Mike's Movie Tips

2.5/4 Starring: Meryl Streep, Kurt Russell, Cher, Craig T. Nelson, Diana Scarwid, Ron Silver Rated R (probably for Language, Sexuality, Drug Use and Some Disturbing Images) "Silkwood" demands patience from the viewer.  This is ironic since the film's subject is a whistleblower who died under mysterious and suspicious circumstances.  Then again, this isn't a conventional movie of any sort. Karen Silkwood (Streep) works for the Kerr-McGee plant making nuclear rods.  The company is behind on their orders.  Everyone is working double shifts.  Corners are being cut.  Like everyone else, Karen is naive to just how dangerous the plant is until she sees something she wasn't supposed to witness.  Then her suspicions are aroused.  But the deeper she digs, the more enemies she makes. Anyone expecting something sensational or exciting from "Silkwood" is going to be bored out of their minds.  It's not that kind of a movie.  Truth be told, there isn't...

2/4 Starring: Angelica Lee, Lawrence Chou Rated R for Some Disturbing Images Not to be confused the the American remake starring Jessica Alba Japanese horror. You know what that entails.  Some entity that does not understand the term "Rest In Peace" finds a conduit of some kind (a camera, a mirror, a cornea, whatever) to appear as a ghostly shape and terrorize people into solving their problems.  So not only does said spirit terrorize people, they make their victims complete their unfinished business.  That's doubly cruel. Like many entries into this genre, "The Eye" isn't actually a Japanese film.  It takes place in Hong Kong, and briefly, Thailand.  But the formula is the same.  A meek and vulnerable woman.  Ghostly shapes that terrorize her.  And of course people who have trouble crossing into the netherworld.  While some of these movies have their fans and defenders (I haven't seen enough to make an opinion on the genre as a w...

2.5/4 Starring: Ryan Kwanten, Leslie Bibb, Amy Smart, Jerry Ferrara, Nicky Whelan, Scout Taylor-Compton, Jamie Chung, Jonathan Schaech Rated PG-13 for Thematic Material, Some Scary Images and Brief Language "Flight 7500" deserved a better fate than it got.  Originally slated for an August 2012 release, the film was delayed for two years and released when no one was looking.  The studio behind the movie might as well have slapped "This film is a turkey!" right under the tagline.  While the film certainly has its problems, like settling for a totally cliche ending, it's certainly not a terrible way to spend 80 minutes. Flight 7500 is flying to Tokyo with the assorted oddballs and "characters" that show up in disaster movies.  You have the newlyweds Rick (Ferrara) and Liz (Whelan).  Brad (Kwanten) and Pia (Smart) are splitting up but waiting until after their "vacation of a lifetime" to tell their friends.  Stewardesses Laura (Bibb) and Suzy (Ch...

3/4 Starring: Lily Tomlin, Julia Garner, Marcia Gay Harden Rated R for Language and Some Drug Use When life throws you a terrible curveball, it's nice to have someone like Elle by your side.  She may be prickly, uncouth and a walking, talking liability in just about any social situation.  But when things get tough, she'll stick by you. This is fortunate for young Sage (Garner).  While on summer break, she discovers that a tryst with her maybe-boyfriend has resulted in a bun in the oven.  Sage has decided that she cannot go through with the pregnancy, so she decides to have an abortion.  But for that to happen, she needs money (and support), so she turns to her grandmother Elle (Tomlin) for help (going to her mother is out of the question).  Thus begins a day long odyssey for Elle and Sage as they try to procure the $630 needed for the procedure. The beauty of "Grandma" is that it remains grounded.  No one is too quirky and nothing that happens in this ...

3/4 Starring: Adam Sandler, Christopher McDonald, Julie Bowen, Frances Bey, Carl Weathers Rated PG-13 for Language and Some Comic Sexuality "Happy Gilmore" is, in many respects, not a very good movie.  It's rude, immature, unsophisticated, sloppily made, and more than a bit dumb.  However, such flaws are easy to overlook for. one very important reason: it is a very funny movie.  At times it is sidesplittingly so.  I laughed loudly about a dozen times during this movie, and at least twice I had to rewind it to see what I missed.  I can name a several more ambitious comedies that can't make that same claim. Happy Gilmore (Sandler) has wanted to be a hockey player all his life.  Unfortunately he can barely skate, which makes his dreams of NHL glory a non-starter.  Happy does have a killer swing, and that translates well to a golf long shot as an old pro (Weathers) tells him.  So, in order to save his grandmother's (Bey) house, he enters into a golf t...

1.5/4 Starring: Joanna Kulig, Tomasz Kot, Borys Szyc Rated R for Some Sexual Content, Nudity and Language When "Cold War" started with a black and white uncut image of a man at the center of the screen playing the bagpipes, my heart sank.  It was going to be one of those movies.  You know what I'm talking about.  Those "high art" movies where people speak in a monotone (or might as well, for all the interest they generate), talk in banalities that seem deep and sophisticated and where the director believes that any kind of emotional engagement is sacrilege.  I knew from the first frame that this movie was going to be a trial.  So much so that even its skinny running time of 88 minutes offered little comfort. The plot, as much as I could follow, is simple.  Zula (Kulig) is a young farm girl who has been selected to join a political singing group for the communist party in Poland after WWII.  Displaying natural singing ability and beauty, she quickly be...

3.5/4 Starring: Herman Johansen, Kathleen Warfel, Davis DeRock Not Rated (probable PG-13 for Disturbing Images and Some Sexuality) "The Land" derives its power from its simplicity.  Free from traditional filmmaking conventions, it instead goes for stark realism.  Nothing is played for effect.  There is no color to the proceedings or any artifice to make it "cinematic."  It simply looks. John Martin (Johansen) is a farmer in an unspecified part of America's heartland.  He has lived on and worked the land that his family has maintained for the past four generations.  But now that is coming to an end.  His wife Mary Lou (Warfel) is as devastated as he is, but she is content to look to the future.  John, however, cannot.  For them, the ties that bind them to the land are more than just their way of life.  It is part of who they are.  Without it, who are they?  What will they do? What makes this film such an unforgettable experience...

1/4 Starring: Maggie Cheung, Tony Leung Rated PG for Thematic Elements and Brief Language "In the Mood for Love" is one of those movies where the valiant efforts of the cast and crew are lost under the weight of the director's ego.  The need to be "artistic" and "different" and "avant garde" is so overpowering that the characters are never defined by anything other than their appearance and the narrative is so choppy that it could almost be argued that watching the movie would be the same experience if the scenes were shuffled at random. The story is simple: Mr. Chow (Leung) and Mrs. Chen (Cheung) have just rented apartments next door to each other.  What they eventually realize is that their unseen spouses are having an affair with each other, and through their pain, they fall in love themselves.  But, for the sake of propriety, they do not act on their feelings. Well, it could be a good movie.  Romances, even the best ones, typically don...