Mike's Movie Tips

3.5/4 Starring: Robert DeNiro, Anne Hathaway, Anders Holm, Rene Russo, Andrew Rannells, Zack Pearlman, Adam Devine, Jason Orley, Christina Scherer Rated PG-13 for Some Suggestive Content and Brief Strong Language If Frank Capra came back to life and made a movie about millenials, it would probably turn out to be something like "The Intern."  This is a simple, sweet, feel-good tale about two likable people.  It's the kind of movie that if you're feeling bad, you can pop in the DVD player and feel better about your life. Jules (Hathaway) is an ambitious New Yorker who has built a clothing site called About the Fit from the ground up.  It's a roaring success, which leaves her overworked and exhausted and forever playing catch-up.  She's so busy that when the senior interns she asked for show up, she doesn't remember asking for them.  One of them is Ben Whittaker (DeNiro), who is assigned to be Jules's assistant.  She doesn't want him, but he...

2/4 Starring: Jacob Tremblay, Keith L. Williams, Brady Noon, Molly Gordon, Midori Francis Rated R for Strong Crude Sexual Content, Drug and Alcohol Material, and Language Throughout - All Involving Tweens I was not looking forward to this movie.  Anything involving Seth Rogen is something I avoid, or at least go into with a sense of resignation.  If I wanted to watch two hours of rampant misogyny and homophobia, I'd turn on an interview with Trump and Pence.  Fortunately, Rogen and bro Evan Greenberg are just executive producers.  They're names on the poster.  Neither is credited with writing or directing, and to my relief, Rogen does not show up on screen.  So there are no endless riffs on whatever scares him or threatens his sexuality (women, gay men, growing up...you get the idea) and I didn't spend 90 minutes wishing he'd get swallowed by a black hole (although we'd probably still hear whatever riff he is ranting about for all eternity.  So w...

1.5/4 Starring: Vivek Kalra, Kulvinder Ghir, Meera Ganatra, Aaron Phagura, Dean-Charles Chapman, Nell Williams, Hayley Atwell Rated PG-13 for Thematic Material and Language including Some Ethnic Slurs I don't read horoscopes usually.  But I was bored today and fingering through the paper and found mine.  Among other things it said that I'll have an amazing day and have a "tell it like it is" attitude.  I was actually kind of insulted since that is so often a way to cover one's self when called out for being a jerk.  But here, it's warranted.  This movie sucks.  It's not interesting, it's not funny and the hero worship of Bruce Springsteen is obnoxious in its obsession.  I half expected to see Springsteen as an executive producer. In general, there are fans, there are cosplayers, and then there are MCU fans.  And then there's Javed (Kalra), who believes that all problems can be solved and all of life's questions answered through the musi...

3/4 Starring (voices): David Rawle, Brendan Gleeson, Fionnula Flanagan, Lucy O'Connell, Lisa Hannigan Rated PG for Some Mild Peril, Language and Pipe Smoking Images "Song of the Sea" is a most curious animated film.  It does not follow established formulas.  There is music and singing, but it occurs in a totally different context to the Broadway-style musicals that Disney is famous for.  It also struggles to find a consistent narrative focus and drive.  While it's true that I almost never knew where the film's story was going, I'm not sure that director Tomm Moore did either. Ben (Rawle) is a happy child.  He lives in a humble home on a mountain on the shores of the sea with his loving parents Conor (Gleeson) and Bronach (Hannigan).  He eagerly awaits the day when he will become a big brother.  One tragic night, Bronach disappears, leaving behind an infant daughter named Saoirse (O'Connell).  Devastated by the loss, Ben resents his mute si...

1.5/4 Starring: Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, Erik Stohlhanske, Brittany Daniel, Jordan Ladd, Bill Paxton The version being reviewed is unrated.  For the record, the theatrical cut is rated R for Violence/Gore, Sexual Content, Language and Drug Use It would be unfair of me to expect maturity or good taste from a movie by Broken Lizard.  They are, after all, the guys who started out as a comedy group in college and made " Super Troopers " and its sequel .  No one will ever describe those films as "high brow" or "artistic."  But they were funny.  "Club Dread" isn't.  So criticizing this exercise in failed satire on that is fair game. Welcome to Coconut Pete's Coconut Beach Resort.  It's an island getaway filled with cheap booze, hot sex and good weed.  Even the "counselors" get in on the fun.  But just as the party is getting underway, a masked slasher shows up and starts offing the guys ...

1.5/4 Starring: Matthew Modine, Ryan Guzman, Sylvester Stallone, Christopher McDonald, Meadow Williams, Tyler Jon Olson, Colin Egglesfield Rated R for Violence and Some Language The amnesiac is a great thriller device because it keeps the audience in the dark.  It's impossible not to identify with someone in a situation where everyone understands the rules except him.  Hitchcock loved this device and used it to great effect in movies like " North by Northwest ."  Such a genius gimmick deserves to be put to better use than in a treasure hunt. Seven years ago, Mac (Modine) absconded with $15 million dollars.  But he was betrayed, and his two partners were left dead.  Mac was smart enough to hide the money where no one else could find it.  Unfortunately, he's been left with amnesia and doesn't know who he is, much less where the cash was stashed.  But a mysterious man named Lucas (Guzman) cons his way into the mental hospital with a plan to restor...

3.5/4 Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie Rated R for Language Throughout, Some Strong Graphic Violence, Drug Use, and Sexual References Quentin Tarantino isn't just a director; he's a genre unto himself.  QT brings so many elements and genres into his films that it's hard to figure out which is a better descriptor: film auteur or film nerd.  Probably the best way to describe a Quentin Tarantino movie is to call it exactly what it is: a Quentin Tarantino movie.  Anyone who has seen any one of his movies knows what that means.  Graphic violence and ironic comedy, film references and philosophy, and that oh so signature dialogue.  There have been plenty of imitators (as there must be with any new genre or style), but there is only one Quentin Tarantino. The film takes place in 1969 Los Angeles.  Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) is a has-been actor desperate to get back on the A-list.  But even with a new agent, a shady fellow named Marvin...

4/4 Starring (voices): Steve Blum, Beau Billingslea, Wendee Lee, Melissa Fahn, Jennifer Hale, Daran Norris, Dvae Wittenburg Rated R for Some Violent Images I don't rewrite reviews usually.  Although I rarely change a score I give it, I've only written an additional review for a single movie (" Interstellar ").  The reason being is that my opinions usually don't change enough for an additional review to be necessary.  I decided to write a new review for "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie" for two reasons.  First, the original review was done when I first started reviewing movies, and it sucks (for those of you who are interested, here is the link to it, since I'm not ashamed of it).  The second reason is that I didn't adequately describe my thoughts about this movie.  At least, I didn't really articulate why it's so special. The film is an interquel of a cult anime TV show called "Cowboy Bebop," which despite being beloved (iMDb li...

3/4 Starring: Boris Karloff, Zita Johann, David Manners, Arthur Byron, Edward Van Sloan, Bramwell Fletcher Not Rated (probably PG for Some Scary Moments) Ancient Egypt fascinates me.  I don't know why.  There's just something so alluring and mysterious about the time of the pharaohs that piques my interest.  Maybe it's that underneath the fascinating culture and history, there is an element of spooky weirdness that appeals to me.  Like reading scary stories under the covers when I should be in bed. I think that fascination rings true for a lot of people.  I mean, to those raised in the Judaeo-Christian tradition, does it get any more strange than removing the organs from the dead and then wrapping them in bandages before burial?  Probably, but that's only one of the rituals from Ancient Egypt.  In any event, the best movies about mummies tap into that.  It's true of the 1932 version as well as the remake from 1999 (don't get me started on...

3/4 Starring: Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Izabella Scorupco, Gerard Butler Rated PG-13 for Intense Action Violence "Reign of Fire" may not be a great action movie, but it's at least a decent one.  The film is a bit dumb (okay, a lot dumb) and suffers from pacing issues.  But in its own "turn off your brain" sort of way, it gets the job done. The world as we know it has collapsed.  The building of an underground tunnel has led to the discovery of ancient dragons, who quickly overtake the Earth.  The humans that survive are starving and distrustful of outsiders from their little communes.  Quinn (Bale) is one of them.  He heads an orphanage in the remnants of England with his best buddy Creedy (Butler).  But they have the sense that they are merely prolonging the inevitable.  His mind changes when a cigar-chomping maniac by the name of Van Zan comes calling armed with tanks and helicopters.  Van Zan claims that not only can he ...

3/4 Starring: Jackie Chan, Carol 'Do Do' Chang, Eva Cobo, Shoko Ikeda, Aldo Sambrell Rated PG-13 for Martial Arts Action, Some Shootings, and Sensuality Jackie Chan knows what he's doing.  He's also completely insane.  The death defying stunts he attempts in movies like this goes beyond reckless (at one point, he narrowly misses a flying car by doing a pull up).  That he does this himself qualifies as some sort of demented genius.  But you get the sense that he enjoys what he does.  He's having fun and so are we. Unlike its predecessor/sequel , "Operation Condor" has an actual plot.  Nothing serious or original, to be sure, but it feels like there's more going on than just a flimsy clothesline for the stunts and fight sequences.  In this movie, Jackie is a fortune hunter with the gizmos and reputation of James Bond.  But he lacks the debonair quality of 007 and is far too dorky to be compared to Nathan Drake.  In any event, he's been ...

3.5/4 Starring: Milo Ventimiglia, Amanda Seyfried, Martin Donovan, Kathy Baker, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, and the voice of Kevin Costner Rated PG for Thematic Material Maybe that's the purpose of a dog: to have someone who loves you unconditionally and will be at your side through all of life's ups and downs.  It's certainly why we love them.  I lost both of my dogs recently, and to this day I am struck by the amount of empathy they had for people.  They knew when we had a bad day or were excited about something.  And they also knew how to react when they understood how we felt.  The older dog Milton seemed to have a sixth sense of when I was feeling bad, and he understood that the best way to help was to sleep on my bed.  I guess having no room to sleep on it was the price I paid for his services. I have a sneaking suspicion that dogs understand more about the world than we give them credit for.  Enzo (Costner) sure does.  He knows that his o...

3/4 Starring: Larenz Tate, Keith David, Chris Tucker, Rose Jackson, Freddy Rodriguez, N'Bushe Wright Rated R for Strong Graphic Violence, Language, a Sex Scene and Some Drug Use "'Dead Presidents' suggests that the Hughes Brothers, whose great film 'Menace II Society' was finished when they were only 21, are born filmmakers.  They have a sure sense of the camera, of actors, of the life within a scene.  But they are not as sure when it comes to story and meaning, and here is a film that feels incomplete, as if its last step is into thin air.  Scene by scene you feel its skill, but you leave the theater wondering about the meaning of it all." That is the opening paragraph of the late great Roger Ebert's review of "Dead Presidents."   I share that view.  There is a lot of good stuff in this movie.  The performances are strong.  The film is crisply directed and visually interesting.  And it's rarely boring.  However, if you were to as...

3/4 Starring (voices): Matt Damon, Drew Barrymore, Bill Pullman, Nathan Lane, Janeane Garafalo, John Leguizamo, Ron Perlman Rated PG for Action Violence, Mild Sensuality and Brief Language I remember sitting in the theaters watching the first trailer for "Titan A.E."  It intoned about the last moments of Earth and showed a giant spaceship skyrocketing away from the destroyed planet in hopes of salvation.  It was shocking and made me think that in this movie, anything was possible. As is often the case, the trailer is better than the movie.  But unlike,say, " The Good Son ," the movie itself isn't half bad.  It has its problems, sure, but for a 90 minute animated adventure, it contains enough thrills to be worth checking out. The year is 3028 A.D.  A brilliant scientist (Perlman) has done something impossible.  What he has accomplished is so astounding that he compares it to the discovery of fire or electricity.  But this discovery carries a h...