Mike's Movie Tips

2.5/4 Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, Rafe Spall, Ted Levine, Isabella Sermon, James Cromwell, Toby Jones, Geraldine Chaplin, BD Wong, Jeff Goldblum Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Science-Fiction Violence and Peril Had this movie not had " Jurassic Park " or " Jurassic World " in the title, I might have liked it better.  As a dumb, special effects extravaganza, it has some entertainment value.  It has the requisite dino action, scares and special effects (which are inconsistent).  But as the new installment in the beloved franchise started 25 years ago, I can't deny that this is a step down in quality. After the catastrophe that closed the doors of "Jurassic World" for good, humanity has taken a hands-off approach to the new residents of Isla Nublar.  The trouble is that the island has a volcano, and an eruption that will wipe out everything on it is imminent.  Humanity has decided to let things

1/4 Starring: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Geoffrey Lewis, Alonna Shaw, Philip Chan, Alan Scarfe Rated R for Strong Violence, Sensuality and Language When "Double Impact" started, I felt a little nostalgia coming on.  I looked forward to the simple, formula plot, the one-liners, and the ludicrous action scenes.  Above all, I looked forward to the sense that I was seeing a story with a beginning, middle and end, where words like "franchise," "Easter eggs," "sequel/remake/reboot" and "superhero" did not apply.  Such qualities would have been commonplace in 1991 when "Double Impact" was released.  Today, they're positively retro. The feeling was short-lived, however.  Such descriptors, however pleasant, are only advisable when there's a solid foundation to build upon.  Here, there's nothing.  It's all vapidity, and occasionally, a lot of noise.  The film's plot is non-existent.  The dialogue is a joke.  And

2/4 Starring (voices): Brian Bedford, Phil Harris, Peter Unistov, Terry-Thomas, Monica Evans, Pat Buttram, Andy Devine, Roger Miller Rated G For obvious reasons, The House of Mouse is known as the king of animation.  It has dominated the market and continues to do so with the acquisition of Pixar and distribution rights to Studio Ghibli.  It faces some competition from other studios, but there's no question who reigns supreme.  Some entries released by the Walt Disney Company are classics by any definition of the word.  " Beauty and the Beast ," " The Lion King ," " Pinocchio ," the list goes on.  Their take on the classic story of Robin Hood is not on that list.  The animation is lacking, the story is trite, and there are some egregious examples of miscasting as far as the voice talent is concerned. After having his snake jester Sir Hiss (Terry-Thomas) hypnotize his brother into going on a crusade, Prince John (Unistov) takes the throne for hi

3/4 Starring (voices): Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah Vowell, Huck Milner, Samuel L. Jackson, Catherine Keener, Bob Odenkirk Rated PG for Action Scenes and Some Brief Mild Language "The Incredibles" was a kid-friendly version of " Kick-Ass " (or considering that the Pixar movie came first, maybe that should be reversed).  It both embraced and parodied the superhero genre with equal zeal, and it did the same thing with American family life.  That was in 2004, and fans have been clamoring for a sequel ever since.  Writer/director Brad Bird held off until he found a story that was just as good as the first (giving credence to the hope that there are some people in Hollywood who place quality over the lure of a quick buck).  So is it worth the wait?  Without a doubt.  Does it live up to the first one?  Not exactly. Unlike most sequels, "Incredibles 2" picks up right where the first one left off.  And I mean almost immediately.  While dealing with

3/4 Starring: Trevor Jackson, Jason Mitchell, Lex Scott Davis, Andrea Londo, Esai Morales, Kaalan 'KR' Walker, Big Bank Black, Michael Kenneth Williams, Jennifer Morrison, Brian Durkin Rated R for Violence and Language Throughout, Strong Sexuality, Nudity, and Drug Content Ambition can be deadly. You'd think that a drug dealer who is smart enough to stay out of jail (and stay alive) would know that.  And Priest (Jackson) is smart, bordering on brilliant.  He worked his way up from being a delivery boy to a kingpin with a net worth of more than $30 million.  All while having a sparkling clean record.  That's because he knows that greed, ambition and ego can get you killed.  But when a drunken misunderstanding leads to a member of Snow Patrol, a rival gang, to try and kill Priest, he decides that he wants to make one big score and get out.  To do this, he and his girlfriends Georgia (Davis) and Cynthia (Londo) are going to have to be smart, think quick, and outman

1/4 Starring: Toni Collette, Alex Wolff, Gabriel Byrne, Milly Shapiro, Ann Dowd Rated R for Horror Violence, Disturbing Images, Language, Drug Use and Brief Graphic Nudity Every year it seems that there is an indie film that comes out of nowhere but gets a lot of undeserving buzz.  Critics fall all over themselves in praising it and it may garner some awards, but the public, once they realize that it isn't worth the fuss, quickly forgets about it.  " The Piano ," " Room ," " Shame ," the list goes on.  "Hereditary" is one of those movies.  A24, an indie studio well on its way to becoming the new Miramax, has been aggressively promoting it in the hopes that it will be the next "little indie that could."  I suppose I can't blame a distributor for trying to make money off a movie, but I would be a little kinder if the movie was actually worth a fraction of the hype surrounding it.  "Hereditary" is just the emperor w

3/4 Starring (voices): Saara Chaudry, Soma Chhaya, Laara Sadiq, Kawa Ada, Shaista Latif, Ali Badshah, Noorin Gulamgaus Rated PG-13 for Thematic Material including Some Violent Images "The Breadwinner" is a deceptively simple story that touches on some powerful themes.  Most notably, it shows the brutality of Afghanistan under Taliban rule.  But it is more than that.  It is a story about family, love and the importance of storytelling. Parvana (Chaudry) lives in Afghanistan circa mid-2001.  Because she's a girl, she can't go to school, leave the house unattended or do much of anything.  Nevertheless, her father Nurullah (Badshah) insists on educating her, and teaching her to read or write.  Her family, which includes Parvana's mother Fattema (Sadiq), sister Soraya (Latif) and baby brother Zaki (Lily Erlinghauser), is poor, but they get by.  However, after a young thug named Idrees (Gulamgaus) arrests Nurullah on trumped up charges, Parvana and her family ar

1.5/4 Starring: Karl Urban, Al Pacino, Brittany Snow Rated R for Violent Content, Bloody Images, and Langauge Few psychological thrillers can boast a plot with no seams.  There are always lingering questions or plot holes that the film is too busy to plug or is unable to.  Even in a movie like " Seven ," the plot relied on everyone acting as John Doe intended to the letter .  But David Fincher camouflaged the more absurd parts of the plot with a smart screenplay, strong performances, and an impeccable sense of atmosphere.  "Hangman" has none of those things.  The plot is dumb, the acting is flat, and the atmosphere lacks menace. New York Times journalist Christi Davies (Snow) is doing an on-the-spot piece with Detective Will Ruiney (Urban), intending to write an expose on the day-to-day life of police detectives.  Ruiney isn't especially enthused about the idea, but he's under orders to do it.  Soon enough, he's called to a grisly homicide.  A ma

2/4 Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Eleanor Worthington-Cox, Dan Bakkendahl Rated R for Crude Sexual Content, Language, Drug Use, Teen Drinking, and Brief Graphic Nudity Everyone from New Jersey knows what Action Park was.  A theme park from hell where the rides were subject to breakdown, injuries were so common it was given nicknames like "Class Action Park," and the employees were drunk, stoned, and/or incompetent.  Possibly all three.  Johnny Knoxville, the Jackie Chan of frat humor, has turned this into a comedy.  There are laughs to be had, to be sure, but they are far too sporadic to be worth sitting through the dross to see them. D.C. (Knoxville) runs Action Point, a run-down theme park where anything goes.  The employees are drunk, the guests are one step away from killing themselves, and there's an alcoholic bear running around.  An example of how bad things are at Action Point is when a guest tries to go faster down a water slide by jumping onto it

3/4 Starring (voices): Ruby Barnhill, Kate Winslet, Jim Broadbent, Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Morwenna Banks Rated PG for Some Action and Thematic Elements One could be forgiven for mistaking "Mary and the Witch's Flower" for a movie by Hayao Miyazaki.  It's got the same colorful animation, dreamy music, and a plucky little girl at the center of it all.  But it isn't.  Neither Miyazaki nor Studio Ghibli had anything to do with this movie, which was based on a book by Mary Stewart.  Kudos to the production team for being able to mimic the master so well.  As they say, if you're going to borrow, borrow from the best. Mary (Barnhill) is a young girl awaiting the start of a new school year.  Her parents haven't arrived yet, and none of the other children are home from vacation yet.  While out exploring, she finds a mysterious flower known as a "fly-by-night."  The next day, she accidentally bursts one of the flowers on a nearby broomstick.  The