Mike's Movie Tips

2/4 Starring: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Victor Moore, Helen Broderick Not Rated There were really two Hollywood dancers: Fred Astaire and Gene Kelly.  Fred Astaire came first, starring in many films, although he was most famous for the ten films he starred with Ginger Rogers.  Their partnership started in 1933 with "Flying Down to Rio" and ended in 1949 with "The Barkleys of Broadway."  Despite its "classic" status, "Swing Time" is probably not one of their best.  In fact, it's not a very good film in general. John "Lucky" Garnett (Astaire) is a happy-go-lucky dancer who is about to leave his troupe so he can marry his girlfriend Margaret (Betty Furness).  But his co-workers don't want him to leave, so they scheme for him to miss the wedding.  When he shows up at her house, he's in hot water until he tells her father that he's going to make his fortune in New York City.  Once he has $25,000, he can come home a...

3.5/4 Narrated by Alex Gibney It's easy to see why Lance Armstrong was so easy to root for.  In addition to setting records after a cancer battle that nearly claimed his life, he's handsome and charming with an easy smile.  He's the perfect protagonist for a real life fairy tale.  But watching Alex Gibney's documentary, "The Armstrong Lie," I saw another side to that face.  With his penetrating stare and cold, gray eyes, I saw someone who was ruthless, vindictive and dangerous.  This is not a man to be trifled with. Everyone knows the story about Lance Armstrong.  Gibney doesn't dwell on it very much because of this.  What Gibney concentrates on is what went on behind the scenes.  Armstrong's career was far from the fairy tale that we believed, or as Gibney puts it, wanted to believe.  It was a fight to survive in a culture that was rotten to the core.  And one that Armstrong found himself in a perfect position to take advantage of...

I have a lot to say at the moment, and very little of it is connected.  Bear with me, please... I have a giant movie collection.  I've lost a definite count, but I think I have at least 1200 movies (some are in combo packs).  As I'm still living at home and have acquired them while jobless, how did I afford them (with my parents help...thanks, guys!)?  Simple.  Discounts. Putting it simply, it's often more cost effective to just buy the movie rather than rent it.  For example.  I was curious about the movie "Firestorm" for years, and I looked it up on Amazon.com.  It costs 9.98 from Amazon (plus shipping).  But the independent buyers sold it for $3.82.  So, including shipping and handling, that's 7.81.  Less than the price of a movie ticket.  Either I could have ordered it from Netflix, in the place a movie I wanted and most likely can't get for cheap, and wait a week (which is the average time it takes to send a movie in a...

3/4 Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Olivia Williams, Mirelle Enos, Sam Worthington, Joe Manganiello, Terrence Howard, Harold Perrineau, Josh Holloway, Troy Garity Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence, Pervasive Language, Some Sexuality/Nudity and Drug Use "Sabotage" is a much different Schwarzenegger vehicle than his other flicks.  Movies like " T2 ," " True Lies " and " Total Recall " were definitely violent, but they were also fun.  There was an enjoyable quality to them (some more than others).  His new film, "Sabotage," is different.  It's gritty, grim and ultra-violent.  While there are some one-liners, there aren't many. Schwarzenegger plays John "Breacher" Wharton, the leader of a group of DEA agents who are bad to the bone.  They are: Joe "Grinder" Phillips (Manganiello), Eddie "Neck" Jordan (Holloway), Lizzy Murray (Enos), James "Monster" Murray (Worthington), Julius "...

3/4 Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, John C. Reilly, Matt Ross, Kate Beckinsale, Alan Alda, Alec Baldwin Rated PG-13 for Thematic Elements, Sexual Content, Nudity, Language and a Crash Sequence Howard Hughes was someone who saw something he wanted and went for it.  It was probably because he was an outsider that allowed him to be that way.  When one of his advisers told him that something wasn't possible, he really didn't understand the difficulty of doing what he wanted.  Money was no object either, since he was incredibly wealthy.  Hughes wanted it all, and got it all. Martin Scorcese's biopic of Howard Hughes begins when during filming of his classic film "Hell's Angels."  He's trying to direct a massive air battle, but it's not coming together.  When he hires a scientist named Professor Fitz (Ian Holm) to help him find clouds, he finishes the picture and it becomes a massive hit.  A Hollywood rebel, Hughes continues to make pict...

4/4 Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Paul Reiser, Carrie Henn, Michael Biehn, Lance Henrickson, Bill Paxton, William Hope Rated R for Monster Violence, and for Language Typically, when you make a sequel, it's a just a continuation of the story.  Meaning, it's the same thing with some new tweaks. " Scream " and its sequels, or more recently, " 300 " and its sequel .  "Aliens" is different.  The 1979 horror film was a haunted house movie in space, more akin to a superior slasher film than a space opera.  "Aliens," on the other hand, is intense, all-out action.  It's just as scary, but instead of being stalked in dark corridors, we have a bunch of marines pinned down by xenomorphs. Ellen Ripley (Weaver) has been adrift for 57 years.  She was picked up by a salvage crew after the terrifying events on the Nostromo that left her entire crew dead.  Because the company didn't believe her story, her license was revoked.  But a company ...

3/4 Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Jai Courtney, Miles Teller, Zoe Kravitz, Kate Winslet, Mekhi Phifer, Ashley Judd, Tony Goldwyn Rated PG-13 for Intense Violence and Action, Thematic Elements and Some Sensuality Now that the " Twilight " franchise is done with, Summit Entertainment (which was bought by Lionsgate because of the "Twilight" saga...the thought of more movies in that series gives me goosebumps) is looking for a new young adult book series to turn into a franchise.  Taking after the success of " The Hunger Games " (much of which is unwarranted), they have turned Veronica Roth's "Divergent" trilogy and are hoping for repeat success.  Considering how lame those movies are, it shouldn't be surprising that this movie is better.  Or, maybe considering the lack of quality in the films appealed to the tween demographic, maybe it is. "Divergent" is a cross between the aforementioned "The Hunger Games...

2.5/4 Starring (voices): Ty Burrell, Max Charles, Ariel Winter, Allison Janney, Stephen Colbert, Leslie Mann Rated PG for Some Mild Action and Brief Rude Humor "Mr. Peabody & Sherman," which is a film version of the "Peabody's Improbably History" segments of "The Rocky and Bulwinkle Show," suffers from a similar fate that befalls most kids movies these days: too much action.  While it's true that young children don't have the patience or attentions spans of adults, kids movies don't have to be hour and a half long video games to be successful.  Look at "Beauty and The Beast," "The Lion King" (which was directed by Rob Minkoff, who also directed this film) or "Spirited Away" for examples.  Sure, those had action scenes, but they were germane to the plot.  They came out of the story, rather than being inserted just to keep kids interested. Mr. Peabody (Burrell) never had a family growing up.  His inte...

2/4 Starring: Warren Beatty, Charlie Korsmo, Glenne Headly, Madonna, Al Pacino Rated PG (for Violence, I guess) Let's get the obvious out of the way: "Dick Tracy" looks fabulous.  Warren Beatty has attempted to bring a comic book to life, and while the effect as a whole is not always successful, the film's look is amazing.  Beatty has deepened the colors and has carefully chosen how to set up the shots to lend the film a comic-like sensibility.  Unfortunately, the film runs into trouble when it comes to acting and plot. Dick Tracy (Beatty) is a detective with a reputation of bending the law to catch the bad guys.  His obsessive need to be in the middle of the action is frustrating his girlfriend Tess Trueheart (Headly).  Meanwhile, someone has knocked off Lips Manlis (Paul Sorvino) and Dick thinks it was Big Boy Caprice (Pacino).  But he doesn't have any evidence, so he has to convince lounge singer Breathless Mahoney (Madonna) to testify against hi...

3/4 Starring: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightly, Geoffrey Rush, Jack Davenport, Jonathan Pryce, Kevin McNally Rated PG-13 for Action/Adventure Violence "Pirates of the Carribean" is so goofy that it's impossible to dislike.  Not that there are many reasons to.  Other than an overlong running time and a momentary bit of confusion here or there, this is a lot of fun (as can be attested by the franchise's box office success). Will Turner (Bloom) is a young blacksmith who pines for the girl who rescued him from certain death many years ago.  Her name is Elizabeth Swann (Knightly), the daughter of the governor of Port Royal.  But she has a proposal from the local commodore, Norrington (Davenport), which leaves him in the dust.  Fortune is blowing his way, however.  The cursed pirate ship, the Black Pearl, has come to Port Royal, and the pirates, led by the ruthless Captain Barbossa (Rush), have kidnapped Elizabeth.  In order to rescue her, ...

0.5/4 Starring: Tequan Richmond, Isaiah Richmond, Tim Blake Nelson, Joey Lauren Adams Rated R for Disturbing Violent Content, Language and Brief Drug Use If I have to sit through another film that is artsy for the sake of being artsy, I'm going to scream.  I swear to God, I am so sick of them.  Movies are meant to tell stories and to allow audiences to get to know interesting characters.  But things ("Blue Caprice" doesn't earn the right to be called a film) like this just make me ready to throw my Blu Ray player (or Xbox 360, in this case) in the garbage. Normally, one would think that a movie about the Beltway Sniper attacks would be next to impossible to screw up.  But first time feature director Alexandre Moors (who's background is in shorts, and you guessed it, special effects) manages it.  In fact, it's unbelievable how far he misses the mark.  Something this atrocious could only have been produced by one of three types of people: someone who ...

3/4 Starring: Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Hans Matheson, Callan Mulvey, Jack O'Connell, Lena Heady, Rodrigo Santoro Rated R for Strong Sustained Sequences of Stylized Bloody Violence Throughout, A Sex Scene, Nudity and Some Language " 300 " was a violent, bloody adrenaline cocktail that had "cult movie" written all over it.  I had a friend who said that he knew someone who watched it over and over again for days.  Adrenaline junkies flocked to it.  It made a killing at the box office (just shy of $500 million), so a sequel was inevitable.  It was in the pipeline for a number of years in various incarnations until finally, last Friday, the film was completed and released to the public. The film's plotline covers events before, during (although in another theater of the war), and after the events in the first film.  Themistocles (Stapleton) is a legendary naval commander who, during the battle of Marathon, threw the spear that felled the Persian kin...

The best moments in reading are when you come across something - a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things - that you'd thought special, particular to you.  And here it is, set down by someone else, a person you've never met, maybe even someone long dead.  And it's as if a hand has come out, and taken yours. --- Hector, "The History Boys," written by Alan Bennett That's the way I'd describe Hayao Miyazaki's films.  Whenever I watch one, I get blanketed in their warmth and imagination.  Watching them is a truly trans-formative experience.  Once the film starts, the world around me ceases to exist, and for the next two hours, I am transported to a wondrous, weird and loving world. In 1971, Hayao Miyazaki began his directorial career with an episode of "Lupin the 3rd," based on the classic manga.  It didn't last long (23 episodes), although it went on to be a cult phenomenon due to its numerous reruns.  Six years after the show w...

3.5/4 Starring (voices): Joseph Gordon-Levitt, John Krasinski, Martin Short, Stanley Tucci Rated PG-13 for Some Disturbing Images and Smoking "The Wind Rises" is Hayao Miyazaki's final film (although this must be taken with a grain of salt, since he has planned retirement many times), and it is a good one.  It is also unlike anything that he has done before.  His previous films, such as the legendary masterpiece " Spirited Away " or " Princess Mononoke " have relied heavily on fantasy.  That's not the case here.  With one minor exception, this is a fantasy free film (the dream sequences don't count because that's a different kind of fantasy).  That doesn't mean that it's lacking in quality compared to his other films, because it is not.  Rest assured, this is a very good movie. Jiro Horikoshi (Gordon-Levitt) has always had a fascination with airplanes.  He dreams about them, translates magazines that are in English in order ...

0.5/4 Starring: Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur, Van Heflin, Brandon De Wilde, Emile Meyer, Jack Palance Not Rated I am not an "old movie" hater.  While some, such as "All About Eve," are either overrated or outdated, many have stood the test of time.  "Casablanca," " Gone with the Wind ," anything by Alfred Hitchcock...just because it's in black and white and stars actors who haven't been around for more than a few decades doesn't mean it's bad or boring.  Of course there were crappy movies then too, just as there are now.  "Shane" is one of them. Oh, this is a terrible movie.  I mean, it's really bad.  The fact that many consider it to be a classic makes me wonder what those critics were actually watching.  There's almost nothing here worthy of praise.  The only good things about this movie (and there aren't many) are undone by one of the movie's many egregious flaws. The story takes place on a farm sh...

2/4 Starring: Val Kilmer, Kate Bosworth, Dylan McDermott, Josh Lucas, Eric Bogosian, Lisa Kudrow, Ted Levine, Franky G, M.C. Gainey Rated R for Strong Violence/Grisly Images, Pervasive Drug Use and Language, Some Sexuality/Nudity The Wonderland Murders are one of the great unsolved mysteries in U.S.  Four people were brutally murdered in retaliation for a heist, but the specifics of how everything went down and who did what remain a mystery.  The two people who knew, John Holmes and David Lind, were not credible witnesses.  Lind had a long criminal history and both were drug addicts.  Director James Cox tries, with limited success, to tell both Holmes' and Lind's version of the events (and perhaps his own version of what happened). John Holmes (Kilmer) was The King of Porn.  With his legendary penis and fame in the pornographic film industry, he was as notorious as he was famous.  But with the advent of video, his work dried up, and he turned to dru...

3.5/4 Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Miko Hughes, Tracy Middendorf, David Newsom, Wes Craven, Robert Englund Rated R for Explicit Horror Violence and Gore, and for Language In many ways, this is a superior film to the original "Nightmare on Elm Street."  It's better scripted, edited and the special effects aren't as cheesy.  It's also much, much more ambitious.  In fact, it's a lot like " The Lego Movie " in the sense that I wanted to keep watching to see where Wes Craven would take it. The film takes place ten years after the original was filmed.  Heather Langenkamp (as herself) is dividing her time as an actress with being a mother to Dylan (Hughes).  She's married to Chase (Newsom), a special effects artist.  But weird things are going on.  There are lots of earthquakes, Heather is dealing with a stalker, and Dylan is acting weird.  It's not just her.  Robert Englund is painting strange pictures and Wes Craven is having nightmares (...

3/4 Starring: Heather Langenkamp, Johnny Depp, John Saxon, Ronee Blakely, Amanda Wyss, Nick Corri. Robert Englund Rated R (for Horror Violence/Gore, Sexuality, and Language...I guess) The three biggest horror movie villains are Michael Meyers ("Halloween"), Jason Voorhees (the "Friday the 13th" series) and Freddy Krueger ("A Nightmare on Elm Street").  There are plenty of others (Leatherface, Chucky, Pinhead...just to name a few), but those are the big three.  Of them, "Halloween" is the best, but "A Nightmare on Elm Street" is pretty darn good (I've seen the original "Friday the 13th," and if someone could enlighten me on why that actually started one of the biggest horror movie franchises, I would really like to know). One of the most common staples of a horror movie is the dream sequence.  It goes something like this: the heroine is being stalked down a dark corridor by the villain (usually carrying some nasty c...

3/4 Starring: Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel, James Frecheville Rated R for Sexual Content and Language "Adore" is either a romance or a tragedy, depending on your point of view.  Maybe it's a bit of both.  I'm having trouble myself figuring out how I feel about it, or for that matter, how I'm supposed to feel about it. Lil (Watts) and Roz (Wright) have been best friends all their lives.  Even as adults, they live next door to each other.  Lil's husband died when her son Ian was very young, and it didn't take long for them to pass on their friendship to their children.  Now teenagers, Ian (Samuel) and Tom (Frecheville), are turning into handsome, virile young men ("They're like gods," Lil says as she and Roz watch them shower after a day of surfing).  And as is par for the course, the boys hormones have started to rage.  Ian's attention has turned to Roz, and in a moment of temptation, she opens herself up to him.  But ...

3/4 Starring: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Michelle Dockery, Shea Whigham, Corey Stoll, Linus Roache, Scoot McNairy, Anson Mount Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Action and Violence, Some Language, Sensuality and Drug References I love a good whodunit.  I'm notoriously bad at guessing who is the culprit, but the difference between a good whodunit and a bad one is one that actively involves you and keeps you hungering for the answer.  There are very few good members of the genre (the constraints make them difficult to film effectively).  Off the top of my head, the only one that comes to mind is " Identity ."  Fortunately, "Non-Stop" is one of the good ones.  As much as we're wondering what is going to happen next, director Jaume Collet-Serra keeps us guessing who the killer is. Bill Marks (Neeson) is a bitter, alcoholic U.S. Marshal.  He's on a transatlantic flight over Europe, when he gets a text message on an encrypted service.  Someone o...

3/4 Starring: Nichola Burley, Julian Morris, Jamie Winstone, Jay Taylor, Tom Burke, Sian Breckin, Robert Butler The version being reviewed is unrated.  For the record, the theatrical cut is rated R for A Scene of Strong Sexual Content involving an Aberrant Violent Act, Graphic Nudity, Violence, Language and Drug Use "Donkey Punch" looks to be a British exploitation horror flick.  Lots of T&A, even more violence and mayhem, and plenty of hot sex.  While it has all three (in copious quantities...), looks can be deceiving.  From the start, the film looks to be the sex-and-blood movie that I described, but by the end of the movie, it has turned out to be something quite different. Three friends named Lisa (Breckin), Tammi (Burley) and Kim (Winstone), are taking a vacation in Mallorca, Spain.  Tammi's relationship just ended, so her friends are trying to get her to have a good time.  After a day of clubbing, they run into four hot guys who as it turn...

3/4 Starring: Omri Katz, Bette Midler, Thora Birch, Vinessa Shaw, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, and the voice of Jason Marsden Rated PG for Some Scary Sequences, and for Language Affection is a funny thing when it comes to movies.  Rewatching old favorites with new eyes can make a critic see a film's faults when they couldn't before (" Heavy Weights " is a good example).  But do the fond memories cloud the judgement enough to recommend the film when it's not especially good?  More importantly, is it right to deny a child the pleasure you had as a child simply because the film has not aged well for you?  What to do... "Hocus Pocus" isn't a terrible movie, but it's not a very good one either.  The dialogue is pretty bland, and there are quite a few clunkers.  Some of what passes for acting is an embarrassment to the profession.  There's also a serious continuity error that allows the climax to play out the way it does.  But maybe ...

3/4 Starring: Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater, Antonio Banderas, Stephen Rea Rated R for Vampire Violence and Gore and for Sexuality When Anne Rice wrote "Interview with the Vampire" in 1976, it was a radical new vision of the horror staple.  Previously, the vampire was pure evil.  A heartless killer.  Rice saw them as deeply tragic figures tortured by their need to kill.  This new vampire forever altered the way we think of the bloodsucker, giving birth to everything from "Blade" to "Twilight." After the death of his wife and unborn child, Louis (Pitt) has lost his will to live.  He prays for death to take him.  That puts him in the sights of Lestat (Cruise).  Lestat is a vampire, and after biting Louis, he gives him a choice: die or become a vampire.  Louis chooses the latter.  It's a decision he soon regrets, for he is required to kill in order to survive. The performances are strong.  Brad Pitt, who d...

2/4 Starring: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Shia LeBoeuf, Tilda Swinton, Djimon Hounsou Rated R for Violence and Demonic Images "Constantine" is a mixture of film-noir and religious horror.  In the right hands, this could be intriguing and a lot of fun.  But in the hands of Francis Lawrence (who made his feature film debut here), it's dull and a little depressing. John Constantine (Reeves) is a demon hunter.  Born with the "gift" to see demons in our world, he attempted suicide to be rid of it.  Since suicide is a mortal sin, he's been slaying demons ever since in order to get back into heaven.  Of course, it's not that easy, as the angel Gabriel (Swinton) delights in telling him.  He doesn't have faith and is a selfish jerk.  Making matters worse, a cancer diagnosis has only given him a short time to live.  Redemption may have come in the form of Angela Dodson (Weisz).  She's a cop whose sister Isabel (Weisz again) just killed herself....