Mike's Movie Tips

2/4 Starring: Ian Bannen, David Kelly, Fionnula Flanagan, Susan Lynch, James Nesbitt Rated PG for Nudity, Language and Thematic Elements "Waking Ned Devine" is another one of the quirky, feel good dramedies that came from the British Iles around the turn of the millennium.  Although it is arguably more famous than movies like "Billy Elliot," " Pride " and " Saving Grace ," it's actually the weakest of them.  Too much time is spent with the two-dimensional townsfolk rather than the much more interesting scam that is perpetrated by an entire town. Jackie O'Shea (Bannen) is delighted to find out that the winner of the national lottery is residing in his small coastal town of Tullymore.  Jackie, his wife Annie (Flanagan) and his best friend Michael O'Sullivan (Kelly) hold a dinner party to find out who he is in the hopes of getting some charity.  But one person is missing: Ned Devine (Jimmy Keogh).  Jackie and Annie put two and tw...

2/4 Starring: Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn Rated R for Horror Violence/Bloody Images, and Language Stop me if you've heard this before.  A childless couple in the middle of Kansas finds a humanoid baby in a crashed spaceship on their farm.  They take him in and love him as their own.  He grows up to have amazing superpowers: he is super fast, super strong, can shoot energy out of his eyes and he can fly.  If you read that and said, "Hey!  That sounds like Superman!" you win the prize!  Only this time Clark Kent doesn't grow up to be Superman.  His actions are far more sinister. The problem isn't the central gimmick.  It's that it's poorly executed.  The film takes a good twist on a very old idea and treats it with a b-list script and a director-for-hire.  "Brightburn" could have been a lot better, and it should have been.  But the powers that be decided to walk through production instead of investing real e...

3/4 Starring: Emily Watson, Rachel Griffiths, David Morrissey, James Frain, Charles Dance, Celia Imrie Rated R for Language and Sexuality We always want what we can't have.  At the same time, reality isn't as rosy as the moments we see.  Sure, you see your friends on Facebook touring the world, having wine in France and driving the car you could only dream of.  But no one in their right mind puts pictures of them spending hours at a job they can't stand with a boss they hate.  Or the fight over who is doing the dishes tonight. Remembering that might have spared Hilary (Griffiths) and Jacqueline du Pre (Watson) a lot of grief.  Or maybe not.  Each was intensely envious of the other's life, despite their close relationship.  Hilary was the more talented musician but gave it up to raise a family.  Jacqueline trained harder to compete and became a rock star of the classical music world.  But she craved stability and love. Director Anand...

2.5/4 Starring (voices): Daniel Henson/Jordan Fry, Wesley Singerman, Stephen J. Anderson, Matthew Josten, Angela Bassett Rated G The problem with "Meet the Robinsons" is not a lack of original ideas, endearing characters or successful humor.  Those are in abundance.  Rather, it's from poor storytelling.  This is not a deep or complicated story, but director Stephen J. Anderson lacks the skill to make this plot pay off like it should.  It feels rushed and poorly focused. Lewis (Henson/Fry) is a genius inventor.  Like, futuristic level stuff.  But he's also an orphan and his passion for science doesn't endear him to many prospective parents.  Lewis becomes convinced that his birth mother is out there and still wants him, but no one knows who she is.  So he invents a machine that can play back forgotten memories.  But just when he's going to show it off, his project is sabotaged by a shady individual known as Boiler Hat Guy (Anderson), w...

2/4 Starring: Seth Rogen, Charlize Theron, June Diane Raphael, O'Shea Jackson Jr., Bob Odenkirk, Andy Serkis, Alexander Skarsgard Rated R for Strong Sexual Content, Language Throughout and Some Drug Use Romantic comedies allow us to vicariously experience the sensation of falling in love.  But it's hard to do that when one of the lead characters is so manifestly unappealing.  Seth Rogen is many things (few of them good, in my opinion), but a romantic lead is not one of them.  Okay, he did score a hit with "Knocked Up," but that was with a real script and a director who knew how best to use him.  And it was long before his "man-child" schtick got old, tired and offensive.  Pairing him against Charlize Theron, who is positively enchanting, is an even worse move.  With another male lead, "Long Shot" could have worked.  With Rogen, it never had a chance. Fred Flarsky (Rogen) is a journalist with a reputation for humor and a pugnacious writing s...

2.5/4 Starring: Dennis Quaid, Ellen Barkin, Ned Beatty, Ebbe Roe Smith, Lisa Jane Persky, John Goodman, Tom O'Brien Rated R (probably for Violence/Grisly Images, Language, Sexuality/Nudity and Drug Content) Just relax, darlin'.  This is the Big Easy.  Folks have a certain way o' doin' things down here. Indeed, "The Big Easy" not a conventional film.  It mixes love, sex, murder, police corruption and drug dealers in a movie that definitely takes a lot of chances.  Alas, it doesn't really come together.  I'll give them points for the attempt, though. Remy McSwain (Quaid) is the youngest lieutenant in the history of the New Orleans Police Department.  When the film opens, he's investigating the murder of a mafia flunkie ("Down here we call 'em 'wise guys,' Remy explains at one point).  Neither Remy nor his fellow officers are in any hurry to catch the guy, seeing as these things are rarely solved and almost never result in a...

1.5/4 Starring: Mel Gibson, Vince Vaughn, Tory Kittles, Michael Jai White, Laurie Holden, Jennifer Carpenter, Thomas Kretschmann Rated R for Strong Violence, Grisly Images, Language and Some Sexuality/Nudity There is a difference between eloquence and trying too hard.  There is a difference between gritty and cynical.  There is a difference between understated and boring.  There is a difference between movies that earn their right to exist and movies that pretend they know what they're doing.  On principle, I don't mind movies that have wordy dialogue, dour moods or brutal violence.  As long as it's worth listening or seeing, I'm okay with it.  But when you're trying to be an auteur and clearly don't have talent, I get annoyed. Brett Ridgeman (Gibson) has a problem: he's a cop living in a bad neighborhood with no money, a sick wife and a bullied kid.  And after he and his partner Anthony Lurasetti (Vaughn) face some bad press, he's suspended fo...

3.5/4 Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Edward James Olmos, Jon Seda, Constance Marie Rated PG for Some Thematic Material and Mild Language\ Selena was a family act, and that is the heart of this movie.  Movies have been charting the rise of the stars for as long as there have been movies, but what makes "Selena" so special is that this is the story of a family.  For as much success as Selena got, her family was right there beside her experiencing it with her. The story of Selena actually begins in the 1960s when her father tried (and failed) to get his own career going.  However, it was by accident that he discovered that his daughter had a natural singing voice.  So he decides to start a band (much to everyone's initial shock and displeasure).  Through a lot of hard work and time, Selena (Lopez) eventually becomes one of the most influential Latin artists of all time. But Gregory Nava, who wrote and directed the film, is less interested in her career than in...

3/4 Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johannson, Josh Brolin, Paul Rudd, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle Rated PG-13 for Sequences of Sci-Fi Violence and Action, and Some Language After 11 years and 22 films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is ready for its climax.  At least, the Infinity Saga is done now.  Anthony and Joe Russo have brought all of the heroes and villains together for a one-two punch that serves as a fitting, if not especially spectacular, conclusion to the story.  Ideally this would close the franchise, but the superhero craze has turned into an addiction and Disney's marketing muscle all but makes sure that the box office receipts will keep on singing. Thanos (Brolin) has won.  He acquired all the Infinity Stones and achieved his goal of wiping out half of all existence.  Battered and broken, the survivors try to move on.  Even after five years, it is not easy.  Then one day Scott Lang...