Mike's Movie Tips

2/4 Starring: Kiefer Sutherland, Paula Patton, Amy Smart, John Shrapnel The version being reviewed is the unrated one.  For the record, the theatrical cut is rated R for Strong Violence, Disturbing Images, Language and Brief Nudity "Mirrors," a loose remake of the Korean horror film "Into the Mirror," is one of the movies that can be defined in this simple sentence: good premise, bad execution.  The idea that evil mirrors can force you to do horrible things or influence behavior towards violence or other such scary actions is intriguing and has a lot of potential.  Unfortunately, director Alexandre Aja has co-written a script that could charitably be called anemic and uses poor shot selection to tell his story. Ben Carson (Sutherland) is a cop who is wrestling with some serious demons.  While on the job, he accidentally shot an undercover officer.  Now on leave, he has stopped drinking and is taking a job as a security guard for the Mayflower shopping ma...

3.5/4 Starring: Paul Walker, Jessica Alba, Scott Caan, Ashley Scott, Josh Brolin, James Frain Rated PG-13 for Intense Sequences of Action Violence, Drug Material, Some Sexual Content and Language If you had the chance to make more than a billion dollars in one day, what would you do?  Would you be willing to do some blatantly illegal activities for that shot?  What about risking your life, or those of the people you care about?  We'd like to think that we'd stay on the safe side and turn down everything to stick to the higher ground, but the truth is that most of us would take that chance.  Four people are about to find out how far they are willing to go to live on easy street. Jared (Walker) is a dive guide living in the Bahamas.  He's a treasure hunter in his free time, although he hasn't found much (due in part to the fact that his boat is rotting).  Jared lives in a trailer with his gorgeous girlfriend, Sam (Alba).  When his best friend Bry...

2.5/4 Starring (voices): Kirsten Dunst, Richard Harris, Greg Proops, Tom Kenny, Keith David, Anjelica Huston Rated PG-13 for Sensuality and Some Frightening Images I'm not going to criticize "Kaena: The Prophecy" for its low-quality animation.  It was France's first CGI film, so a little leeway must be given.  I will, however, criticize it for its complete lack of color differentiation (which often makes it impossible to distinguish a character from the background) and occasionally incompetent editing. Kaena (Dunst) is a young human girl living on Axis, a free-floating tree root.  Unlike the others in her town, she gives little weight to appeasing the gods, who require a lot of tree sap.  Kaena is an adventurer and a dreamer; the latter encouraging her to explore Axis.  Her exploration leads her to Opaz (Harris), an alien who knows the true story behind the creation of her homeworld.  This puts her and her people in dangerous conflict with their "go...

2/4 Starring: Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harrington, Sean Bean, Carrie-Anne Moss, Malcolm McDowell, Martin Donovan, Deborah Kara Unger Rated R for Violence and Disturbing Images, Some Language and Brief Nudity "Silent Hill: Revelation" looks great.  Although not as eye-popping and eerily beautiful as the first film (writer/director Michael J. Bassett lacks Christoph Gans eye for detail and atmosphere), there are still plenty of cool, if grotesque, images to be found in this film.  As for the story... This sequel takes place a number of years after the original.  Christopher da Silva (Bean) has been constantly on the move with his daughter Sharon (Clemens).  They're just starting a new life in a run down city with their new identities (he calls himself Harry and she Heather).  But Sharon/Heather is still having terrifying nightmares about Silent Hill and she doesn't know why (her father never told her about her past).  When her father is kidnapped, she an...

4/4 Starring: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, James Ransone, Fred Dalton Thompson, Michael Hall D'Addario, Clare Foley Rated R for Disturbing Violent Images and Some Terror When I settled into my seat to watch "Sinister," I was hoping for a few spooky thrills and a cool ghost story. What I got was the most frightening ghost story I have ever seen, and one of the scariest movies I have ever watched. Ellison Oswalt (Hawke) has just moved his family into a new house to work on a new crime story.  His books are literary adaptations of unsolved crime cases, and his new book is about the murder of a family who were hung from a tree, and one of the children was never found.  Shortly after the move, Ellison finds a series of Super 8 films that turn out to be videos of similar crimes.  That's when strange things start happening at night. Ever seen a picture where the subject seems to be looking directly into you?  I remember seeing the box of the board game "The Ga...

3/4 Starring: David Naughton, Griffin Dunne, Jenny Agutter, John Woodvine Rated R for Werewolf Violence/Gore and Some Sexuality/Nudity "An American Werewolf in London" is a horror/comedy; it contains scares and laughs in equal measure.  The humor isn't self-referential, but instead it germinates from the plot and its characters.  It's difficult enough to scare your audience while keeping them laughing when you're merely poking fun at the obvious ridiculousness of the plot.  But director John Landis fully meshes the opposing genres in a film that isn't perfect, but is, well, kind of groovy. Two Americans, David Kessler (Naughton) and Jack Goodman (Dunne), are backpacking through Europe (probably on the ultra-cheap since the first time we meet them they're getting let out of a farmer's truck where they've been riding with a bunch of sheep).  They stop in a bar called "The Slaughtered Lamb," where their reception by the locals is chi...

3/4 Starring: Justin Long, Gina Philips, Jonathan Breck, Patricia Belcher, Eileen Brennan Rated R for Terror Violence/Gore, Language and Brief Nudity "Jeepers Creepers" is a low-budget monster movie that, while no classic, works.  It's creepy, has a sufficient amount of gore, and sustains its tension throughout the film.  This is one movie where you're smiling at the genre conventions while still getting creeped out. Siblings Darry (Long) and Trish (Philips) are taking the long way home in Trish's nearly-dead beater.  They trade quips, play stupid games involving license plates, and other stuff to pass the time.  Then they're nearly run off the road by a rusty truck.  Things get even weirder when they see the driver of the truck drop large white objects down a large pipe.  Since they're about five to six feet long and are probably 150 to 200 pounds, so it's not hard to guess what they are.  Darry can't resist a peek down to see if their susp...