Mike's Movie Tips

3.5/4 Starring: Victor Rasuk, Judy Marte, Altagracia Guzman, Krystal Rodriguez, Silvestre Rasuk, Melonie Diaz, Kevin Rivera Rated R for Strong Language It's interesting, isn't it, how hokey and corny romances like " Twilight " or any other of the recent crop of romances aimed at tween girls make tons of money while movies like " Before Sunrise " are overlooked and ignored.  It's not as if teenagers can't connect with them (when I was in high school, people would always talk about movies like "Requiem for a Dream" or " American History X ," not the latest Michael Bay extravaganza).  Hollywood has a distressing habit of underestimating the intelligence of moviegoers, and as a result thoughtful and honest films fall by the wayside...if they're made at all. Victor Vargas (Rasuk) is the ultimate player of the Lower East Side; he's as sexy as he is charming, and can woo any woman to bed with a single pick-up line.  At le...

3/4 Starring: Jeremy Irvine, Michael Douglas, Ronny Cox, Hanna Mangan Lawrence Rated R for Some Violence A movie like "Beyond the Reach" depends on the viewer.  Either you buy into it or you don't.  If you allow yourself to get sucked into it, it's an enjoyable (if far from perfect) ride.  If you want it to do the work for you, it's going to be a trial.  I liked it, but I expect those who try to think too much will not. Ben (Irvine) is saying good-bye to his girlfriend Laina (Lawrence), who is leaving for college on a scholarship.  He's staying behind to be a hunting guide.  That's when he gets a call from the sheriff (Cox).  A corporate hotshot named John Madec (Douglas) is in town to hunt big game.  When Madec and the sheriff gloss over the necessary paperwork, Ben has some misgivings, but the $1000 a day fee that Madec is offering sweetens the deal enough that he accepts.  Packed full of the latest European gadgetry, the two head o...

3.5/4 Starring: Owen Wilson, Lake Bell, Sterling Jerins, Claire Geare, Pierce Brosnan Rated R for Strong Violence including a Sexual Assault, and for Language When thinking of "No Escape," the word "intense" comes to mind.  Not adrenaline, at least certainly not in the way a movie like " San Andreas " or " Furious 7 " brings it to the table.  This is a no-holds barred fight for survival.  There are no superheroes and none of the protagonists suddenly turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger.  It's a kill or be killed situation, and the only mantra that holds them together is "10 steps ahead." After his invention failed to take off like he'd hoped, Jack Dwyer (Wilson) has accepted a position at a water conglomerate.  That takes him and his family, which includes his wife Annie (Bell) and daughters, Lucy (Jerins) and Beeze (Geare), to an unnamed East Asian country.  However, when they arrive, things appear to be amiss.  There's...

1.5/4 Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Topher Grace, Connie Britton, Walton Goggins, John Leguizamo Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence, Language Throughout, Drug Use and Some Sexual Content "American Ultra" wants to be a stoner action-comedy parody; a movie that combines the mentality of a Seth Rogen movie with something like "The Long Kiss Goodnight," playing up both with its tongue-in-cheek.  If that sounds complicated, it is.  But it can be done; the " Kick-Ass " movies did the same thing for the superhero genre.  Sadly, the results are much less satisfactory here. Mike (Eisenberg) is a stoner living in Liman, South Carolina with his girlfriend/landlord Phoebe (Stewart).  Mike wants to propose to Phoebe, and has a whole romantic getaway to Hawaii planned out.  Unfortunately, his neuroses get the better of him and they have to cancel the trip.  But Mike isn't the ordinary pothead grocery store clerk that he thinks he is.  He's ...

2.5/4 Starring: James Ransone, Shannyn Sossamon, Robert Daniel Sloan, Dartanian Sloan, Lea Coco, Lucas Jade Zumann Rated R for Strong Violence, Bloody and Disturbing Images, and Language It would be too much to ask for a sequel to equal the amount of terror generated by the original film.  " Sinister " was perfectly constructed.  Each piece of the story perfectly placed, each shot perfectly composed, and each tidbit of information given with the perfect amount of menace and obliqueness.  Like the best horror movies, it relied on the power of suggestion, leaving our imaginations to fill in the blanks.  The result was a movie so terrifying that at the end of it, I ran out of the theater in a full sprint (something I feel no shame in admitting). Sadly, despite being written by Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, who wrote the original, "Sinister 2" feels like a let down.  Director Ciaran Foy doesn't understand that in a movie like this, less is more, an...

3/4 Starring: Brigette Nielsen, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sandahl Bergman, Ernie Reyes Jr., Paul L. Smith Rated PG-13 (for Action Violence/Gore and a Brief Rape Scene) Chances are that I wouldn't have seen this movie had it not been for "Siskel & Ebert."  Normally absolute professionals, the two of them could barely contain their laughter when talking about this movie.  Not a good sign... Taking it at face value, "Red Sonja" is a very bad movie.  The story is trite, the dialogue is embarrassingly bad, none of the actors are able to speak their dialogue convincingly on a regular basis, and the action scenes appear to have been done in one take.  Even Arnold Schwarzenegger knows it's bad; he successfully kept his kids in line by threatening to make them watch it 10 times back to back for any transgression, and his then-wife Maria Shriver told him, "If this doesn't kill your career, nothing will!" However, viewed in the right frame of m...

3/4 Starring: Paul Bettany, Adrianne Palicki, Lucas Black, Dennis Quaid, Tyrese Gibson Rated R for Strong Bloody Violence, and Language I love a good action movie.  As long as it's violent and bloody enough, and the action scenes are constructed with an acceptable level of skill, I'll probably like it (note: something like " Speed " or " The Rock " is the good exception...if those were my standards, I'd probably do best to find another hobby).  "Legion" fits that descriptor.  It's light on plot, and it's a stretch calling any of the characters one-dimensional, but that's because there isn't time for any of that.  It's essentially action, action, and more action. The film starts out like either an art film or a noir movie.  You choose.  A group of people meet at a diner in the middle of nowhere.  Owner/cook Bob (Quaid) and his mechanic son Jeep (Black) run the place for the few people who drift in and out.  Also there...