Mike's Movie Tips

I've found that the best movies take place in worlds so immerse that I wish I could touch the screen and get sucked into it.  I love movies that just seem to whisper "Explore Me!"  Not all movies have this quality, even the good ones (as much as I like "Saving Private Ryan," it's a movie I'd rather experience from a safe distance).  Believe it or not, "Brotherhood of the Wolf" will not be appearing on this list.  It's a great movie, but due to the nature of the story, the world it inhabits isn't as inventive or expansive. So here are the five movies (or in most cases, franchises) that I would love to visit and explore... 5. Heat : This may seem like an odd entry for this list, since it takes place in our reality, but let me explain.  Not only is everyone (based on the evidence) intelligent, thoughtful and unique, Michael Mann created a vision of Los Angeles that is vividly realized.  I got a sense of how his LA worked and how segmen...

1.5/4 Starring: Zach Braff, Kate Hudson, Mandy Patinkin, Joey King, Pierce Gagnon, Josh Gad Rated R for Language and Some Sexual Content For a brief period, Zach Braff's directorial debut, "Garden State," was my favorite film of all time (emphasis on brief, since I only saw the film once, and that was years ago).  The same will not be said about his newest film, "Wish I Was Here," which is just awful. This new dramedy feels like a trailer for another movie, although it would be stretching it to say that it would be good.  There are plenty of "emotional" moments that would look good in a trailer, but Braff doesn't build upon them.  The whole thing feels like an assembly of little clips that, by themselves, are decent enough, but they don't really add up to much. Aidan Bloom (Braff) is a struggling actor.  He has the support of his lovely wife Sarah (Hudson), but his father Gabe (Patinkin) considers him a failure.  After Gabe's canc...

1/4 Starring: Willem Dafoe, Morgana Davies, Frances O'Connor, Finn Woodlock, Sam Neill Rated R for Language and Brief Violence God, I really hate movies that do nothing with an interesting premise.  It reeks of ego.  Audiences are coming to see a movie based on the premise that they heard about.  But to only give it cursory mention in favor of half-baked individuals that have nothing to do with the story is a slap in the face. The idea, that a company would want to find the last member of a species so they could kill it, copyright its DNA and bring it back into existence, is interesting and provocative (the film was made two years before Molecular Pathology vs. Myriad Genetics , which ruled that genetic patenting of naturally occurring genes is illegal).  Sadly, the only thing that director Daniel Nettheim does with it is provide some segments of Martin (Dafoe) running around the woods of Tasmania setting traps or hiding from the elements.  The bulk of t...

2/4 Starring: Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Viola Davis, Joseph Foster Rated PG-13 for Thematic Material Doubt is an uncomfortable position to be in.  You don't know the truth, and the pain of not knowing can frustrate tremendously.  Just look at a missing persons case.  How do you think it feels to not know where your loved one is?  Granted, "Doubt" doesn't deal with a missing person, but a crime, if one indeed occurred, that is just as terrifying. Donald Miller (Foster) is the lone black child at St. Nicholas Catholic School.  It is 1964, so life is understandably difficult for him.  He has been taken under the wing of Father Flynn (Hoffman), the progressively minded parish priest.  That raises the ire of Sister Aloysius Beauvier (Streep), who believes that things must stay the same.  But when young Sister James (Adams) sees Donald acting a little odd after being called to a private meeting with Father Flynn, Sister Al...

3.5/4 Starring: Jason Clarke, Keri Russell, Gary Oldman, Kodi Smitt-McPhee, Andy Serkis, Toby Kebell Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi Violence and Action, and Brief Strong Language I know, I know... I said I'd go see "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" right after I saw the first one .  And I did!  I just missed the first few minutes of the movie (actually, probably only about a minute), and it is a personal policy that if I miss any part of the movie, I don't review it (this is why there is no review of "Mirror Mirror," among others).  So, I've finally gotten a chance to see it again and review it. I mentioned that James Berardinelli said that "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" is much better than the first one (3.5/4 vs. 2.5/4).  He was right.  This is an improvement on all fronts.  The plot is more complex, the storytelling is considerably better, and the stakes are higher. After the events in the first film, the medicine th...

1/4 Starring: Bob Hoskins, John Leguizamo, Dennis Hopper, Samantha Mathis, Fisher Stevens, Richard Edson, Fiona Shaw Rated PG for Action Violence (I guess...) "Super Mario Bros." is what happens when a studio hopes to cash in on a new trend and hires filmmakers without a clue.  I would be extremely surprised if the writers (Parker Bennett, Terry Runte, Ed Solomon) and/or the directors (Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton) have played any of the Super Mario games.  Granted, the film was made in 1993, and the latest release at the time was "Super Mario World" for the Super Nintendo, but at the time it had what passed for a plot in those days (unlike the original arcade game). Anyone who has played any of the games in the series would tell you that if it could be pegged into a genre, it's fantasy.  It's lighter than air and cuter than cute.  Yet, the people who turned the beloved games into a monstrosity of a movie have made it into a gritty sci-fi action m...

3.5/4 Starring: Ray Milland, Jane Wyman, Phillip Terry, Howard Da Silva, Doris Dowling, Frank Faylen Not Rated Few movies can be seen as "game changers."  Movies that have fundamentally altered the way movies deal with a subject.  " Saving Private Ryan " changed the way war films have been made (to be fair, there were other movies that looked at the dark side of war, but not even "Platoon" was as frank or brutal).  " Brokeback Mountain " was the first mainstream movie to show a homosexual romance.  And while it came out a half century before either, "The Lost Weekend" changed the way the world looked at addiction. Before Billy Wilder made "The Lost Weekend," which was based on a novel by Charles R. Jackson (Wilder picked up while riding on the train, and by the time he reached Hollywood, he had decided to make this his next film), America was divided as to whether or not alcoholism was a disease or a weakness of charac...

2/4 Starring: Jason Segel, Cameron Diaz, Rob Corddry, Ellie Kemper, Rob Lowe Rated R for Strong Sexual Content, Nudity, Language and Some Drug Use The good news about Cameron Diaz's new movie, "Sex Tape," is that it's better than her other film this year: " The Other Woman ."  The bad news is that it's still not very good. What is it with comedies these days that never stop belaboring the jokes?  Comic bits either have to keep it short or build to a climax.  There are stretches of time in "Sex Tape" that feel straight out of " Neighbors ," and that's not a good place to be.  The scenes in "Sex Tape" are much funnier than the ones in Seth Rogen's ego trip because they're funnier jokes (Cameron Diaz berating Jason Segel about accidentally sending their sex tape to a bunch of people is a lot funnier than watching Seth Rogen saying he doesn't know how to talk to a bunch of frat boys repeatedly).  But I go...

3.5/4 Starring: Frank Grillo, Carmen Ejogo, Zoe Soul, Zach Gilford, Kiele Sanchez Rated R for Strong Disturbing Violence, and for Language There are two reasons I went to see "The Purge: Anarchy" even though the first installment was on my Bottom Ten list last year: the story was opened up, which meant new possibilities for things to happen to the characters (not to mention a pretty cool trailer), and if nothing else, I needed another entry for this year's Bottom 10 list.  Boy, was I surprised! Not only is this sequel an improvement on its predecessor, it's a HUGE improvement.  I don't think I've ever seen such a surge in quality in a franchise, much less between two entries (the reverse is another story).  There are few other ways to put it: "The Purge: Anarchy" is way cool.  It's tense, very violent, intriguing and more than capable of generating a few laughs as well as effective shocks.  Not many movies can make that claim. Six year...

2/4 Starring: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Frieda Pinto, John Lithgow, David Oyelowo, Tom Felton, Brian Cox Rated PG-13 for Intense and Frightening Sequences of Action and Violence The original "Planet of the Apes" movie was released in 1968 and followed by four sequels and two short-lived TV shows.  I haven't seen it, but it was widely popular when it was released, and in some circles its fandom rivals " Star Wars " and " Star Trek ."  It survived a "re-imagining" by Tim Burton in 2001 that did okay at the box office, but 20th Century Fox decided against a direct sequel and instead reboot the franchise a decade later.  Thus, we have "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." Will Rodman (Franco) is on a mission.  His father Charles (Lithgow) is dying of Alzheimer's, and Will is convinced that he's found the cure.  After a test with a chimpanzee goes horribly wrong, his research is stalled.  Undaunted, he takes baby of the test...

2/4 Starring: Colin Farrell, Keira Knightly, Ray Winstone, David Thewlis, Ben Chaplin, Anna Friel, Eddie Marsan Rated R for Strong Violence, Pervasive Language, Some Nudity and Drug Use The longer "London Boulevard" goes on, the less sense it makes.  It starts off effectively, but loses its way pretty soon after setting the stage.  I guess that's what to expect with a movie that's high-powered on both sides of the camera but can't manage a theatrical release.  At least it's not as bad as " The Resident ." Mitchel (Farrell) has just been released from a short stint in prison.  Not wanting to go back, he decides to leave the criminal life behind him, much to the annoyance of his squirrely friend, Billy (Chaplin).  After fending off a few guys who get too close to a beautiful woman, he gets a job as a bodyguard to a shy starlet named Charlotte (Knightly).  But his past comes back to haunt him after he wants to get vengeance for a friend who was ...

3/4 Starring: Jay Chandrasekhar, Eric Stolhankse, Paul Soter, Steve Lemme, Kevin Heffernan, Brian Cox, Marisa Coughlan Rated R for Language, Sexual Content, and Drug Use "Super Troopers" is less of a movie than a series of loosely connected skits featuring a group of unbelievably incompetent cops that are loosely connected by the flimsiest of plots.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing.  If a sketch comedy like this is funny enough, a plot can only get in the way.  "Super Troopers" works for the same reason that " Grown Ups " did: it's pretty damn funny. This is the second film by the comedy troupe Broken Lizard (the first one was a college comedy called "Puddle Cruiser," which was shown at the Sundance Film Festival to great reviews, but they turned down the offers to go wide with it).  The group, which includes Chandrasekhar, Stolhanske, Soter, Lemme, and Heffernan, originated in 1990 at Colgate University, when Chandrasekhar was...

3/4 Starring: Holly Goss, Matt Stokoe, Luke Albright, Ryan Hawley, Gemma Atkinson Rated R for Some Violence/Disturbing Images, and for a Sexual Reference As I sat down to watch "Devil's Pass," I was grinning to myself.  I was hoping to get spooked by learning the horrifying "truth" behind the Dyatlov Pass incident, a mountaineering expedition that ended in the deaths of the entire party.  I eagerly awaited the tension of feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and wondering what terror lay beyond the camera's light. I wasn't disappointed.  "Devil's Pass" may not be the scariest movie ever made (far from it), but it contains enough shocks and chills to warrant a viewing for those who enjoy this sort of thing. College students Holly (Goss) and Jensen (Stokoe) have received a grant to investigate the Dyatlov Pass incident by taking the same route as the ill-fated hikers.  Going with them are two expert climbers, JP (Albrigh...

2/4 Starring: Astro, Teo Halm, Reese Hartwig, Ella Wahlestedt Rated PG for Some Action and Peril, and for Mild Language "Earth to Echo" is a "found-footage" story that's cobbled together from other better movies like "E.T.: The Extraterrestrial" and "The Goonies," with elements of " Super 8 " mixed in (which in and of itself borrowed from movies like the ones I mentioned, only it did a much better job).  The result, while not unwatchable, is disappointing. Three best friends are faced with a sad future: their neighborhood is being bought up to make room for a freeway.  One of them, Alex (Teo Halm), is moving away the next day, with Munch (Hartwig) following soon after.  When Tuck's (Astro) family is moving away is never stated.  Their phones have been scrambled by a mysterious force, and when they realize that instead of being broken, they've turned into maps, the three of them decide to follow it.  There, they find ...

2.5/4 Starring: Susan Sarandon, Geena Davis, Harvey Keitel, Christopher McDonald, Michael Madsen, Brad Pitt, Stephen Tobolowsky Rated R for Strong Language, and for Some Violence and Sensuality "Thelma & Louise" is one of the most famous "chick flicks" (a term I dislike intensely, by the way...a good movie is a good movie, regardless of whom its intended audience is).  So much to my surprise when I put the movie in the Blu Ray player, I found that not only is the movie overrated, it's not even very good.  There are some elements of the film that work, particularly in the second half, but on the whole its a mishmash of inept screenwriting and a wildly uneven tone. Louise (Sarandon) wants to take a fishing trip with her friend Thelma (Davis), despite the fact that neither one knows how to fish (one of Louise's friends is about to lose his cabin in a divorce, so he's inviting everyone he knows to use it while he still has ownership).  Thelma is ...

2.5/4 Starring: Eric Bana, Edgar Ramirez, Olivia Munn, Joel McHale, Lulu Wilson Rated R for Bloody Violence, Grisly Images, Terror Throughout, and Language Not to be confused with the 2006 documentary Scott Derrickson knows the "demonic possession" horror genre better than anyone (apologies to fans of "The Exorcist"...it may have been scary when it was released, but I've seen it twice and found it to be a dud both times).  " The Exorcism of Emily Rose " used a real-life case of possession to explore the line between faith and science, and delivered a number of truly suspenseful sequences.  " Sinister " is the second scariest movie I have ever seen (after " Fear ").  He knows his stuff.  Which is why his latest film surprised me.  It's not a bad movie, but it is disappointing. The film follows the exploits of Ralph Sarchie (Bana), a Bronx cop who has been seeing some nasty things lately.  An Iraq veteran beat the crap o...

2/4 Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Binbing Li, Titus Welliver, and the voices of Peter Cullen, John Goodman, Ken Watanabe and Frank Welker Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi Violence and Action, Language and Some Innuendo Last night, I watched " The Rock " again.  For those of you who haven't seen it and are among the now many who constantly spew bile at Michael Bay's name, give this one a watch.  It is a masterpiece lovingly crafted by a man who knows exactly what he's doing.  Which is why I sat in "Transformers: Age of Extinction" wondering what happened.  Where is that passion to make the most exciting film that he could?  Where is the heart and soul?  None of the skill and technique that made the Nicolas Cage (another popular whipping boy these days)/Sean Connery film so exhilarating has made it into the newest "Transformers" movie. The film takes place an unspecified time...

3/4 Starring: Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Kang-Ho Song, Ah-Sung Ko, Tilda Swinton, John Hurt, Octavia Spencer, Ewen Bremner Rated R for Violence, Language and Drug Content Based off of its premise and the first few minutes, I thought that "Snowpiercer" would be a retread of last year's "Elysium;" a sci-fi story about class divisions where the struggling lower class revolts against the powerful upper class and equalizes everything.    While there are some similarities, it's not the same movie. In the near-future, global warming has become a planet-wide disaster.  In a last ditch attempt to save Earth, a chemical is sent up into Earth's atmosphere to repair it.  Unfortunately, it backfires, killing almost every living being on the planet within a very short amount of time.  The only survivors are those aboard a train that runs across the globe.  The residents of the train are clearly divided.  Those in the back of the train, who are the lower class,...