature of the genre, they can come off as more school lessons than movies.  Done right, however, as is the case with "My Kid Could Paint That," they become more fascinating than many fictional movies. The film is about Marla Olmstead, a four year old girl who likes to paint.  The thing is, she's really good.  So good, in fact, that she attracts the attention of artist Anthony Brunelli, who is looking to open up his own gallery.  He sees her paintings in a coffee shop and agrees to have a showing for her work.  Her works sell like wildfire, each painting garnering higher and higher prices.  The four year old girl is the talk of the art world, and Marla and her family are swooped up into this whirlwind of attention and media frenzy.  That's when an interview on "60 Minutes II" changed everything.  Ellen Winner, a child psychologist claimed that Marla w...