Mike's Movie Tips

2/4 Starring: Russell Crowe, Daniel Pollock, Jacqueline McKenzie Rated R for Brutality and Violence, Sexuality and Language Premiere said this was one of "The 25 Most Dangerous Movies."   James Berardinelli said it is impossible to watch this movie and not be affected.  I was expecting something that was absolutely punishing to watch, on par with " Once Were Warriors ," or more appropriately, "American History X."  Instead, I got...this. "Romper Stomper" is the definition of mediocre.  The direction has a fierce energy, particularly in the fight scenes (one of which, the main one, goes on far too long), but the story is thin and the characters are two-dimensional at best.  That's not to say that the performances aren't strong, which they are.  It's just that the actors aren't given much to work with. Hondo (Crowe) is the ringleader of a gang of skinheads.  They resent people of Asian descent, whom they view as intruding o...

2/4 Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johannson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly Rated R for Strong Graphic Sexual Material and Dialogue Throughout, Nudity, Language and Some Drug Use There is a difference between fantasy and reality.  We all know this. ...or do we? When we watch a movie like " Titanic ," "There's Something About Mary," or any other romance, we fall in love with the characters and want them to be together until the end of time.  When we watch pornography, we imagine ourselves having sex with the beautiful woman (or man) we see.  They're both fantasies.  It's unlikely that Ted and Mary will go through life without a single fight (if they even get married) and there's no chance in hell that an average guy sitting at his computer will get with the gorgeous babe or stud he sees on the internet.  Still, they allow us to believe that it's possible. The problem is when we start believing that these fantasies...

3/4 Starring: Rachel Miner, Mimi Rogers, Liz Rivers, Chad Todhunter, Mickey Jones, Michael Berryman, Tammy Filor The version of the film being reviewed is unrated.  For the record, the rated version (if one actually exists) is rated R for Violence/Terror, Some Sexuality and Language The trailer for the After Dark horror film "Penny Dreadful" is without a doubt the best trailer I have ever seen (and I watch them all the time).  Not only does it suggest the story without giving anything away, the trailer itself is flat out terrifying.  While the film itself doesn't quite live up to its potential (it deviates somewhat from the trailer's premise), it's still pretty intense and scary. After surviving a car crash that killed her parents, Penny Deerborn (Miner) is terrified of cars.  She can't get in one without throwing up.  Her therapist, Oriana Volkes (Rogers), believes that the only way she can get past it is to bring things full circle and drive to the ...

3/4 Starring: Freddie Prinze Jr., Chris Kline, Jamie-Lynn Sigler Rated R for Language, Brief Sexuality and Drug Use "New York City Serenade" is one of those movies that uses naturalistic dialogue and intentionally normal and non-dramatic elements to tell its story.  Often, these can be good movies, like "Win Win" or " Tumbleweeds ."  This is a tricky thing to pull off, and when a filmmaker doesn't get the right mix, the film can come off as unbearably boring and pretentious.  For the first half of the movie, character actor Frank Whaley's third directorial project seems to be heading down that route.  The dialogue is bland and the characters aren't likable or interesting.  But the film takes off during the second half. Owen (Prinze Jr.) is an aspiring filmmaker working at a dead end job.  He's engaged to a college student named Lynn (Sigler), although he is not faithful to her.  His best friend Ray (Klein) is an alcoholic drummer in...

3/4 Starring: Harrison Ford, Brad Pitt, Ruben Blades, Treat Williams, Natasha McElhone, Margaret Colin, Paul Ronan Rated R for Strong Brutal Violence, and for Language Don't expect a happy ending.  This isn't an American story.  It's an Irish one.  --Frankie Maguire From its very inception, "The Devil's Own" was in deep water.  Current events and other factors demanded rewrites (including filming without a finished script), much to the displeasure of star Brad Pitt, who called it "a disaster" and "the most irresponsible piece of filmmaking" (Pitt wanted to back out, but doing so would have cost him "$63 million for starters").  It was originally going to be released for Oscar attention, but test audiences hated it, so it was pushed back to a March release date. While such drama is normally a really bad sign, "The Devil's Own" manages to rise above it and come out as a decent flick.  It's by no ...

3/4 Starring: Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, Elliott Reid, Tommy Noonan, Charles Coburn Not Rated (contains nothing offensive) There's nothing heavy about "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."  It's a lighter than light screwball comedy/musical with madcap hijinks, wordplay and some extravagantly staged songs.  It's by no means perfect, but it is fun. Lorelei Lee (Monroe) and Dorothy Shaw (Russell) are two lounge singers and best friends.  Lorelei is engaged to be married to rich dork Gus Esmond, Jr. (Noonan), while Dorothy is lovelorn and single.  Unfortunately, Gus's controlling father doesn't approve of the relationship, so he sends Lorelei and Dorothy to France to wait for him.  Complications ensue: Lorelei, who will fall for anyone who so even mentions the word "diamond," gets into some compromising positions with Piggy Beekman (Coburn), a diamond mine owner, and Dorothy gets the hots for the dashing Ernie Malone (Reid), who happens to be taili...

1/4 Starring: Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Barbara Hershey, Steve Coulter, Ty Simpkins, Lin Shaye Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Terror and Violence, and Thematic Elements How far titans fall... Two years ago, James Wan and Leigh Whanell, the creators of the "Saw" franchise, unleashed " Insidious " onto the public.  In my opinion, it was one of the scariest movies ever made (I was shaking for 45 minutes after the movie was over) and it made my Top 10 list that year at number 2.  Last week, Wan and Whanell continued the story of the Lamberts.  The result is an abysmally bad movie. "Insidious: Chapter 2" feels like a rush job from beginning to end.  No one appears to have any interest in making this movie.  The actors, all of whom have shown talent in the past, are awful, Wan's direction is lightning fast and lacks atmosphere, and the story frequently makes zero sense.  About the only one involved who appears to have any investment in the f...

2/4 Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Nicole Kidman Rated R for Disturbing Violent and Sexual Content "Stoker" is one of those movies that makes you want to take a shower.  A long, hot shower with lots of soap.  Or, considering how creepy this movie is, something stronger.  Like hydrochloric acid. Despite its title and the surname of the majority of the characters, Chan-Woo Park's film has nothing to do with Bram Stoker, the author best known for writing "Dracula."  Instead, it's about a very rich, but very disturbed, family living in what looks like New England.  Richard Stoker (Dermot Mulroney in a small role) has just died tragically.  His wife, Evelyn (Kidman), is saddened (supposedly).  His daughter India (Wasikowska), who was reportedly close to Richard, doesn't seem to care one way or another.  After the funeral, in walks Richard's brother Charlie (Goode), whom India never knew existed.  Evelyn warms up to him too quickl...

3/4 Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Luke Kirby, Ruth Negga, Tom Wilkinson, Deborah Kara Unger Rated R for Strong Violence, Language, Some Sexuality and Drug Use If you keep on doing what you've always done, you'll keep on being what you've always been.  Nothing changes unless you make it change. That's what Foley (Jackson) is trying to do.  A former grifter, Foley spent the last 25 years in prison after being forced to kill his partner in crime and best friend.  Now he's out, and his old friends (those that are still alive) want as little to do with him as he does with his old job.  But Ethan (Kirby), the son of his old partner, wants him in on a grift.  Foley doesn't want any part of it, but Ethan will do anything to convince him. "The Samaritan" is a quiet thriller.  While there is suspense, it's understated.  There are no car chases, over-the-top action sequences or outrageous twists.  There is some violence (some of which is quite blood...

3.5/4 Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Djimon Hounsou, Morgan Freeman, Anthony Hopkins, David Paymer, Nigel Hawthorne, Stellan Skarsgaard Rated R for Some Scenes of Strong Brutal Violence and Related Nudity "Amistad" is a traditional courtroom drama done well.  The story is powerful, the performances are effective (and in one case, superb), and it does exactly what it sets out to do.  Unfortunately, there's not much that's really special about it either.  It doesn't go the extra mile. In 1839, a slave ship called "La Amistad" was subject to a revolt by the Africans it was carrying toward slavery.  Led by a man who was later called Cinque (Hounsou), the Africans succeeded in overtaking the ship, and demanded to be taken back to Africa.  But they were tricked, and instead ended up off the coast of Long Island, where they were arrested and charged with murder.  Two abolitionists, ex-slave Theodore Joadson (Freeman) and activist Lewis Tappan (Skarsgaar...

2.5/4 Starring: Jon Voight, Ving Rhames, Michael Rooker, Esther Rolle, Bruce McGill, Elise Neal, Catherine Kellner, Loren Dean Rated R for Violence and Some Sexuality There is no doubt that the Rosewood massacre is a story that needs to be told.  It is a tragic tale of a lie that destroyed a whole community and lead to the deaths of many (casualties vary wildly depending on which source you consult, anywhere from 8 to over 150).  But is this the film to tell it?  I don't think so. The year is 1923.  Rosewood is an almost all-black settlement that neighbors Sumner, a white town.  The inhabitants are self-sufficient and happy; one person calls it paradise.  But when a woman named Fannie Taylor (Kellner) is caught in a lie, she claims that a black man raped and beat her.  That heats up tensions between the two settlements, and not a day goes by before mobs form and chaos ensues.  There are two people who help the blacks flee for their lives: ...

3/4 Starring: John Leguizamo, Delilah Cotto, Peter Sarsgaard, Denise Richards, Vincent Laresca, Treach, Rafael Baez, Isabella Rossellini Rated R for Strong Violence, Pervasive Language, Drug Content and Some Sexuality The American Dream is that with hard work you can do anything you want.  Ideally, that's true, but it's a vast simplification of what real life is.  The ties that bind us to our lives can sometimes hamper our ability to move from one world to the next. Victor Rosa (Leguizamo) is a drug dealer living in the South Bronx.  For him, life is all about money.  He sees it as what makes everything in the world work, and getting more of it (and keep it) is the guiding principle of his life.  He has a girlfriend, Carmen (Cotto), and loves his life.  Through one of Carmen's friends, a sexpot named Trish (Richards), he meets Jack Wimmer (Sarsgaard).  Jack is an investment banker, and he has a glorious opportunity for Victor to make a lot of m...

3/4 Starring: Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Queen Latifah, Ed O'Neill, Michael Rooker, Luis Guzman Rated R for Strong Violent Content including Grisly Images, and for Language Like " Seven ," which this film bears a similarity to, "The Bone Collector" is a thriller that is not so much about who the killer is, but what he will do next, and whether the detectives can put together the clues in time to save the victims.  It's not as good as David Fincher's infamous thriller (the plot isn't as strong, and while it looks nice, Dean Semler's cinematography has got nothing on Darius Khondji's work), but it's one of the few serial killer movies that is both smart and suspenseful. Detective Lincoln Rhyme (Washington) was once New York City's leading forensic cop.  But while investigating a crime scene, a beam fell from above and "nearly ripped him in half.  Now bedridden, Rhyme only has movement in one finger and his head and ...

2/4 Starring: Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Cole Hauser, Keith David, Rhiana Griffith The version being reviewed is the unrated one.  For the record, the theatrical cut is rated R for Sci-Fi Violence/Gore and Language The problem with "Pitch Black" is that it takes itself far too seriously.  Although the premise is sound, the execution is not.  David Twohy's script is feeble and the film looks like one of those Z-grade movies that pop up in the darkest corners of Netflix.  Still, it is watchable. A spaceship crash lands on an uninhabited planet.  Most of the passengers don't survive, but those who do are a rather uninteresting bunch.  Carolyn Fry (Mitchell) is the pilot, William Johns (Hauser) is a cop, an imam (David) is also on board with three young Muslims on a pilgrimage to "New Mecca," and there's a kid (Griffith) on board too.  There are others, but most of them don't last long.  The most interesting person aboard is Richard B. Riddic...

3/4 Starring: Drew Fuller, Bill Cobbs, Abigail Breslin, Alli Hillis, James Garner, Lee Meriwether, Brian Dennehey Rated PG for Thematic Elements, Some Violence and Language In 2004, megastar Mel Gibson released his super hyped, and controversial, film about the final hours of Jesus Christ.  The film, though incredibly violent and disturbing (the fact that it got an R rating instead of an NC-17 is appalling), was a massive success.  Film studios, always on the lookout for the next genre to bring in money, began to see a new, and almost completely neglected, market: Christian films.  While they still are coming out occasionally (in limited release), the market wasn't as large as Hollywood hoped.  None of the successive Christian films have come within a mile of Mel Gibson's film.  In general, I kind of stay away from them because I expect to be preached to (although I liked " Hardflip ").  But "The Ultimate Gift," based on Jim Stovall's best-selling ...

3.5/4 Starring: Eric Bana, Rebecca Hall, Ciaran Hinds, Riz Ahmed, Denis Moschitto, Jim Broadbent, Anne-Marie Duff, Julia Stiles Rated R for Language and Some Violence "Closed Circuit" is so effective that I'm willing to forgive a lot.  Some of what happens in the story doesn't hold up on cursory examination (not much, but still) and some things aren't as clear as they should be, but I didn't care.  The suspense is high and consistent, and there are a number of shocking twists. A truck explodes in a London marketplace, killing many people.  A suspect, Farroukh Erdogan (Moschitto), has been arrested and charged with the crime.  Martin Rose (Bana) has been assigned to defend him.  Also working with him is Claudia Simmons-Howe (Hall), a lawyer who is trying to get the secret evidence against him made public (this is an official position, by the way).  Martin and Claudia are ex-lovers and can't stand each other, but they have a duty to their client. ...

3/4 Starring: Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell-Bower, Robert Sheehan, Jemima West, Kevin Zegers, Jared Harris, Lena Heady, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Fantasy Violence and Action, and Some Suggestive Content Before "Harry Potter" became a worldwide phenomenon, fantasy movies were regarded, at best, silly, and at worst, the ugly stepchild of science fiction.  Then with the one-two punch of "Harry Potter" and " The Lord of the Rings ," magic and wizards became something that people hungered for.  Unfortunately, it returned to its old rut (at least creatively) after "Twilight" came out.  Instead of grand adventure, we're left with teen angst, photogenic but acting-challenged teen models, and lots of cheese.  Fortunately, like "Beautiful Creatures" earlier this year, "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones" manages to buck the trend, at least somewhat.  It doesn't ascend to the level of ...