Mike's Movie Tips

2.5/4 Starring: Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn, Michael Hagerty, Edward Hermann, Katherine Helmond Rated PG (for Language and Brief Sexuality, I guess) With "Overboard," giving my opinion is easy: I'm not going to tell you to put it in your Netflix queue, but I'm not going to tell you to take it off either.  It's a slight, sunny, inoffensive romantic comedy that's hard to dislike.  It's also awkwardly paced, occasionally stupid for the sake of the plot, and suffers from a ridiculously melodramatic ending. Dean Profitt (Russell) is a blue collar carpenter who has been assigned to come aboard to do an emergency job on a yacht.  What he comes to find is that he needs to build a shelf for a bitchy rich girl named Joanna (Hawn).  Doing the job is a decision he's going to come to regret because Joanna is an employer from hell, making little effort to prevent him from hearing her talk about him behind his back.  When he finishes the job, she flips out beca...

1.5/4 Starring: Sam Rockwell, Rosemarie DeWitt, Kyle Catlett, Saxon Sharbino, Kennedi Clements, Jane Adams, Jared Harris, Nicholas Braun, Susan Heyward Rated PG-13 for Intense Frightening Sequences, Brief Suggestive Material and Some Language Tobe Hooper's 1982 shocker "Poltergeist" was not a great movie, but it was at least an entertaining one.  Nevertheless, it managed to strike a chord with its audience and its reputation has died down little over the past thirty-odd years.  This remake was slapped together for the same reasons that horror sequels are made: to cash in on a "brand name" with next to no effort.  And that lack of effort could barely be more painfully obvious than in this lame remake. Eric (Rockwell) and Amy (DeWitt) Bowen are moving to a new house with their three kids: Kendra (Sharbino), Griffin (Catlett), and Madison (Clements).  It doesn't take long for the kids to recognize that there's something strange going on in this new ...

3/4 Starring: Britt Robertson, Raffey Cassidy, George Clooney, Hugh Laurie, Tim McGraw, Pierce Gagnon Rated PG for Sequences of Sci-Fi Action and Peril, Thematic Elements, and Language There's something distinctly Spielberg in Brad Bird's new film "Tomorrowland."  Its themes of hope and imagination (not to mention having a precocious pre-teen as the lead) seem to come directly from him.  That's refreshing in this day and age, when every big budget movie is filled with tween angst and superhero in-jokes and references.  Or reboots and sequels, like another movie that I saw yesterday. While the film gets its name from the Disney park ride, that's the only thing about it that's based on something with a "brand" name.  Everything else comes from the imaginations of Damon Lindelof, Jeff Jensen and especially Brad Bird.  It feels so refreshing to not know half of what to expect when I sat down to watch this movie; to not have the sense that the...

3/4 Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Luke Wilson, Matthew Davis, Selma Blair, Victor Garber, Jennifer Coolidge, Ali Larter Rated PG-13 for Language and Sexual References "Legally Blonde" is like a pop song; not particularly memorable or personally enriching, but it's catchy and it goes down easy.  It's surprisingly fun, and a lot of that has to do with the sparkling performance by its lead actress. Bubble-brained Elle Woods (Witherspoon) is the ultimate valley girl: she's obsessed with fashion, looking good and is dating the school hunk, Warner (Davis).  But on the night that she thinks he's going to propose, he surprisingly dumps her.  He wants to be a senator by the time he's 30, and he needs "someone serious," or as Elle realizes, a law student.  To win him back, she follows him to Harvard Law, where she is met with disdain and ridicule by her classmates, particularly Vivian Kensington (Blair), Warner's new fiancée.  Elle, however, is ...

2.5/4 Starring: Nathan Phillips, Angourie Rice, Jessica De Gouw, Daniel Henshall, Kathryn Beck, Sarah Snook Not Rated (Probable R for Language, Strong Sexuality/Graphic Nudity, Drug Use and Some Strong Violence) Movies about the end of the world fascinate, I think, because they make us ask ourselves what we would do if we knew that we would only have a limited time left on Earth.  Truthfully, we know this, but it's a far different thing to know that the world will end in a week as opposed to just realizing the fact that we are all mortal. In 24 hours, the world will end.  People are dealing with it in various ways.  James (Phillips) can't stand the pain of this reality, and is determined to spend it partying with his friends.  So after having sex with his friend Zoe (De Gouw), he heads out to a party being thrown by his friend Freddy (Henshall).  On the way, he sees two men carrying a girl screaming for her dad into a house.  Reluctantly, James resc...

3/4 Starring: Daniel Day-Lewis, Pete Postlethwaite, Emma Thompson, Don Baker, Corin Redgrave Rated R for Language and Politically-Generated Violence The story of the Guilford Four is one of the most grievous miscarriages of justice.  Four people were sentenced to life in prison for a crime they did not commit, and a half dozen others (including two teenagers) were sentenced to lesser sentences.  But when the truth finally came out, the British government chose to save face and cover it up rather than letting these innocent men and women go free.  Comparisons to the West Memphis Three are entirely appropriate. On October 5th, 1974, a bomb blew up in a pub in Guildford, England, killing five people and injuring 65 more).  Shortly thereafter, the police arrested and brutalized three men (Gerry Conlon, Paul Hill and Patrick Armstrong) and one woman (Carole Richardson) until they confessed to carrying out the attack.  Soon after, additiona...

3/4 Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne Rated R for Intense Violence and Action, and for Disturbing Images "Mad Max: Fury Road's" appeal is purely visceral.  It's a way to get the adrenaline going and gaze in awe at the eye-candy (except if you see it in 3D, which I strongly advise against since it's awful).  Narrative and character development are almost non-existent.  It's essentially one long chase scene, which is fine since George Miller is no Len Wiseman; he knows what he's doing. The film takes place after the world as we know it has ended.  Society has been reduced to gangs battling each other over the remaining supplies.  Gasoline and especially water are scarce.  One man who has access to water is Immortan Joe (Keays-Byrne), and unfortunately, he's using it to consolidate absolute power.  But one of his commanders, a woman named Furiosa (Theron), steals his five wives (whom he's using to sire a son...

1.5/4 Starring: Riz Ahmed, Nigel Lindsay, Arsher Ali, Kayvan Novak, Adeel Akhtar Rated R for Language Throughout, including Some Sexual References When renowned comics author Frank Miller created a comic about defeating Osama bin Laden (this was prior to bin Laden's death), it courted controversy.  In reply, Miller said, "Superman punched out Hitler.  So did Captain America.  That's one of the things they're there for...These are our folk heroes.  It just seems silly to chase around the Riddler when you've got al Qaeda out there." I think Chris Morris, the co-writer/director of "Four Lions," would agree with that.  He's using comedy to deal with terrorism.  The problem is that it's just not very funny, and more often than not, deadly boring. The terrorists are Omar (Ahmed), the ringleader, Barry (Lindsay), the convert, Waj (Novak), the moron, and Faisal (Akhtar), the weirdo.  They're later joined by Hassan (Ali), who may be an u...

2.5/4 Starring: Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Stanfield, Brittany Snow, Skylar Astin, Elizabeth Banks, John Michael Higgins Rated PG-13 for Innuendo and Language The problem with sequels, especially in the comedy genre, is that movies play all their cards by the time the end credits roll.  These days, movies exist with pre-planned franchises which is meant to eliminate the problem, but " Pitch Perfect " was a sleeper hit.  It made a huge profit, so a sequel was inevitable.  Unfortunately, the sequel feels more obligatory than anything, and lacks the irreverence and energy that made the first one so much fun. After winning Nationals, the Barden Bellas are touring the country.  During their performance at Lincoln Center (in front of President Barack Obama and the First Lady Michelle Obama), Fat Amy (Wilson) suffers from a wardrobe malfunction of the worst kind.  Now banned from competing or recruiting new members, their only hope is to win the World ...

1.5/4 Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Sofia Vergara, Matthew Del Negro, Michael Mosley, Robert Kazinsky, John Carroll Lynch, Benny Nieves, Michael Ray Escamilla, Joaqquin Cosio Rated PG-13 for Sexual Content, Violence, Language and Some Drug Material "Hot Pursuit" has got to be the dimmest "comedy" to come along in quite some time.  With its tired plot and jokes straight out of a sitcom, all it needs is a laugh track.  The two leads try so hard to make us laugh that I'm surprised no one was injured.  "Please laugh!" I could hear it say.  "Please!" And yet, it doesn't want to have any sort of edge.  Director Anne Fletcher, whose resume defines the term "playing it safe" (she directed "The Proposal" and " The Guilt Trip ."  Plus one of Katherine Heigl's way too numerous romantic comedies) refuses to allow the film to do anything unusual or surprising.  It's as if she is so afraid of offending the i...

2/4 Starring: Ashley Hinshaw, Denis O'Hare, James Buckley, Christa Nicola, Amir K Rated R for Some Horror Violence and Bloody Images I meant to see this movie when it came out last year.  I really did.  But it came and went so fast that I never got a chance (not a good sign of quality...).  It's about Ancient Egypt, if only tangentially, and it's a horror movie that's not a remake or a sequel (and it has an R-rating to boot).  Sadly, while the it's certainly watchable, it's by no means as terrifying as it could be. A pyramid has just been discovered buried beneath the sands of Egypt.  Sent to dig it up and study it are the father-daughter team of Miles (O'Hare) and Nora (Hinshaw) Holden.  Also with them is a news crew led by a reporter named Sunni (Nicola) and her cameraman Fitzie (Buckley).  Because of the increasingly violent protests in Cairo, the government has shut down the excavation.  But this is the chance of a lifetime, and Nora i...

3/4 Starring: Tom Wilkinson, Jessica Lange, Randall Arney, Clancy Brown, Hayden Panettiere Not Rated (contains Language including Sexual Dialogue and Brief Violence) I can't imagine how difficult it would be to be trapped in the body of the wrong sex.  I mean, coming out as gay was hard enough, but telling your spouse of 25 years that you were born as the wrong gender must be horrifying.  "Normal" wisely doesn't pretend that it is, and shows us all of the challenges and pitfalls that this conflict can put on even the sturdiest of marriages.  It would be bad enough in a liberal, big city environment, but "Normal" takes place in a small, blue-collar, God-fearing conservative town. Roy (Wilkinson) and Irma Applewood (Lange) are celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary when Roy suddenly passes out.  While discussing what happened with their pastor, an energetic man named Reverend Dale (Arney), Roy spills his biggest secret: he's a woman trapped in ...

3/4 Starring: Shelly Hennig, Moses Jacob Storm, Renee Olstead, Jacob Wysocki, Courtney Halverson, Will Peltz Rated R for Violent Content, Pervasive Language, Some Sexuality and Drug and Alcohol Use "Unfriended" may be the most innovative movie since " Memento ."  Make that the most innovative movie since "Memento" that actually works, since there are dozens of failed experiments like " November " from the past 15 years.  The film takes place almost entirely on the computer screen of its lead character; we see what she sees, and that adds another level of tension to the film.  The plot, about a group of friends whose sins of the past come back to visit them (literally) isn't the pinnacle of originality, but that's okay.  Horror movies generally aren't known for deep and complex plots.  The genius is in the construction. Blair (Hennig) is chatting with her boyfriend Mitch (Storm) via Skype (a cynical person might say that this i...

2/4 Starring: Jim Carrey, Renee Zellwegger, Anthony Anderson, Mongo Brownlee, Jerod Mixon, Chris Cooper, Richard Jenkins Rated R for Sexual Content, Crude Humor, Strong Language and Some Violence Like the recent " Little Boy ," the Farrelly Brothers follow-up to their sleeper hit "There's Something About Mary" is essentially two movies in one.  The first is a rather sweet, if offbeat, romantic comedy.  The second is a seriously confused road movie/crime story.  There are some things to like about this movie, including some truly hilarious sequences.  The problem is the stuff between them. Charlie Baileygates (Carrey) is the world's nicest guy.  Despite the fact that his wife ran off with the limo driver (and leaving him with three illegitimate children, whom he dotes upon), Charlie the Rhode Island State Trooper is never without a smile.  He's also the world's biggest doormat; not even a little girl jumping rope on the street takes him ser...

3/4 Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johannson, Jeremy Renner, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, and the voices of James Spader and Paul Bettany Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi Violence, Action and Destruction, and for Some Suggestive Comments I recently watched " The Avengers " again.  I hated it the first time, but after re-watching it again (thank you, discounts at Best Buy), my views have softened.  And surprisingly, I liked this one even better.  Why is that?  I'm not sure.  Maybe it's because the plot isn't a play-by-play replay of "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," and let's face it, no one does action and destruction like Michael Bay.  Maybe it's because this movie isn't all about fan service, and actually recognizes that there are people out there who aren't comic book geeks.  Or maybe it's because the movie doesn't spend the better part of two hours w...

2.5/4 Starring: Jakob Salvati, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Tom Wilkinson, David Henrie, Emily Watson, Kevin James. Michael Rapaport Rated PG for Some Thematic Material and Violence "Little Boy" is really two movies in one.  The first, which deals with a young boy's attempts to bring his father home from World War II, is uneven to the extreme.  The second, about said boy's growing relationship with a Japanese ex-pat, is much more affecting.  The limitations of the first, which is the main storyline, are problematic enough to the point where I hesitate watching it (at least in theaters), but there is definitely compelling stuff to be found here. Pepper (Salvati), or "Little Boy," as he is crudely called due to his short stature (boy could I relate...) is a young kid living in a coastal California town.  His best friend is his father (Rapaport), so when he has to go off to war in the place of Pepper's older brother London (Henrie) on behalf of the latter...