Mike's Movie Tips

3/4 Starring (voices): Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad Rated PG for Action/Peril and Some Thematic Elements " Frozen ," the smash hit animated musical from six years ago, was a fun movie.  It did not need a sequel.  But notice how I said that it was a "smash hit."  It made over a billion dollars at the global box office, virtually guaranteeing a sequel would come regardless of whether there was any place to take the characters.  It turns out that there is room for a second installment. "Frozen II" opens pretty much where "Frozen" left off.  Elsa (Menzel) and Anna (Bell) are as close as ever.  Kristoff (Groff) is trying to propose marriage to Anna, although he keeps bungling it.  And Olaf (Gad) is as blissfully naive as ever.  Trouble starts when Elsa starts hearing a voice singing out of nowhere.  Soon the group will have to confront a mystery in their past in order to save their world. One thing I liked about t...

2/4 Starring: Matt Damon, Christian Bale, Tracy Letts, Caitriona Balfe, Josh Lucas, Jon Bernthal Rated PG-13 for Some Language and Peril "Ford v Ferrari" is yet another historical docudrama with hopes of Oscar gold.  Movies like this are beloved by the studios.  They have brand name quality, the audiences want to know how everything went down, and they're cheap to make (at least compared to the superhero behemoths that are unleashed every two months).  Unfortunately, "Ford v Ferrari" is so obsessed with hitting every note that it loses sight of the story itself. Lee Iacocca (Bernthal) proposes that Ford needs to revamp its image.  Younger consumers prefer sleeker, faster and sexier cars than the safe, bland cars that Ford makes.  After a merger deal with Ferrari goes bad, owner Henry Ford II (Letts) tells Iacocca to do whatever it takes to build a car that will beat Ferrari at the next Le Mans race.  To do this, he enlists an American racer who has ...

2/4 Starring: Vincent Cassel, Said Taghmaoui, Hubert Kounde Not Rated (probable R for Violent Content, Drug Use and Some Language) In English, the title of this film, "La Haine," means "The Hate." "La Haine" is one of those movies that looks great.  The black and white cinematography gives it a stark and lasting impression that is impossible to ignore (ironically, it was actually filmed in color but changed in post-production by writer/director Mathieu Kassovitz).  The film visually dazzling with an eye for shot composition that really only comes across in independent cinema like this.  Ironically, as good as its technical credits are, they are the film's biggest problem. The film follows three men in the aftermath of slum riots against the police, where their friend Abdel was gravely wounded and a gun was stolen.  Vinz (Cassel) is a hot-headed Jewish man whose impulsive behavior and desire for revenge make him a liability.  Said (Taghmaoui) ...

2/4 Starring: Rosamund Pike, Jamie Dornan, Tom Hollander, Nikki Aumka-Bird, Stanley Tucci Rated R for Disturbing Violent Images, Language Throughout, and Brief Sexuality/Nudity Perhaps "A Private War" is simply too ambitious.  Director Matthew Heineman has cast a wide net in his attempt to tell the story of famed war correspondent Marie Colvin, including everything from her time in various war zones, her philosophy on life and her post-traumatic stress disorder.  Even her love life gets its due.  There's something to be said for shooting for the stars, but there is no denying that "A Private War" comes up short in virtually every category. Marie Colvin (Pike) was a war correspondent The Sunday Times.  She had a dogged tenacity and ignored the risks to get the story.  "A Private War" covers her reporting in Sri Lanka (where she lost vision in her eye), Iraq, Libya and Syria.  In Iraq, she met freelance photographer Paul Conroy (Dornan), who woul...

3/4 Starring: Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding, Michelle Yeoh, Emma Thompson Rated PG-13 for Language and Sexual Content "Last Christmas" is a bit different than the trailers would have you think.  The film is being marketed as a Christmas-themed romantic comedy, but that's not exactly true.  That's part of it, sure, but it's more than that.  Instead, this is a little like " Brittany Runs a Marathon ," although it's broader and happier.  The conflict is about a party girl growing up and realizing that generosity and hard work can lead to true happiness. Kate (Clarke) is a young party girl with aspirations of a singing career, although she tends to freeze up at auditions.  When she's not bungling her chance for stardom or getting drunk and sleeping with whoever will give her a bed for the night, she's working at a Christmas-themed store for a woman who calls herself Santa (Yeoh).  But Kate's life is a disaster.  Through bad luck or tho...

3/4 Starring: Paul Terry, Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margolyes, Pete Postlethwaite, and the voices of Richard Dreyfuss, Simon Callow, Susan Sarandon, David Thewlis, Jane Leeves Rated PG for Some Frightening Images "James and the Giant Peach" is as charming as I remember it.  Well, almost.  I've grown a bit and have hopefully become a bit more sophisticated, but there's still a lot to enjoy about this quirky kids movie. James Henry Trotter (Terry) is a happy little boy living by the sea with his loving mother and father by the sea.  One day his parents are gobbled up by a rhino from the sky.  Talk about bad luck.  Now he has to live with his wicked aunts, Spiker (Lumley) and Sponge (Margolyes).  They delight in torturing him and making him a slave to their every whim.  But James holds on to the hope of a better life in the Big Apple.  That's when a mysterious man comes and offers him a bag of crocodile tongues that will make all of his dreams co...

0.5/4 Starring: Robert Pattinson, Willem Dafoe Rated R for Sexual Content, Nudity, Violence, Disturbing Images, and Some Language I consider being a film critic to be a job.  When I tell people this, they either humor me or scoff because I don't get paid and no one reads my reviews anymore.  But I do consider this to be work.  And "The Lighthouse" is a prime example of why watching movies can be a chore. It's hard to imagine a movie more banal, more self-indulgent and more pointless than "The Lighthouse."  This is one of those movies where the characters talk and talk but don't say anything, do bizarre things for no apparent purpose, and the director occasionally breaks up the monotony with surreal images and asides.  In other words, it's an attempt for a wannabe director to show off. That's so strange, though, since this film was co-written and directed by Robert Eggers, who made " The Witch " a few years ago.  I enjoyed that...