Mike's Movie Tips

3/4 Not Rated (Probable R for Disturbing Violent Content and Some Language) Are monsters real, or do we create them ourselves when the truth is too terrible to admit? That's the question that documentary filmmakers Barbara Brancaccio and Joshua Zeman seek to answer.  The crime, if there even is one, is horrific.  During the 70's and 80's, a slew of children went missing.  Only one of them was ever found again, but she had long since been dead and buried in the woods.  Many of them were patients at the notorious Willowbrook State School on Staten Island (it was the one famously exposed by Geraldo Rivera), and the one thing connecting them was a former orderly named Andre Rand.  But the evidence against him was circumstantial at best. Brancaccio and Zeman ask whether the need for answers and closure can allow us to find answers where there are none.  I was reminded of the Joker's rationalization for his crimes in " The Dark Knight :" "You know what ...

Here we are again...this time, I'm not waiting til the day of the event before making my predictions.  The Oscars, as we all know, are less of a celebration of quality than a night of brown-nosing and egos.  And strange looks on the red carpet.  However, that doesn't mean that I, being a critic, should weigh in on who should and who will win the gold statue.  After all, what else am I going to do on this 2 hour flight? Best Picture: "The Big Short" " Brooklyn " " Bridge of Spies " " Mad Max: Fury Road " " The Martian " " The Revenant " " Room " " Spotlight " Ultimately, the top honor is going to come down between two movies (as usual).  Last year it was " Boyhood " and " Birdman ."  This year, it's "Spotlight" and "The Revenant."  Both of the latter films were directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu.  And it looks like he's going to win ag...

2.5/4 Starring: Andy Garcia, Ines Sastre, Bill Murray, Tomas Milian, Enrique Murciano, Nestor Carbonell, Richard Bradford, Jsu Garcia, Millie Perkins Rated R for Violence I admit that I'm a sucker for movies that follow a group of characters through time, and at the end they look back nostalgically over what has been lost to time.  In many ways, Andy Garcia's directorial debut, "The Lost City," is one of those movies, although it's nowhere near the level of the best ones, like " Memoirs of a Geisha " or " For the Boys ."  Come to think of it, a better comparison would be " Farewell, My Concubine ." Fico Fellove (Garcia) is the owner of "El Tropico," the hottest nightclub in Havana.  His family is as wealthy as it is diverse.  His brothers Luis (Carbonell) and Ricardo (Murciano) are revolutionaries trying to overthrow the brutal regime of President Fulgencio Batista (Juan Fernandez) while he concentrates on running th...

3/4 Starring: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Sophie Vavasseur, Thomas Kretschmann, Jared Harris, Mike Epps Rated R for Non-Stop Violence, Language and Some Nudity It's funny how expectations can change your perception of a movie.  The first time I saw " Resident Evil ," I was disappointed, feeling that it was a one-ply script with characters who weren't strong enough to be called "one-dimensional."  But today I had a snow day, and after I had watched the searing " Spotlight ," I was in the mood for something loud, violent and stupid.  And you know what?  I liked "Resident Evil" more this time around.  So, having bought the "Resident Evil" collection (give me a break...it was on sale!), I decided to try the much-despised sequel, "Resident Evil: Apocalypse."  And surprise, surprise, I liked it.  Not only that, I liked it better than the original. The film takes place shortly after the events of the fi...

3/4 Starring: Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Joseph Gilgun, Jo Hartley, Andrew Shim, Rosamund Hanson Rated R for Strong Racist Violence and Language There is an autobiographical element to this story.  British director Shane Meadows drew upon events from his own childhood to tell this story.  That's probably why it feels so authentic.  The film's strongest aspect is getting inside the head of a lonely, picked on adolescent.  Understanding him is crucial for this movie to work. England, 1983.  12-year-old Shaun (Turgoose) is an unhappy child.  His father was killed in the Falklands War, his mother (Hartley) doesn't understand him, and he is bullied at school.  Luck comes his way when he encounters a group of skinheads hanging out under a bridge.  Although he is initially suspicious of their motives, he eventually warms up to them, especially Woody (Gilgun), and they unofficially adopt him.  Finally, Shaun has what he always wanted: f...

2/4 Starring: Joseph Fiennes, Tom Felton, Peter Firth, Cliff Curtis Rated PG-13 for Biblical Violence including Some Disturbing Images As far as Christian films go, "Risen" has the virtue of at least being watchable.  It's not as affecting as " Hardflip " or as entertaining as " Mom's Night Out ."  But on the flip side, it's not as preachy as " War Room " or as offensive as " God's Not Dead ."  That's probably because it's directed by an established filmmaker and has a cast of professional actors. Clavius (Fiennes) is a Roman centurion living at the time of Christ.  Pontius Pilate (Firth) has, at the behest of Jewish leaders like Caiaphas (Stephen Greif), arrested Yeshua (Curtis), a man who has proclaimed himself the Messiah, and put him down for crucifixion.  Of course, after he's crucified, the body disappears.  With claims that Yeshua has fulfilled his prophecy and risen again, Pontius is nervous, ...

3.5/4 Starring: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger, Lucas Dawson Rated R for Disturbing Violent Content and Graphic Nudity "The Witch" is an indie horror film that has been gathering steam for the past few months.  A24, a distribution company known primarily for independent and art-house fare, believes that it has enough appeal to turn a tidy profit in a wide release.  It will be interesting to see how it fares, since it is definitely not mainstream. The film is rightly classified as a horror film, although it's a non-traditional one.  Anyone looking for copious amounts of violence, gore and sex is going to be disappointed.  There is nudity, although considering the context, it's not going to do much for the libido.  Writer/director Robert Eggers places more emphasis on atmosphere and growing dread rather than cheap shocks and bloody viscera. New England, 1630.  A family of seven leaves a populous plantati...

2/4 Starring: Josh Brolin, George Clooney, Alden Ehrenreich, Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Channing Tatum, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Jonah Hill Rated PG-13 for Some Suggestive Content and Smoking Imagine, if you will, " Entourage ," set in the 1950's and directed by the notoriously offbeat Coen Brothers, and you'll have some idea of what "Hail, Caesar!" offers.  Sadly, the film comes nowhere near achieving its potential.  It's not funny, and more often than not, dull. Eddie Mannix (Brolin) is a fixer for Capitol Pictures.  Whenever there's a scandal or a problem on the set, he's there to "fix it" (ironically, his co-star George Clooney played a similar role in the overrated "Michael Clayton").  Today is not going well for Eddie.  The star of the studio's biggest picture, "Hail, Caesar!", Baird Whitlock (Clooney), has just been kidnapped.  The studio's sweetheart, DeeAnna Moran (Johansson)...

2.5/4 Starring: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Brandon Walters, David Wenham, Bryan Brown, David Gulpilil Rated PG-13 for Some Violence, A Scene of Sensuality and Brief Strong Language As is the case with many a flawed film, "Australia" tries to be something but misses the mark.  Director Baz Luhrmann wants his love letter to his home country to be a grand romantic epic in the tradition of "Gone with the Wind" (a film from which it occasionally steals) and "Titanic."  However, while it's far from unwatchable, there's no denying that it rarely hits the sweet spot. Lady Sarah Ashley (Kidman) is a stuffy woman living in England going to Australia to wrap up a business deal.  Her husband ran off to Down Under years ago and ran a successful cattle droving business, but lately that well has been running dry.  Fed up, she travels there to sell the business to the local cattle baron, King Carney (Brown).  Australia brings a series of shocks to her sy...

3/4 Starring: Zac Efron, Robert DeNiro, Zoey Deutch, Aubrey Plaza, Jason Mantzoukas, Julianne Hough, Dermot Mulroney Rated R for Crude Sexual Content Throughout, Graphic Nudity, and for Language and Drug Use The opening scene is key to the film.  A young lawyer is telling an anecdote (at his grandmother's funeral, no less) so wrapped up in legal jargon that only lawyers would get it.  He and the other men laugh the kind of arrogant laugh that shows they know how sophisticated they are.  If the storyteller were any man, we'd see him as a self-absorbed jerk.  But because he's played by Zac Efron, we know what this really is: he's putting himself on airs to show how adult he is.  He wants to show everyone that he's a perfect young professional, way above partying and crude sex jokes.  We all know one or two of them (when you're my age, they're everywhere). His name is Jason, and he's a corporate lawyer working for his dad's (Mulroney) firm....

3/4 Starring (voices): Jack Black, Bryan Cranston, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, J.K. Simmons, James Hong Rated PG for Martial Arts Action and Some Mild Rude Humor "Kung Fu Panda" is what it is.  You want more Po?  You got it.  More kung fu?  It's here.  You want a surprise cameo by Humphrey Bogart back from the dead?  That's one thing that's not in here.  For those of you who view that as a spoiler, I offer my deepest apologies. Like most franchise entries not based on books, "Kung Fu Panda 3" exists for one simple reason: the first two made money.  If you choose to see it, your money won't be wasted.  If you don't, you're not missing much. Po (Black) is settled into his role as the dragon warrior.  Master Shifu (Hoffman) has decided to retire from teaching and has handed over the reigns to Po.  His first attempt at teaching is an unmitigated disaster.  But more trouble arises when Kai (Simmons), a spiritual warrio...

I was browsing the internet today and I came across an article about how John Cleese said political correctness is killing comedy.  Hollywood argues differently, with comedies getting raunchier by the day (and more profitable). However, it got me thinking.  I had a discussion in one of my classes last semester about the possible need for labeling classes that dealt with "sensitive material."  I thought, what the hell?  Really?  Grow up!  Safe places on college campuses?  Give me a break. Is free speech under attack?  Doubtful, but the ones who claim it is have only themselves to blame.  I think that it's not free speech that's under attack but a defense measure by people who hold unpopular opinions and are unhappy when they get criticized for them. Social media is everywhere, and that's a bad thing if your a celebrity who doesn't watch what he says (just as Donald Sterling...who, by the way, deserved what he got).  So if your famou...

Admittedly, I'm a little late to the party for writing this review, but, as they say, better late than never. There's been a lot of controversy this year over the fact that all the acting nominees this year are white.  Boycotts were made.  Questions where raised about whether Chris Rock would still host the event (he is, but he will mention the backlash in one of his monologues). Many are blaming the Academy for not recognizing actors and filmmakers of color this year.  For example, Will Smith was considered a lock for his performance in " Concussion ," which he should have gotten instead of Bryan Cranston.  Cranston has never impressed me with his acting abilities, but he's still riding the "Breaking Bad" waves and he portrayed a Hollywood legend that got screwed over by McCarthyism.  That it received mediocre reviews and essentially vanished from screens without anyone seeing it only adds salt to the wound). The Academy, which has a history of bo...