Mike's Movie Tips

3.5/4 Starring: Victor Rasuk, Judy Marte, Altagracia Guzman, Krystal Rodriguez, Silvestre Rasuk, Melonie Diaz, Kevin Rivera Rated R for Strong Language It's interesting, isn't it, how hokey and corny romances like " Twilight " or any other of the recent crop of romances aimed at tween girls make tons of money while movies like " Before Sunrise " are overlooked and ignored.  It's not as if teenagers can't connect with them (when I was in high school, people would always talk about movies like "Requiem for a Dream" or " American History X ," not the latest Michael Bay extravaganza).  Hollywood has a distressing habit of underestimating the intelligence of moviegoers, and as a result thoughtful and honest films fall by the wayside...if they're made at all. Victor Vargas (Rasuk) is the ultimate player of the Lower East Side; he's as sexy as he is charming, and can woo any woman to bed with a single pick-up line.  At le...

3/4 Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Michael Douglas, Ronny Cox, Hanna Mangan Lawrence Rated R for Some Violence A movie like "Beyond the Reach" depends on the viewer.  Either you buy into it or you don't.  If you allow yourself to get sucked into it, it's an enjoyable (if far from perfect) ride.  If you want it to do the work for you, it's going to be a trial.  I liked it, but I expect those who try to think too much will not. Ben (Irvine) is saying good-bye to his girlfriend Laina (Lawrence), who is leaving for college on a scholarship.  He's staying behind to be a hunting guide.  That's when he gets a call from the sheriff (Cox).  A corporate hotshot named John Madec (Douglas) is in town to hunt big game.  When Madec and the sheriff gloss over the necessary paperwork, Ben has some misgivings, but the $1000 a day fee that Madec is offering sweetens the deal enough that he accepts.  Packed full of the latest European gadgetry, the two head o...

3.5/4 Starring: Owen Wilson, Lake Bell, Sterling Jerins, Claire Geare, Pierce Brosnan Rated R for Strong Violence including a Sexual Assault, and for Language When thinking of "No Escape," the word "intense" comes to mind.  Not adrenaline, at least certainly not in the way a movie like " San Andreas " or " Furious 7 " brings it to the table.  This is a no-holds barred fight for survival.  There are no superheroes and none of the protagonists suddenly turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger.  It's a kill or be killed situation, and the only mantra that holds them together is "10 steps ahead." After his invention failed to take off like he'd hoped, Jack Dwyer (Wilson) has accepted a position at a water conglomerate.  That takes him and his family, which includes his wife Annie (Bell) and daughters, Lucy (Jerins) and Beeze (Geare), to an unnamed East Asian country.  However, when they arrive, things appear to be amiss.  There's...

1.5/4 Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Topher Grace, Connie Britton, Walton Goggins, John Leguizamo Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence, Language Throughout, Drug Use and Some Sexual Content "American Ultra" wants to be a stoner action-comedy parody; a movie that combines the mentality of a Seth Rogen movie with something like "The Long Kiss Goodnight," playing up both with its tongue-in-cheek.  If that sounds complicated, it is.  But it can be done; the " Kick-Ass " movies did the same thing for the superhero genre.  Sadly, the results are much less satisfactory here. Mike (Eisenberg) is a stoner living in Liman, South Carolina with his girlfriend/landlord Phoebe (Stewart).  Mike wants to propose to Phoebe, and has a whole romantic getaway to Hawaii planned out.  Unfortunately, his neuroses get the better of him and they have to cancel the trip.  But Mike isn't the ordinary pothead grocery store clerk that he thinks he is.  He's ...

2.5/4 Starring: James Ransone, Shannyn Sossamon, Robert Daniel Sloan, Dartanian Sloan, Lea Coco, Lucas Jade Zumann Rated R for Strong Violence, Bloody and Disturbing Images, and Language It would be too much to ask for a sequel to equal the amount of terror generated by the original film.  " Sinister " was perfectly constructed.  Each piece of the story perfectly placed, each shot perfectly composed, and each tidbit of information given with the perfect amount of menace and obliqueness.  Like the best horror movies, it relied on the power of suggestion, leaving our imaginations to fill in the blanks.  The result was a movie so terrifying that at the end of it, I ran out of the theater in a full sprint (something I feel no shame in admitting). Sadly, despite being written by Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, who wrote the original, "Sinister 2" feels like a let down.  Director Ciaran Foy doesn't understand that in a movie like this, less is more, an...

3/4 Starring: Brigette Nielsen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sandahl Bergman, Ernie Reyes Jr., Paul L. Smith Rated PG-13 (for Action Violence/Gore and a Brief Rape Scene) Chances are that I wouldn't have seen this movie had it not been for "Siskel & Ebert."  Normally absolute professionals, the two of them could barely contain their laughter when talking about this movie.  Not a good sign... Taking it at face value, "Red Sonja" is a very bad movie.  The story is trite, the dialogue is embarrassingly bad, none of the actors are able to speak their dialogue convincingly on a regular basis, and the action scenes appear to have been done in one take.  Even Arnold Schwarzenegger knows it's bad; he successfully kept his kids in line by threatening to make them watch it 10 times back to back for any transgression, and his then-wife Maria Shriver told him, "If this doesn't kill your career, nothing will!" However, viewed in the right frame of m...

3/4 Starring: Paul Bettany, Adrianne Palicki, Lucas Black, Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence, and Language I love a good action movie.  As long as it's violent and bloody enough, and the action scenes are constructed with an acceptable level of skill, I'll probably like it (note: something like " Speed " or " The Rock " is the good exception...if those were my standards, I'd probably do best to find another hobby).  "Legion" fits that descriptor.  It's light on plot, and it's a stretch calling any of the characters one-dimensional, but that's because there isn't time for any of that.  It's essentially action, action, and more action. The film starts out like either an art film or a noir movie.  You choose.  A group of people meet at a diner in the middle of nowhere.  Owner/cook Bob (Quaid) and his mechanic son Jeep (Black) run the place for the few people who drift in and out.  Also there...

2.5/4 Starring: O'Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell, Paul Giamatti, R. Marcos Taylor, Tate Ellington, Neil Brown Jr., Aldis Hodge Rated R for Language Throughout, Strong Sexual Content/Nudity, Violence and Drug Use It is ironic that the biopic of the innovative, revolutionary and controversial rap group "N.W.A." is so ordinary.  Particularly when there are plenty of fascinating avenues for it to explore.  It pays lip service to them but seems to be satisfied with merely mentioning them.  Still, the group's story is engaging and the performances work, but a muddled screenplay that tries to do too much hurts the film. The film details the rise and break-up of the group, whose members include Ice Cube (Jackson), Dr. Dre (Hawkins), Eazy-E (Mitchell) DJ Yella (Brown) and MC Ren (Hodge).  Looking for away to express their rage at the injustices they feel are put upon them (mainly by the police), they form a rap group whose lyrics are not the sex-...

3.5/4 Starring: Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek, Marisa Tomei, Nick Stahl, William Wise, William Mapother, Celia Weston Rated R for Some Violence and Language Note: This review contains spoilers.  However, I don't think that knowing a key event that happens part way through the film will fundamentally alter the viewing experience.  In fact, it could be argued that it would be enhanced. How often have we seen this story?  Not in specifics, but certainly in general thrusts.  Or at least we would have, if we had bothered to look.  No, stories like this are born with the byline and die with the final sentence.  At least they do for us.  For the people more intimately involved, it's a different story. Matt Fowler (Wilkinson) is a doctor in a Maine fishing village.  His wife Ruth (Spacek) is a music teacher at the local high school.  Their son Frank (Stahl) is applying to graduate school.  Frank has what he calls a "summer thing" with lo...

3/4 Starring: Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Mamie Gummer, Rick Springfield, Audra McDonald, Sebastian Stan, Nick Westrate Rated PG-13 for Thematic Material, Brief Drug Content, Sexuality and Language Few actresses can almost single-handedly save a movie better than Meryl Streep.  Easily one of the hardest working and most talented actresses who ever lived, Streep's gifts are on display in "Ricki and the Flash," a dramedy that ventures into darker territory than one might think.  The movie doesn't know what to do with Ricki in the final third, but it's Streep's talent that carries us through. Riki (Streep) is the lead singer and guitarist for "Ricki and the Flash," a cover band that plays nightly at a bar in the San Fernando Valley.  She was once married to Pete (Kline), but she left him when he chose a cushy life in suburbia rather than allowing her to follow her dreams as a musician (it took an affair on Pete's part to fully end their marri...

3/4 Starring: Sidney Poitier, Rod Steiger, Warren Oates Not Rated (contains Brief Violence) Typically, when the plot of the movie fails, it takes the movie down with it.  After all, that's why we go to see movies, right?  Occasionally though, you come across movies like "In the Heat of the Night," where everything else is strong enough to compensate for the plot, which is trite and not particularly interesting. The film takes place in the small Mississippi town of Sparta, where civil rights are practiced in name only (if that).  Officer Sam Wood (Oates) is on patrol when he comes across a dead body lying in the middle of the road.  His chief, a tough old salt named Gillespie (Steiger), tells him to head to the depot to prevent the killer from getting away.  There, he finds a well-dressed black man patiently waiting for the train.  His name is Virgil Tibbs (Poitier), and after roughing him up to put him through the paces, Wood makes the arrest. ...

1.5/4 Starring: Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debecki, Jared Harris, Hugh Grant Rated PG-13 for Action Violence, Some Suggestive Content, and Partial Nudity Was there any real demand for this movie?  I mean, of all the classic TV shows that Warner Bros. could hope to turn into a franchise, they picked this?  Half the people haven't even heard of the show (myself included), and it only ran for four years.  And the Cold War isn't exactly a relevant topic in movies these days.  To be fair, it could have been some breezy summer fun, except for the laughable script and the self-indulgence by Guy Ritchie. Debonair American black marketer-turned-spy Napoleon Solo (Cavill) is tasked with getting a mechanic named Gaby (Vikander) out of East Germany.  Trying to stop them is KGB agent Ilya Kurakin (Hammer), a giant of a man with a bad past and anger problems.  The super suave Napoleon succeeds in his mission (while humiliating Ilya in ...

1/4 Starring (voices): Chris Ayres, Sean Schemmel, Kyle Hebert, Monica Rial, Jeremy Schwartz, Ian Sinclair, Jason Douglas Not Rated (Probable PG for Action Violence) I remember seeing a few bits of "Dragonball Z" on TV growing up and thinking that it was extremely stupid.  So why did I spend more money than usual to see a movie spin-off of the show in a theater?  I'm not sure, really.  A chance to dish out some bile?  Or perhaps to see if, now that I've seen good anime like "Inuyasha" or anything by Hayao Miyazaki, it wasn't as bad as I remember (that is the reason why I subjected myself to seeing " The Royal Tenenbaums " for a second time).  If nothing else, it could have given me another entry for my Bottom 10 list this year. So what's the verdict?  Look at the rating and take a guess. "Dragonball Z: Resurrection 'F'" is for fans only.  Anyone who hasn't grown to love the characters while watching the show ...

2.5/4 Starring: Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Reg E. Cathey, Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Toby Kebbell Rated PG-13 for Sci-Fi Action Violence, and Language To put it mildly, the advance word for the third (!) would-be franchise starter of the "Fantastic Four" comic book was not good.  It hasn't approached the levels of "Gigli," but the supposed lack of quality in this movie has been making the news.  Reports of studio meddling and a trouble-raising director have dogged the production, and director Josh Trank has come out and claimed that the studio took the film away from him.  Armed with this foreknowledge, I primed myself for an epic disaster, a movie that I will regret having seen and will make me want to spew even more bile at Marvel.  Then I saw the movie... "Fantastic Four" actually isn't that bad.  That's different from good, which it isn't; the screenplay is bland and the showdown with the villain is extremely underwhelming.  I...

3/4 Starring: Bette Midler, James Caan, Ayre Goss Rated R for Language Normally, it's a bad thing for a movie to offer nothing we haven't seen before.  But "For the Boys" is all about bittersweet nostalgia, so in that sense, that sameness is to be desired.  It's cliché and manipulative, but of course it is.  Movies like "For the Boys" are.  In fact, that's why we go see them. Famous entertainer Dixie Leonard (Midler) is being awarded for her successful career with showman/comedian Eddie Sparks (Caan).  For forty years, they've performed together and entertained the nation.  And during war time, they've gone to the battlefields to put on a show for the troops.  A young assistant, Jeff Brooks (Goss), is sent to fetch Dixie and bring her to the stage where she will receive her reward.  However, she refuses to go because there's been bad blood between her and Eddie for the past two decades.  As Jeff tries to convince her to go (if onl...

1/4 Starring: Dennis Hopper, Amy Locaine, Amy Irving, Hal Holbrook, Gary Busey, Julie Harris Rated R for Nudity, Strong Sexuality, and Language Am I the only one who is aware of how twisted this movie is? There's no rule that a movie about pedophilia can't work, but that's only the case if it's not ignored ("The War Zone" comes to mind). But by treating it as a tender story of forbidden love, it turns into something truly unseemly. If the filmmakers thought they were actually making a love story (which they clearly were), I don't want to know any of them personally. Joseph Svenden (Hopper) is a 47-year-old teacher in a tiny farming community. Although he lacks a college education, he's been teaching for the past 20-odd years, but recent redistricting is causing his school to close down, leaving him out of a job and without a clue as to what to do with himself. Making matters worse is that his mother (Harris) is dying. The only positive th...

3.5/4 Starring: Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Joel Edgerton Rated R for Language Not to be confused with the 2000 film starring Cate Blanchett "You may be done with the past, but the past ain't done with you." - Gordo The best thrillers are set in the real.  Movies like " Fatal Attraction ," a spiritual cousin to "The Gift," scare us because they create suspense out of characters like us who do things we would do.  Joel Edgerton's directorial debut is built upon awkward situations that the majority of people have found themselves in (one way or another). Simon (Bateman) and Robyn (Hall) have just moved to California.  They were living in Chicago, but have relocated for "a new start."  They have just bought a cushy new house to go along with Simon's fancy (and high-paying) new job, and while out shopping for things to fill it with, a man goes up to Simon and says hello.  His name is Gordo (Edgerton), who went to school with...

1/4 Starring: Karen Allen, Chris Mulkey, Will Horneff, Ted Marcoux Rated R for High-Tech Horror Violence Just like "The Mangler" and " Bad Moon ," I watched "Ghost in the Machine" for one reason only: James Berardinelli's review of it was so hilarious I had to see it.  If only for some masochistic enjoyment.  One could argue that "The Mangler" was stupid fun (it's definitely a movie that was made to be watched with your friends and a lot of booze), but "Bad Moon" was tedious.  And as bad as the latter was, this one is worse. When it comes to a movie's premise, I'll accept anything, even if I have to suspend logic.  You'd be surprised at how many movies work once you accept them on their own terms (" Anaconda " and " Speed " are two examples...both are extremely silly, but if you accept them for what they are, they're a lot of fun).  Like those two movies, "Ghost in the Machine...

3/4 Starring (voices): Richard Ian Cox, Moneca Stori, Kelly Sheridan, Kirby Morrow, Jillian Michaels, Vincent Gale Not Rated (probable PG for Violence and Brief Language) Let me tell you a story.  For the longest time as a teenager, I hated anime.  I loathed it.  The crappy animation, the embarrassing dialogue, the generic action sequences...I derided it with the same vitriol that I would later regard Wes Anderson (it is here that I should mention that my experiences with anime was from the stuff on Cartoon Network like "Pokémon," "Digimon," and the utterly worthless "Dragonball Z," shows that most anime fans regard as the ugly stepchild of anime).  A friend of mine at the time was a huge anime fan.  Fed up with my bitching, he dragged me to the school's Japanese pop culture club, where they were showing an episode of "Inuyasha" ("The Mystery of the New Moon and the Black-haired Inuyasha," for any fans of the show who are wond...

1.5/4 Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Forrest Whittaker, Oona Laurence, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Rachel McAdams, Miguel Gomez, Naomie Harris Rated R for Language Throughout, and Some Violence I like Jake Gyllenhaal.  A whole lot.  He's such a powerful and versatile young actor, and he's more than willing to take chances with his career ("Donnie Darko," his breakout role, is a prime example).  He has worked so hard to bring Billy Hope, the character that he plays in this movie, to life that it pains me to say that it's all for naught.  He's caught in a tired screenplay and a director who takes things far too seriously. Billy Hope (Gyllenhaal) is the lightweight champion of the world.  He's fabulously wealthy, famous, and has a loving wife Maureen (McAdams) and daughter Leila (Laurence).  However, when a challenge from a rival, Miguel "Magic" Escobar (Gomez) ends in a blow to his ego, Billy gets into a brutal fistfight.  Guns are pull...

3.5/4 Starring: James Nesbitt, Nicholas Farrell, Tim Pigott-Smith, Christopher Villers, Simon Mann, Declan Duddy Rated R for Violence and Language The "Bloody Sunday" march, a would-be peaceful protest that turned into a bloodbath, was a major incident during the tumultuous times in Northern Ireland known as The Troubles.  Director Paul Greengrass has brought this tragedy vividly to life. On January 30, 1972, many of the residents of Derry, Ireland, led by Parliament member Ivan Cooper (Nesbitt) are going on a protest march.  The fact that Derry is predominantly Catholic and he is Protestant does little to diminish his opposition of the British occupation of Northern Ireland.  Nor does it have any effect on the people, who view him with respect and admiration.  He is organizing a march in protest, undaunted by the fact that the British government has made such marches illegal.  It was supposed to be a peaceful march, but it turned out to be a day of...

2/4 Starring: Ian McKellan, Milo Parker, Laura Linney, Hattie Morahan, Patrick Kennedy, Hiroyuki Sanada Rated PG for Thematic Elements, Some Disturbing Images and Incidental Smoking "Mr. Holmes" is an attempt to appeal to the crowd that made Miramax so popular in its heyday: older viewers who value acting and storytelling over special effects and superheroes.  That would be all well and good if the movie was worth seeing, which it isn't. The bulk of the film takes place in 1947.  Sherlock Holmes is 93, and while not necessarily sick, he's well aware that his time on Earth is limited.  His memory is beginning to fail him, and he wants to solve one last final case before he dies.  The son of his housekeeper Mrs. Munro (Linney), a young lad named Roger (Parker) is eager to help him with his case and his beekeeping.  In an attempt to keep his memory intact, he travels to Japan in search of an herb that will help stave of senility. There are three plot thre...