Mike's Movie Tips

 3.5/4 Starring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judy Greer, Andi Matichak, Anthony Michael Hall, Will Patton, Dylan Arnold,  Robert Longstreet, Charles Cyphers, Nancy Stephens, Scott MacArthur, Michael McDonald Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence Throughout, Grisly Images, Language and Some Drug Use In a word, "Halloween Kills" is awesome.  It's a cheerfully energetic and bloody escapade that not only focuses on the survivors of Michael Myers's latest killing spree, but how the town reacts.  This is a slasher movie with a social conscience and a cynical point of view.  Somehow, director David Gordon Green has found a way to use one of Hollywood's most legendary slashers to provide some acid political commentary.  It sounds bizarre, but it works. The film picks off where the (second) reboot of the franchise left off.  The survivors of Michael's night of carnage are licking their wounds, both physical and mental, before deciding what to do next.  In a small town...

 3.5/4 Starring: Hayden Christensen, Peter Sarsgaard, Chloe Sevigny, Steve Zahn, Rosario Dawson, Melanie Lynskey, Hank Azaria Rated PG-13 for Language, Sexual References and Brief Drug Use What's so diabolically clever about "Shattered Glass" is how it subverts the normal rules of fiction.  In this movie, the guy we like is the villain and the guy we hate is really the hero.  I'm not talking about the likable scoundrel versus the stick in the mud.  This is different.  Stephen Glass is a vile, contemptible creature who deserves nothing less than his career to be shredded while his nemesis Chuck Lane is so cold, so detached and so merciless that the mere sight of him generates terror and dread.  Yet we like and care about Stephen and loathe Chuck.  Because the actors playing Stephen and Chuck are so good, the film feels like its always primed to explode. Stephen Glass (Christensen) is the most beloved journalist at The New Republic, "the in-flight magazi...

 It's now very common to hear people say, 'I'm rather offended by that.' As if that gives them certain rights.  It's actually nothing more...than a whine.  'I find that offensive.'  It has no meaning; it has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase.  'I am offended by that.' Well, so fucking what? Stephen Fry  Dave Chappelle is in hot water right now, with his latest Netflix special causing controversy, walkouts, protests and so on.  Many are calling for his head and demanding that Netflix cancel him. I haven't seen the controversial specials so I don't know what he specifically said (stand up loses a lot when not seen live).  That's actually beside the point.  The questions we need to ask ourselves are wider than remarks made by an often controversial comic. Let's get the obvious out of the way right now.  I support the trans community.  The struggles they face are real (witness Chump Trump's sudden and boneheaded...

 3/4 Starring: Daniel Craig, Lea Seydoux, Rami Malek, Lashana Lynch, Rafe Fiennes Rated PG-13 for Sequences of Violence and Action, Some Disturbing Images, Brief Strong Language and Some Suggestive Material James Bond has proven himself to be cinema's most enduring and adaptable franchise.  As long as the requisite mix of dry wit, sex, and of course, action, is mixed in the proper proportions, the film will be a success.  Directors and actors come and go, but 007 endures. The adventures featuring Daniel Craig are more grounded and serious than the popcorn fun of the Brosnan entries, but this is easily the darkest and bleakest Bond movie I've ever seen.  Everything in this movie has been given tremendous weight, from the dread-filled plot to Bond himself.  This is not a happy movie. James Bond (Craig) has retired from service.  He's living off the grid in Cuba, doing odd jobs for his old friend Felix Letier (Jeffrey Wright).  Felix needs his help again,...

1.5/4 Starring: Brigitte Kali Canales, Andrea Cortes, Julia Vera, Sal Lopez Rated R (probably for Disturbing Images and Rituals, Language and Drug Use) "The Old Ways" is a curious film.  The technical qualities are good and it generates real tension and dread.  But everything else is shit.  The actors can't act, the story is badly constructed and incoherent, and the director can't decide what he wants his film to be.  So it's hard to articulate what to make of it. Christina (Canales) is a journalist traveling to Veracruz in search of a story and something more.  But she is kidnapped and held by a creepy old woman (Vera), a man of few words (Lopez) and her cousin Miranda (Cortes).  They believe that she is possessed by a demon.  Naturally, the savvy Christina doesn't believe a word of it, butyl even she can't ignore the truth. The film gets off to a bad start.  There is virtually no set up.  After a brief flashback (which has less to do with t...

 3/4 Starring: Matt Damon, Jodie Comer, Adam Driver, Ben Affleck, Harriet Walter Rated R for Strong Violence including a Sexual Assault, Sexual Content, Some Graphic Nudity, and Language "The Last Duel" is something that is all too rare these days: a thinking person's movie for adults.  So many movies are watered down for the world audience and the lowest common denominator that it is refreshing to at last find a movie that not only demands that an audience use their brains, but doesn't make concessions for tween crowd.  This is a movie for adults in every fiber of its being, and it is a credit to the filmmakers that they allowed it to be so.  Of course, this is a Ridley Scott movie, and what Ridley wants, Ridley gets. Lady Marguerite de Carrouges (Comer) has made a shocking accusation: she has accused her husband's best friend and squire, Jacques Le Gris (Driver) of raping her.  To make him pay for his actions and defend his wife's honor, Margurite's husb...

 3/4 Starring: Sydney Park, Theodore Pellerin, Asjha Cooper, Dale Whibley, Jesse LaTourette, Burkley Duffield, Diego Josef Not Rated (probable R for Strong Violence/Gore, Language, Some Sexuality, and for Drug Use) "There's Someone Inside Your House" is a slasher movie for the Generation Z.  It follows the blueprint of the genre that has been laid down in cement for the past 40 years, and it adds a few new things of its own.  It isn't the smartest movie available right now, but that's to be expected.  Slasher movies are by and large not known for their intelligence.  Their appeal is visceral, and flawed as the film may be, it makes the grade. Football stud Jackson Pace (Markian Tarasiuk) has just been found brutally murdered.  Alongside his bloody corpse are pictures of a hazing incident in which he took part.  He isn't the only one; the body count continues to rise as the victims are not only killed, but their sins are laid bare for all to see.  ...

 3.5/4 Starring: Brenton Thwaites, Kyle Gallner, Theo Rossi, Skyler Astin, Alan Ritchson Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence, Disturbing and Grisly Images, Language and Brief Nude Iimages "Ghosts of War" is one wild ride. It's many things all at once.  A war movie.  A haunted house flick.  A supernatural thriller.  And other genres that I won't reveal simply to avoid spoilers.  This is a movie that came from a man with an insane vision and charged ahead to make it a reality, risks be damned.  That it could have been an utter mess is of no concern to writer/director Eric Bress.  He simply doesn't have time to worry about it. A squad of WWII soldiers is eager for their next mission.  They're assigned to hold a luxurious mansion filled with food and liquor until relief comes.  That the squad they are replacing is eager to leave and tight-lipped about why is of no concern to them.  They should have been more wary.  For it soon becom...

 2/4 Starring: Megumi Okina, Misaki Ito, Misa Uehara Rated R for Some Disturbing Images What is clear after watching "Ju-On: The Grudge" is that director Takashi Shimizu knows what he is doing.  He knows how to create sequences that raise the terror and dread in the audience (even when his lack of budget is apparent).  There are some sequences, particularly early on, that made me tense and frightened.  Sadly that's the only card he really has to play. The opening titles establish the premise.  Someone who suffers a violent death can be so filled with rage that they place a curse on where they died.  And that curse is contagious.  Okay, that's a good start.  Unfortunately, that's as far as the film goes in terms of plot.  So what we get are great set pieces for getting the audience to dive under the covers, and not much else.  Once I realized that was the only thing the film had to offer, I grew bored.  And I grew resentful when I re...

 1/4 Starring: Alessandro Nivola, Michael Gandolfini, Leslie Odom Jr., Jon Bernthal, Vera Farmiga, Ray Liotta, Corey Stoll, Michela De Rossi Rated R for Strong Violence, Pervasive Language, Sexual Content and Some Nudity Full disclosure: I have not seen a single episode of "The Sopranos."  I own the Blu Ray box set, but haven't gotten around to watching it.  I'm wary of starting a new TV series because they are such a time commitment to see the whole story, and even if they are good, they eventually devolve into soap opera.  Still, I intend to watch it at some point, but if "The Many Saints of Newark" is a point of reference, I might not bother. The biggest problem is that the film has no plot. At least, one that isn't coherent.  IMDb states that the film is: "A look at the formative years of New Jersey gangster Tony Soprano."  The reason the pitch is so brief is because that's all I could get in term's of plot.  Perhaps it's becaus...

 3/4 Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, and the voices of Riley Keough, Peter Sarsgaard, Eli Goree, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Ethan Hawke Rated R for Language Throughout One might be forgiven if they confused "The Guilty" with " The Call " from a few years ago.  After all, they share the same basic premise of a 911 operator trying to save someone's life.  But whereas the Halle Berry flick threw plausibility and common sense out the window in favor of action and adrenaline, "The Guilty" remains grounded without a significant drop-off in tension.  Actually, a better point of comparison would be " Locke ," the dramatic thriller with Tom Hardy trapped in a car for 90 minutes. 911 dispatcher Joe Baylor (Gyllenhaal) is having a rough day.  A wildfire is on the outskirts of Los Angeles.  His court date is tomorrow.  His ex won't speak to him.  No wonder he's in a bad mood.  And just when things couldn't get any more intense, he gets a call out o...