Mike's Movie Tips

2.5/4 Starring (voices): Michael Sinterniklaas, Stephanie Sheh, Laura Post, Glynnis Ellis, Kyle Hebert, Cassandra Morris Rated PG for Thematic Elements, Suggestive Content, Brief Language, and Smoking One thing I appreciate about anime is that filmmakers who use this medium understand that animation has a power that live action does not.  For example, movies like "Grave of the Fireflies," " Whisper of the Heart " or " Only Yesterday " could feasibly be filmed using live actors and sets (actually, " Grave of the Fireflies " has gotten that treatment twice in Japan).  But the filmmakers knew that using animation gives the story a different life and energy that cannot be achieved using flesh and blood actors.  "Your Name" is similar in that regard.  With the help of a little CGI, it could be filmed with cameras.  By animating it, "Your Name" gains a tone that is simultaneously otherworldly and nostalgic.  Perfect for the ma...

2.5/4 Starring: Taylor James, Jackson Rathbone, Greg Kriek, Caitlin Leahy, Rutger Hauer, Billy Zane, Frances Sholto-Douglas Rated PG-13 for Violence and Battle Sequences "Samson" is far and away the funniest movie so far in 2018.  Okay, so it's still only February, but you get my point.  This Christian film is a hoot from start to finish.  A cavalcade of bad acting, ridiculous melodrama, and more howlers than most legitimate comedies, I can almost recommend "Samson" for the cinematic trainwreck that it is. There are two ways to look at this movie: as a straight, inspirational Christian film, it's a failure.  The plot is a mess and the performances are wooden enough to make one wonder where the fire hazard signs are.  And for a movie aimed at the " God's Not Dead " crowd, it's both sanctimonious and sacrilegious.  I'm sure there are going to be plenty of the faithful who will be offended by a movie that turns a Biblical figure in...

3/4 Starring: Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn Rated PG for Thematic Elements, Some Violence and Smoking Most movies don't age well.  Whether due to changing social mores or current events, something that is timely today will most likely be viewed as quaint or even boring fifty years from now.  Will anyone remember the "Transformers" franchise in 2050?  Doubtful.  Other times, a movie becomes outdated because the technology that brings films to life has improved, or that better filmmakers have raised the bar.  Such is the case with "The African Queen."  While there are some exciting scenes here and there, and the performances by the two leads are excellent, this sort of Saturday morning serial has been done better.  Indiana Jones, "Congo," or more appropriately, "Romancing the Stone" mined the same territory to much better effect. Rose Sayer (Hepburn) is a missionary working in Central Africa with her brother (Robert Morley) on the ...

2.5/4 Starring: Nicolas Cage, Lara Flynn Boyle, Dennis Hopper, J.T. Walsh Rated R for Language and Violence, and for Sexuality If "Red Rock West" missed the mark for positive side of Siskel and Ebert's "thumbs up/down" scale, it does so by one of the narrowest margins I have seen.  There's a lot to like in this movie, particularly in the first half.  But in the end, if felt strung along and jerked around rather than energized.  Many viewers won't feel the same, which is why you'll never hear me tell anyone not to see it if they have any interest in doing so. Michael (Cage) is down on his luck.  He drove well over a thousand miles for a job interview that seemed like a sure thing, only to have his honesty get in the way.  While drowning his sorrows in a cup of black coffee, a bartender asks him if he's Lyle.  Desperate and naiive, Michael lies and says he is.  It turns out that this man, named Wayne (Walsh), wants Lyle to kill his wife.  L...

3.5/4 Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Letitia Wright, Andy Serkis, Angela Bassett, Daniel Kaluuya Rated PG-13 for Prolonged Sequences of Action Violence, and a Brief Rude Gesture Superhero movies, particularly those made by Marvel, are a dime-a-dozen.  Change up the characters and call it a day.  They're extremely profitable because of fan loyalty; if you have enough cameos by characters from the comics (large or small) and an appearance by Stan Lee (who at age 95 has no problem whoring out his creations to fatten his wallet), and you'll bring in at least a hundred million on your opening weekend.  Most Marvel movies concentrate so much on continuity and fan service that the essentials, like good storytelling and action scenes that are actually exciting, are deemed unnecessary.  So when you have a real filmmaker tackle a comic and hit it out of the park, it's worth taking notice. After the deat...

4/4 Starring (voices): Elle Fanning, Dakota Fanning, Tim Daly, Pat Carroll, Lea Salonga, Paul Butcher Rated G Watching "My Nighbor Totoro" is like taking a trip back to childhood.  It's a sweet, innocent and positively adorable movie about discovering the world around you.  There are no villains in this movie, and the only monsters in it are nothing more than big, fuzzy best friends.  Rather than chase you, they'll allow you to take a nap on their belly or fly you around the countryside. Mei (Elle Fanning) and Satsuki Kusakabe (Dakota Fanning) are moving to the countryside with their father (Daly).  Their mother (Salonga) is in the hospital for an extended period, and they've moved to be closer to her.  The town they moved to is as sweet as they come, with the mother hen-like Granny (Carroll) living nearby and a little boy named Kanta (Butcher), who is so clueless and nervous about girls that he can't even say anything to Satsuki.  There's also Tot...

2.5/4 Starring: Bill Pullman, Cathy Tyson, Brent Jennings, Zakes Mokae, Paul Winfield, Paul Guilfoyle, Conrad Roberts Rated R (probably for Terror Violence/Gore, Language and Some Sexuality) "The Serpent and the Rainbow" is by turns creepy and frustrating.  It contains some truly scary sequences, but the potentially interesting story is rendered mostly inert because of botched storytelling.  There are flashes of greatness here, but very little of it is effectively presented. Dennis Alan (Pullman) is an anthropologist who has just returned from an expedition to the Amazon.  His mentor (Michael Gough in a cameo) puts him in touch with Andrew Cassedy (Guilfoyle), a pharmaceutical executive.  Cassedy tells Alan an interesting story: more than a decade ago, a man named Christophe (Roberts) died in Haiti and was buried in a coffin.  Just a few days ago, the very same man was found walking around town, alive and (sort of) well.  Cassedy wants to find out h...

3/4 Starring (voices): Michael Keaton, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Suan Egan, Cary Elwes, David Ogden Stiers, Brad Garrett Rated PG for Violence and Some Mild Language "Porco Rosso" opens up with a scene that defies description.  However, let me try.  A flying ace with the face and body of a pig, Porco Rosso (Keaton), gets a desperate call: a gang of air pirates has robbed a cruise ship of a sizable amount of gold and taken 15 schoolgirls as hostages.  The girls think this is just the coolest thing ever, and raise hell on the pirates' plane.  But the pirates are nothing more than big old softies, believing it wouldn't be right to separate the girls from their friends.  And when all is said and done, the girls bid their captors a fond farewell. Only Miyazaki could get away with this.  The Japanese filmmaker does not know the meaning of cynicism, so only in his world would it make sense to turn the act of being attacked by pirates into a spectator spor...

2.5/4 Starring: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Bruhl, Chris O'Dowd, Zhang Ziyi, John Ortiz, Aksel Hennie, Elizabeth Debecki Not Rated (Probable R for Sci-Fi Violence and Gore, and for Brief Language) In 2008, producer J.J. Abrams and director Matt Reeves unleashed " Cloverfield ," a found-footage monster movie, onto the world.  It was a smash hit, garnering $170 million against a $25 million budget.  Rumors of a sequel swirled almost immediately, but the next installment didn't come out until 2016 with a little film called " 10 Cloverfield Lane ," which also did very well.  Now in 2018, we have "The Cloverfield Paradox," which is just as tenuously connected to the 2008 thriller as the one that came out two years ago.  Never mind.  These are stand-alone films (actually, both were original screenplays that were slightly altered to fit in as a sequel), and should be judged as such.  "10 Cloverfield Lane" killed any point in see...

3/4 Starring: Christian Bale, Rosamund Pike, Wes Studi, Ben Foster, Adam Beach, Q'orianka Kilcher, Stephen Lang Rated R for Strong Violence, and Language "Hostiles" opens up with a brutal scene: a family living on the plains is brutally murdered by a band of Comanche warriors.  Only the mother survives.  Cue the opening title card. It's an intense scene and indicates that this movie is not for children or the squeamish.  Scott Cooper's new film deals with heavy themes that, while not revolutionary, are effectively presented and strange as it sounds, timely. Captain Joseph Blocker (Bale) is inches away from retirement when his commanding officer, Colonel Abraham Briggs (Lang) sends him on one final mission.  Yellow Hawk (Studi), a Cheyenne chief, is dying of cancer and wishes to spend his final days at home in Montana.  Under orders from the President, Briggs allows him to do so and sends Blocker to get him and his family there in one piece.  Block...

3/4 Starring: Omar Epps, Tupac Shakur, Jermaine 'Huggy' Hopkins, Khalil Kain, Cindy Herron Rated R for Strong Language and Some Violence Very little of what happens in "Juice" is original.  However, it is presented with enough style and energy that it feels fresh.  Director Ernest R. Dickerson knows the formula but keeps us wondering whether or not he's going to follow it or flaunt it.  That keeps things edgy and the suspense high.  It may not be a great movie, but it works. Q (Epps), Bishop (Shakur), Raheem (Kain) and Steel (Hopkins) have been best friends since the second grade.  On paper, they're still in high school, although they never go.  Instead, they spend their days hanging out and hustling for easy money.  One day they decide to pull a heist, and Q's entry into a DJ competition will provide the perfect alibi.  Things go wrong when Bishop shoots the teller, and soon his best friends have become witnesses.  Now Q has to find ...