Mike's Movie Tips

3/4 Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Josh Brolin, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johannson, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Zoe Saldana, Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Anthony Mackie and the voices of Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Sci-Fi Violence and Action Throughout, Language and Some Crude References It's all come to this. All the pieces are in play.  Starting from "Iron Man" ten years ago, all the sequels, references and set-ups have led to this movie.  Comic nerds have been in a state of perpetual excitement and anticipation ever since it was announced, and as tired as I was (and still am) of superheroes, I shared in the excitement.  I also will say that it's actually a good movie. Thanos (Brolin) is on the warpath.  Believing that the universe is unsustainable, he plans to use the Infinity Stones to wipe out half of its inhabitants.  The Avengers...

3/4 Starring: Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenberg, Matthew Rhys Rated PG-13 for Language and Brief War Violence Streep.  Hanks.  Spielberg. Don't really need to say more, do I? If those three names don't get you excited, then you obviously aren't paying attention.  Tom Hanks, one of Hollywood's most beloved stars.  Meryl Streep, one of the most, if not the most, talented actresses working today.  Steven Spielberg, the most famous and successful filmmaker in cinema history.  For the first time, these three titans collaborate on a single movie.  It's a movie lover's dream.  So does the movie live up to the impossibly high expectations it sets for itself? The answer is yes and no.  Yes, because I think the movie does work, contains several fine performances, and legitimate suspense.  No, because with all this star power, it's not as good as I hoped.  The subject matter is c...

3/4 Starring: Steve Lemme, Eric Stolhanske, Jay Chandrasekhar, Paul Soter, Kevin Heffernan, Brian Cox, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Rob Lowe Rated R for Crude Sexual Content and Language Throughout, Drug Material and Some Graphic Nudity " Super Troopers ," the breakout hit of the comedy troupe Broken Lizard, was a cult classic.  The film was a modest success in theaters but did great business on video and DVD.  That doesn't surprise me.  This is the kind of movie that's best enjoyed with a bunch of friends (and perhaps some mind-altering substances) where you can laugh out loud together and say the lines as the characters do.  Fans have been clamoring for a sequel, but the film remained elusive.  Now, seventeen years later and with the help of crowdfunding, the second adventure of Vermont's worst police squad has hit theaters.  It's not as good as the original, but it contains enough laughs to be worth a trip to the theater. The plot, as is befitting for a s...

2.5/4 Starring: Jon Hamm, Rosamund Pike, Dean Norris, Shea Whigham, Mark Pellegrino Rated R for Language, Some Violence and a Brief Nude Image "Beirut" is a thriller for thinking adults.  It is also, surprisingly, not a remake/reboot/sequel, based off a book/foreign film, or an adaptation of a true story, and there are no superheroes.  My God, does it feel good to write those words.  While I can't recommend this film, I do sincerely wish that Hollywood would continue to make movies like this.  Hey, not every movie lover camps out for tickets to Comic Con. Beirut, 1972.  Mason Skiles (Hamm) is living it up as a professor-turned-diplomat.  He dotes upon his wife Nadia (Leila Bekhti) and an 11-year-old Lebanese boy named Karim, whom they've taken in as a surrogate son.  At a swanky party, Mason's friend Cal (Pellegrino) takes him aside with an urgent message.  Karim's brother Rami (Ben Affan) has been linked to the 1972 Munich massacre, and i...

2.5/4 Starring: Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon, Tim Robbins, Laurence Fishburne, Laura Linney, Marcia Gay Harden, Tom Guiry, Emmy Rossum Rated R for Language and Violence "Mystic River" presents itself as a hard-hitting drama about violence and guilt, the ties that bind, family, and all the stuff of Beantown dramas hoping for Oscar glory.  Unfortunately, when you take even a cursory look beneath the surface, there's nothing there.  It's all posturing,  An illusion to manipulate the audience into thinking that there's a deeper meaning to this story than there actually is.  Sure, the performances are strong and Clint Eastwood is no hack director, but so what?  This is all just an example of the emperor with no clothes. Years ago, three kids were playing hockey and writing their names in a sidewalk block.  One of them, Dave (Cameron Bowen) was taken by two men and wasn't seen for three days.  His two friends, Jimmy Markum (Kelly) and Sean Devine (Connor P...

1.5/4 Starring: Henry Thomas, Nicki Aycox, Patrick Fugit, Isaiah Washington, Michael Shannon, Mark Boone Junior Rated R for Strong Violence and Gore I first saw this movie at Blockbuster Video.  Normally wary of direct-to-DVD movies (although considering the decline of theaters and the rise of Netflix and other streaming services, such a view doesn't necessarily apply anymore).  Yet I watched it because something about the minimalist title and box art stuck with me.  Dead Birds.  I decided to take the old saying "don't judge a book by its cover" to heart and rent it.  I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it either.  It isn't either good or bad enough to provoke any kind of emotion.  So the question now is why am I reviewing it now?  Well, I saw it on Amazon for five bucks and decided to give it another shot.  My opinion hasn't changed much. "Dead Birds" is a movie so inane and empty of thought and creativity that while you're watch...

1.5/4 Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Naomie Harris, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Malin Ackerman, Jake Lacey Rated PG-13 for Sequences of Violence, Action and Destruction, Brief Language, and Crude Gestures Back in the 90's when arcades not named "Dave and Busters" actually existed, I loved to play "Rampage."  Playing as a monster who climbs buildings, eats the inhabitants and then demolishes the city was definitely fun.  Apparently Hollywood, always looking for the next niche, feels the same way about this game and bought the rights.  The problem is that, apart from the destruction, there isn't much else to it.  So a story was grafted on to it (undoubtedly written by focus groups and other forms of market research...except actual creative thought).  Unfortunately, it isn't very good. A mission on a space station has gone terribly wrong.  A pretty scientist has escaped with some crucial data, but her relief is short-lived since her escape pod explodes in the a...

2/4 Starring: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Colm Meaney, Thomas Gibson, Robert Prosky, Barbara Babcock Rated PG-13 for Some Violence and Sensuality Watching "Far and Away" brings one big, super obvious question to mind: how can a movie loaded from top to bottom with talent turn out to be such a misfire?  And I'm talking big names: 90s supercouple Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman as the headlining stars, character actors Robert Prosky and Colm Meaney in supporting roles, director Ron Howard, producer Brian Grazer, a score by the legendary John Williams, and shot on Super 65mm film (a very expensive stock...it was previously used thirty-two years earlier, and has only been used twice since) by Mikael Salomon.  Maybe it's because the screenplay is unbelievably, irredeemably bad.  There is precious little in this movie that I could take seriously. The film takes place around the turn of the century.  Joseph Donnelly (Cruise) is hungry for revenge.  An attempt to sa...

2.5/4 Starring: Julianne Moore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Jeffrey DeMunn, Nate Corddry, Brooklyn Proulx, Frances Conroy Rated R for Violent Content, Disturbing Images and Terror The problem with mysteries that deal with the supernatural is that they have to end.  Many films that dabble in this genre build anticipation only to fumble when all is revealed.  "6 Souls" falls into that trap; it's creepy for the most of the way, but when the answers come, the movie collapses entirely. Dr. Cara Harding (Moore) is a respected psychiatrist who believes that multiple personality disorder is a myth concocted by fakers and crackpot quacks.  Her father (Demunn) believes that there are things about the human mind that no one knows, and to prove it, he introduces Cara to a new patient of his (Rhys Meyers), who for all appearances is two different people trapped in the same body.  There's the kindly, crippled David, but also the abrasive Adam.  Cara is intrigued, but the de...

0.5/4 Starring (voices): Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand Rated PG-13 for Thematic Elements and Some Violent Images Wes Anderson movies are “love it or hate it” affairs.   His fans all but worship his films while his detractors can’t stand him.   I fall into the latter category.   What some see as quirky and whimsy, I see as pretentious and elitist.   I hated “ The Royal Tenenbaums ” and “ Moonrise Kingdom .”   I feel exactly the same about “Isle of Dogs.” An outbreak of dog flu has surged through a Japanese city.   In response, the tyrannical mayor Kobayashi (Kunichi Nomura) has banned all the dogs to a island of trash.   Six months later. The mayor’s orphaned ward Atari (Rankin) has commandeered a plane to find his beloved dog Spots (Live Schrieber).   He crash lands, and a host of dogs helps him search for his owner. In addition to being self-...

2.5/4 Starring: Bella Thorne, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Rob Riggle, Quinn Shepard Rated PG-13 for Some Teen Partying and Sensuality "Midnight Sun" doesn't have a lot of ambition, and for a movie like this, that's fine.  It's a standard order romantic tearjerker with some solid performances and an acceptable amount of chemistry.  The only thing holding it back is that it relies too heavily on what Roger Ebert coined the "Idiot Plot" and some truly purple dialogue. Katie (Thorne) is your average teenager.  She's pretty, smart, and a talented singer/songwriter.  Unfortunately, she has a terrible secret: Katie has xeroderma pigmentosum, or XP for short.  Meaning that exposure to sunlight could be fatal for her.  Under the watchful eye of her father (Riggle) and BFF Morgan (Shepard), she has lived long enough to graduate from high school, but she longs for normalcy.  On one of her rare nights out of the house, she is seen playing by Charlie (Schwarz...

2/4 Starring: Sissy Spacek, Piper Laurie, Betty Buckley, Nancy Allen, Amy Irving, William Katt, P.J. Soles, John Travolta Rated R (presumably for Bloody Violence and Carnage, Language, Sexuality and Graphic Nudity) Watching "Carrie" is an almost surreal experience.  It feels less like a complete horror movie than a trailer for one.  There's no depth, no drive in the plot and no sense that anything has any weight.  It's hard to imagine why some have attributed the "classic" label on something so shallow. Carrie White (Spacek) is a shy, lonely teenager with some serious issues.  In fact, when she first gets her period, she freaks.  Already considered a freak, her classmates, led by Chris Hargensen (Allen) and Sue Snell (Irving), humiliate her.  Only her kindly teacher Miss Collins (Buckley) takes pity on the poor girl. Why is Carrie such an outcast?  Probably because she's kept in virtual isolation by her insane mother Margaret (Laurie), whose ...