Mike's Movie Tips

2/4 Starring: John Cusack, Gong Li, Ken Watanabe, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chow Yun-Fat, David Morse Rated R for Strong Violence, Some Drug Use and Brief Language Ever since I heard about this project a few years ago, I was dying to see it.  I'm a huge fan of Gong Li, and the thought of her (not to mention two of Asia's biggest male stars appearing with her) made me drool with anticipation.  I waited patiently for its release.  And waited.  And waited.  Anticipation gave way to frustration as the film had been delayed for two years (even though it had been submitted to the MPAA), and through research I concluded that the film would never see the light of day in the U.S.  Finally, I decided to see if I could get it on Blu Ray, which I eventually did. The obvious question is why the film wasn't released in the U.S.?  I mean, it has John Cusack and his Asian co-stars aren't exactly unknowns.  Ken Watanabe got an Oscar nomination for " The Last Sa...

.5/4 Starring: Robert Redford, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, Steve Burton, Clifton Collins Jr., Delroy Lindo Rated R for Language and Violence Movies like "The Last Castle" piss me off.  It's unbearably boring, serious to the point of making a funeral look happy, and lacking in any sort of intelligence.  What kind of a moron thought that this could work?  Sure, there are a few nice performances, but for what?  To speak asinine dialogue in the service of a story that is afraid to have any shred of darkness?  To continually insult the brainpower of anyone who watches it?  To put insomniacs to sleep?  I don't know, but I'd like to ask director Rod Lurie and screenwriters David Scarpa and Graham Yost.  And I want payment for my pain and suffering for watching this garbage. The film can boast at least a semi-interesting idea: a prisoner rallies up the fellow inmates to take over the prison from the brutal warden.  Unfortunately, any shre...

2/4 Starring: Charlize Theron, Johnny Depp, Joe Morton, Clea DuVall, Donna Murphy, Nick Cassavettes, Blair Brown, Tom Noonan Rated R for Violence, Language, and a Strong Scene of Sexuality Psychological thrillers are fairly risky to make.  A good thriller in general is hard to get right, but a thriller like "The Astronaut's Wife" can't fall back on action scenes or chases to keep the audience from falling asleep.  Done right, you can end up with " Single White Female " or " The Debt ."  Done poorly, you can end up with something like "The Astronaut's Wife." Rand Ravich's directorial debut is not a terrible movie.  Despite his miscalculations, his two stars, Charlize Theron and Johnny Depp, are consistently good.  The story is engaging enough, and he effectively sets up the story.  That being said, there are plenty of serious problems that keep this "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" movie from being the terrifying ...

3/4 Starring: Sandra Bullock, Jason Patric, Willem Dafoe, Temura Morrison, Brian McCardie Rated PG-13 for Frenetic Disaster Action and Violence " Speed " was an unexpected blockbuster for 20th Century Fox.  Originally an August release, it was moved up to July when a producer for the studio realized that he had a hit on his hands when test audience members were walking backwards to the bathroom so they would miss as little as possible.  Easily one of the best and most original action thrillers ever committed to celluloid, the box office success demanded a sequel.  Which brings us to "Speed 2: Cruise Control."  While it has earmarks to its successor (including the return of the leading lady, Sandra Bullock), they're wildly different movies.  "Speed" was a white knuckler with moments of humor to release the tension.  "Speed 2" is more comical, almost to the point where it is appropriate to classify it as an action comedy. The film begin...

2.5/4 Starring: Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire, Anne Revere, John Garfield, Albert Dekker, Dean Stockwell Not Rated It's easy to "talk the talk" but difficult to "walk the walk."  What I mean is that it's easy to say that we'd stick to the moral high ground, but when push comes to shove, we usually give in to social, economic or political pressures to make life easier.  But as Phil Green learns, appeasement only keeps the vicious cycle of discrimination going. Widower Phil Green (Peck) has just moved from California to New York City to write an article for a left-wing magazine.  His editor, John Minify (Dekker), wants him to do a piece of anti-Semitism.  Initially, Phil is enthusiastic, but becomes despondent when unable to find a new and interesting angle.  That's when he decides to use his well-worn tactic of immersing himself in the stories he writes.  He'll pass himself off as Jewish to get a first hand look at anti-Semitism and its ef...

2.5/4 Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike Rated R for Pervasive Language including Sexual References Everyone seems to "get" British humor but me.  I'm not a Monty Python fan, and I didn't care for "A Fish Called Wanda."  In both of those, I saw the jokes but found them to be so lacking in life and energy that I wasn't laughing.  The same goes for "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz."  Could see the humor, but wasn't laughing.  Which brings us to "The World's End," the final film in the trilogy which Simon Pegg and co-writer/director Edgar Wright dubbed, "The Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy."  It's the best of the three, with more than a few laugh out loud moments, but it's too inconsistent for me to recommend. The plot sounds like "The Hangover" meets last years misfire " The Watch ."  Five friends reunite twenty three...

1/4 Starring: Sharni Vinson, Nicholas Tucci, Wendy Glenn, AJ Bowen, Joe Swanberg, Rob Moran, Margaret Laney, AmySeimetz, Barbara Crampton Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence, Language and Some Sexuality/Nudity Why would anyone want to see this movie?  Seriously, there is nothing of value here unless you're looking for a bunch of generic slasher movie scenes strung together with a plot too thin to sustain a ten minute short.  The acting is lousy, the characters are boring and stupid and annoying.  And the camera rarely stops shaking. For their thirty-fifth anniversary, Paul (Moran) and Aubrey (Crampton) are bringing their children (plus each's romantic interest) to celebrate at their out of the way vacation home.  Crispian (Bowen) brings his new girlfriend Erin (Vinson), Felix (Tucci) brings goth Zee (Glenn), Drake (Swanberg) brings Kelly (Laney), and Aimee (Seimetz) brings Tariq (" The Innkeepers " director Ti West, who might want to deny ever appearing in thi...

2/4 Starring: Forest Whitaker, David Oyelowo, Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding Jr. Rated PG-13 for Some Violence and Disturbing Images, Language, Sexual Material, Thematic Elements and Smoking "Lee Daniel's The Butler" (the director's name was added after a lawsuit filed by Warner Brothers) suffers from too much ambition.  There's simply too much material to cover in a hair over two hours.  While there are instances where a movie of a decent length has encapsulated a large amount of time and characters (" Memoirs of a Geisha " and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" are two, although they were both around 2.5 hours as opposed to 2 hours 10 minutes here), they're the exceptions to the rule.  It has the cast, but the script is weak. Cecil Gaines (Whitaker) grew up on a cotton plantation.  After his dad was murdered on the job by one of the owners there (a stiff Alex Pettyfer), one of the older women on the plantation (Vanessa Redgrave) m...

3.5/4 Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Chloe Sevigny, Elias Koteas Rated R for Some Strong Killings, Language, Drug Material and Brief Sexual Images During the late 1960's and early 1970's, Southern California was terrorized by a serial killer who called himself the Zodiac and taunted the police through the newspapers.  He was never caught. David Fincher's film details the investigation from the second murder to the Robert Graysmith's resolution (while the killer was never officially caught, the story is resolved).  At first, we follow police inspectors Dave Toschi (Ruffalo) and his partner, William Armstrong (Edwards) chase down leads and investigate.  Once the killings stop, the film shifts gears as the investigation comes to a standstill.  From there, the film's focus turns to Robert (who up until this point has been more or less a background character) whose obsession with closure may make him an unofficial cas...

2/4 Starring: Kane, Christina Vidal, Luke Pegler, Samantha Noble, Steven Vidler Rated R for Strong Gruesome Violence and Gore Throughout, Language, Sexual Content and Some Drug Use There's really not much that differentiates "See No Evil" from any other slasher movie.  Sure the actors are different, as is the killer's m.o., but that's pretty much it.  A group of stupid characters do stupid things and pay a grisly price for it.  People who venture into this movie will get what they paid for.  Pity it isn't better... In this movie, a group of juvenile delinquents are a part of a new program.  In exchanged for getting a month off their sentences, they'll spend a weekend cleaning up the Blackwell Hotel.  Naturally, none of the teen's (who have various criminal records...not that the film really puts their "talents" to good use).  They do what everyone does in a slasher movie: pair up for hot encounters and get picked off one by one. Thi...

3/4 Starring: Woody Harrelson, Courtney Love, Edward Norton, Bret Harrelson, Donna Hanover, James Cromwell, Richard Paul Rated R for Strong Sexual Material, Nudity, Language and Drug Use Next to Hugh Hefner, Larry Flynt is the most well-known (and in some circles, infamous) figure of the pornography industry.  A staunch supporter of free speech and an unapologetic rabblerouser, Larry Flynt is not the easiest man to get along with.  That said, he survived an assassination attempt and a landmark Supreme Court victory.  This guy is one tough cookie. Larry Flynt (Harrelson) started out in relatively humble beginnings.  He was a moonshiner as a kid, and grew up to own a few strip clubs.  But due to the laws at the time, his ability to spread the word about his business nearly caused him to go under.  So he decided to print a newsletter, come hell or high water.  That brought in the customers, but also incurred the wrath of Charles Keating (Cromwell)...

1.5/4 Starring: James Spader, Angela Bassett, Peter Facinelli, Lou Diamond Philips, Robin Tunney, Wilson Cruz, Robert Forster Rated R for Sexuality and Some Violence I've heard "Supernova" described as "sci-fi porn."  While none of the characters get freaky with aliens like Captain Kirk does in the "Star Trek" movies, it has the same level of entertainment value.  The story is trite and often doesn't make much sense.  The script is awful.  The special effects are lousy.  The direction is shitty (constant close-ups).  The acting is okay when the director (who I'll get to later) isn't forcing his actors to mumble their lines.  All in all, it's a movie that deserves its status as a legendary bomb. In the future, humans have achieved space travel.  Medical rescue vessel Nightingale 9 has received a distress call from deep space.  They have a small crew: Captain A.J. Marley (Forster), medical officer Kayla Evers (Bassett), medical te...

3/4 Starring: Aaron Poole, Julian Richings and the voices of Vanessa Redgrave and Charlotte Sullivan Not Rated (contains scary moments) Clearly, writer/director Rodrigo Gudino is a fan of those survival horror video games, specifically the point-and-click ones.  The whole film feels like one of them, from the camera angles to the characters movements.  The lead character finds a clue, solves a puzzle and moves on.  Normally, a video game come to life isn't necessarily a good thing, but those games were all about solving puzzles and clicking things rather than shooting badguys, so not much personal involvement has gone away. Leon (Poole) has been estranged from his mother Rosalind (Redgrave) ever since the death of his father.  A devout believer in a mysterious sect of Christianity, Rosalind desperately tried to bring Leon into the fold.  Leon wasn't having any of it, and now that she's dead, he intends to sell the place.  But during his night's stay...

3/4 Starring: Rex Harrison, Margaret Lockwood, Paul von Henreid, Basil Radford, Naunton Wayne, James Harcourt Not Rated (contains some Violence...probable PG) "Night Train to Munich" is a blend of suspense, action and romance.  It's an interesting confection to be sure, and while it doesn't always gel, it's definitely a lot of fun. The story begins in the days leading up to World War II.  The German army has just invaded Czechoslovakia, and the government is desperate to get one of their scientists, Axel Bomasch (Harcourt), out of the country.  Bomasch has been researching a new kind of steel plating, and that would spell doom for freedom if it fell into the hands of the Nazis.  They have arranged for him and his daughter, Anna (Lockwood) to flee to England.  But while Axel escapes, Anna is caught and sent to a concentration camp.  There, she meets Karl Marsen (von Henreid), who helps her escape.  Unfortunately, Karl is a double agent, and is u...

3.5/4 Starring: Kevin Costner, Jay O. Sanders, Michael Rooker, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Oldman, Sissy Spacek, Wayne Knight, Joe Pesci, Tommy Lee Jones Rated R for Language There are few days in our nation's relatively short history that stand out with tragedy and urgency.  Pearl Harbor entered us into World War II.  September 11, 2001 started the War on Terror and Operation Iraqi Freedom (the former of which is still going on).  Another event is November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.  While that didn't provoke a war, it did shake the American people to their core. Oliver Stone has always made films with a message or to show an opinion of something.  "Platoon," " Natural Born Killers ," "Wall Street," the list goes on.  With "JFK," Stone raises questions about the most tragic and mysterious event of the 1960's.  Based on two books (one by the lead character, Jim Garrison) and ext...

2/4 Starring: Brad Renfro, Ian McKellan, Bruce Davison, Ann Dowd, David Schwimmer Rated R for Scenes of Strong Violence, Language and Brief Sexuality Every now and then, film critics toss around the term "good premise, bad execution."  What this means is that while the idea is good, the filmmakers screwed the pooch when adapting it to the screen.  Such a term describes the film "Apt Pupil."  The idea, an innocent young boy being seduced into evil by a Nazi war criminal on the lam, is interesting.  But Bryan Singer fumbles the ball...majorly. Todd Bowden (Renfro) is a brilliant high school student in Southern California.  He's on his way to becoming the school's valedictorian, but one day he spies a curious man on a bus.  That man is Kurt Dussander (McKellan), a notorious Nazi war criminal.  Dussander has been in hiding for the past 40 years, and Todd has a hunch that it's him.  When confronted with the truth, Dussander agrees to Todd's dem...

2.5/4 Starring: Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Om Puri, Ken Stott, Julia Roberts Rated R for Strong Language, Nudity/Sexual Content, and Some Drug Use "Charlie Wilson's War" is one of those movies that sounds a lot better than it actually is.  A biopic about a hard-partying congressman of little importance who, through hard work and smart moves behind the scenes, ends up saving a nation from foreign invaders.  That sounds good, doesn't it?  Unfortunately, the film is really dry and not particularly interesting. Charlie Wilson (Hanks) is a member of the U.S. Representatives from Texas's 2nd district.  He has no real importance (one of his first scenes has him trying to convince a Christian zealot (Peter Gerety) to back off protesting the fact that he can't have a manger on the parking lot of a fire department), which leaves him time for his real passions: women and booze.  But then he sees a news segment about the plight of the Afghan peo...

3.5/4 Starring: Eric Bana, Daniel Craig, Ciaran Hinds, Mathieu Kassovitz, Hanns Zischler, Mathieu Almaric, Michael Lonsdale, Ayelet Zurer, Lynn Cohen Rated R for Strong Graphic Violence, Some Sexual Content, Nudity and Language Too seldom do we get a movie that is as provocative as "Munich."  The film asks many difficult questions, and wisely doesn't answer them because it knows that there are no absolutely correct answers.  It is impossible to sit through this film without taking a long look at the world today and how we live in it. September 1972.  The world watches as a group of Palestinian terrorists kidnaps 11 Israeli athletes at the Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.  The incident ends in disaster, with all the athletes and 5 terrorists dying (a German police officer died as well).  Israel's Prime Minister, Golda Meir (Cohen), vows to retaliate.  "Forget peace for now.  We have to show them we are strong," she says.  She send five m...

3/4 Starring: Armin Mueller-Stahl, Nthati Moshesh, Paterson Joseph, Desmond Dube Rated R for Some Language and Nudity Running is a huge sport because it's so easy to do.  Everyone runs for one reason or another, and to do it for exercise, all you need is a good pair of shoes and weather appropriate clothing.  Most run for exercise or for fun, but some run competitively.  Then there's Barry Bohmer, whose whole life revolves around running, specifically the Comrades Ultramarathon. Barry (Mueller-Stahl) is a running coach in South Africa.  He is training, with the sponsorship of a brick-making company, four runners for the legendary Comrades Ultramarathon.  But due to political correctness, Barry is forced to retire three years early, and replaced with a new hotshot named Gasa (Joseph).  For Barry, this is a crushing blow to his soul.  Then he sees a woman running, and she piques his attention.  Her name is Christine Moyo (Moshesh), an illegal...

3/4 Starring: Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Edward James Olmos, Paula Patton, James Marsden, Robert John Burke, Bill Paxton, Fred Ward Rated R for Violence Throughout, Language and Brief Nudity "2 Guns" is preposterous.  In fact, it's so absurd that it attains a new level of affection in me long after the movie is over.  This is a movie where you see, pretty boy James Marsden as a gun toting villain and a five way shootout.  And both occur during a stampede of bulls on their way to the rodeo.  Sold! Bobby (Washington) and Stig (Wahlberg) are two con men who are making a deal with a drug kingpin named Papi (Olmos).  When he screws them, they vow to steal his money from a bank.  It's around $3 million (which for a kingpin, seems more like pocket change and that he would more likely get pissed about being disrespected than being out $3 million, but whatever).  Surprisingly, when they open the lockboxes in the bank, the realize that there's a he...

3/4 Starring: Milo Ventimiglia, Michael Weston, Lauren Lee Smith, Johnny Whitworth, John de Lancie, Alyssa Milano, Keir O'Donnell, Mei Melancon, Dan Callahan Rated R for Disturbing and Perverse Behavior Throughout, including Violence, Gruesome Images, Strong Sexual Content, Nudity, Drug Use and Language The doctor who believes himself to be God is a common cliche, and happens more often than might think.  The thought that the doctor in charge of your life believes himself to be infallible is frightening.  This theme has been used in movies such as "Malice" and " Hollow Man ," but "Pathology" takes it a step further.  A group of pathologists (doctors who perform autopsies to determine cause of death...a field that some consider to being the next best thing to God Himself) play a deadly game: they kill people and dare each other to find out how. Dr. Ted Grey (Ventimiglia) is a brilliant graduate of Harvard who is studying pathology in one of the ...

3/4 Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Octavia Spencer, Mary Kay Place Rated R for Alcohol Abuse, Language, Some Sexual Content and Brief Drug Use Addiction movies are a dime a dozen.  The topic so relevant (and always will be), and there are so many different directions that one can take to explore it.  " Once Were Warriors " used it as a way to explore how it can turn a nice person into a monster.  " When A Man Loves A Woman " showed how it can strain a marriage (not very well, as it happens).  "Smashed" does a little of both, although without the intensity of the former and the mawkishness of the latter.  This is a story that, for 75% of the film, feels honest and real. Kate (Winstead) and Charlie (Paul) are a happily married couple who are in love with booze as they are with each other.  But lately, Kate has been feeling as if her life is spiraling out of control.  She wakes up for work to discover...

3.5/4 Starring: Janet McTeer, Kimberly J. Brown, Gavin O'Connor, Jay O. Sanders Rated PG-13 for Language, Sensuality and a Scene of Domestic Discord Recently, I've been watching slice-of-life character studies (unintentionally, I might add).  "Win Win," "From Here to Eternity," "Vera Drake" (unfinished).  Gavin O'Connor's debut film, "Tumbleweeds," fits into the category where the characters are so well drawn and so interesting that a plot would be more of a hindrance than anything. After her latest marriage ends in a scene of near violence (the amount of tension nearly approaches " Once Were Warriors " level), Mary Jo Walker (McTeer) flees with her daughter Ava (Brown) in tow.  After a bit of debate, they decide to head out west to California.  On the way, the car breaks down and they're helped by a handsome trucker named Jack (O'Connor).  When they get to California, Mary Jo runs into Jack, and they hit...

3/4 Starring: Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, Liev Schrieber, Kimberly Elise, Jon Voight Rated R for Violence and Some Language "The Manchurian Candidate" is a remake of the 1962 Cold War thriller starring Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh and Angela Lansbury.  In that film, Communist China had the Vice President's stepson as a mole in the White House.  Here, it's megacorporation that has the vice president himself under their control. Ben Marco (Washington, playing Sinatra's role) is a commander in the U.S. Army.  During Desert Storm, he and his squad were ambushed by Iraqis and nearly killed.  One of his soldiers, Raymond Shaw (Schrieber, playing Harvey's role) took control and saved all but two of the men.  Marco immediately recommended Shaw for the Medal of Honor.  At least that's how the story goes.  But Marco is having strange nightmares, and one one of his squadmates comes to him with bizarre rantings, Marco begins to suspect ...