Mike's Movie Tips

3/4 Starring: Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz, Peter Greene, Peter Riegert, Richard Jeni, Amy Yasbeck Rated PG-13 for Some Stylized Violence Sometimes, there's only one actor who could possibly play a certain role.  While James Bond or Batman can change actors with no problem, there's only one man who could play The Mask: Jim Carrey.  With his rubber face and flexible body, Carrey was born (or is that made?) to play this role.  Indeed, director Chuck Russell said that the actor's physical abilities saved the production a lot of money because he was so agile that they didn't need to digitally enhance his movements. Stanley Ipkiss (Carrey) is the biggest doormat in Edge City.  His life is one attack on his dignity after another.  His landlord (Nancy Fish) is a shrieking harridan who gives him no end of grief.  The bozos at the garage defraud him.  Even his best friend Charlie (Jeni) doesn't take him seriously.  After what was supposed to be a night...

2/4 Starring: Daniel Craig, Colm Meaney, George Harris, Tamer Hassan, Tom Hardy, Kenneth Cranham, Michael Gambon, Jamie Forman, Sally Hawkins, Marcel Iures, Sienna Miller, Ben Whishaw Rated R for Strong Brutal Violence, Sexuality, Nudity, Pervasive Language and Drug Use The problem with "Layer Cake" is easy to identify: there's too much plot for a 105-minute movie. There were as many twists and turns in " Black Book ," and that took 2.5 hours to tell.  There's even less character development, and the actors, while charismatic and giving strong performances across the board, are forced to rely on their screen presence and ability to utter dialogue without stumbling over it.  Everyone gives it a game try, but it's all for naught.  The story makes less and less sense as it goes on and I didn't care one way or the other about any of the characters. "Layer Cake's" unnamed protagonist (Craig) is a cocaine dealer living in London.  He ...

3/4 Starring: Lauren Cohan, Rupert Evans Rated PG-13 for Violence and Terror, and for Some Thematic Material Like " The Forest ," another January horror movie that, for being a January horror movie, was better than it had a right to be, "The Boy" is what it is.  No more, no less.  It's by no means a classic, but if all you're looking for is a few cheap shocks and chills, it will fit the bill. Greta (Cohan) has just been hired as a nanny for a young boy in England.  They live in a creepy manor in the middle of nowhere but that suits Greta just fine.  So it is to her surprise that her charge is not a boy at all, but a porcelain doll.  At first, she thinks this is a joke, but the boy's parents are quite serious, and have a strict set of rules that she must follow.  Naturally, since they're not there and the "boy" is an inanimate object, she doesn't follow them.  But creepy things start happening, and Greta begins to wonder if this ...

3/4 Starring: Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson, Robert Redford, Seymour Cassel, Oliver Platt Rated R for Sexuality and Language One million dollars for a night with your spouse.  Would you do it?  The obvious answer would be no, but if you're broke and a handsome billionaire makes this offer to you, it looks mighty tempting. I love morality plays that examine all sides of an issue.  Presented effectively, they can make for riveting viewing.  In a not so strange way, I was reminded of " Into the Blue ," where a quartet of beach bums were presented with the chance to make billions if they were willing to commit some illegal (and potentially deadly) activities.  "Indecent Proposal" is a more adult film and a more low-key affair, but it is nonetheless compelling. Diana (Moore) and David (Harrelson) were high school sweethearts who eloped shortly after high school.  He's an architect and she's a realtor, and they take the chance in investing in their dre...

3/4 Starring (voices):  Brittany Snow, David Gallagher, Harold Gould, Jean Smart, James Sikking, Courtney Thorne-Smith Rated G Now that I think about it, I'm wondering why animation is only used to tell fantasy stories (or in rare cases, science fiction).  It's not that it can't work with a "normal" story.  After all, that's what comics are.  But even with story that doesn't include magical creatures and places or song-and-dance numbers, animation gives it a certain life and energy that filming with cameras and actors could not give it.  It would have been entirely possible (and much easier) to film this story using conventional means.  But it would not have the same effect. Shizuku Tsukishima (Snow) is a normal 8th-grader.  She's starting to notice boys like Sugimura (Martin Spanjers), although neither she nor her friend Yuko (Ashley Tisdale) have a clue what to do about it, and is preparing to take her high school entrance exams (think SATs/A...

3/4 Starring: John Krasinski, James Bage Dale, David Costabile, Pablo Schreiber, Dominic Fumusa, Matt Letscher, Alexa Barlier Rated R for Strong Combat Violence Throughout, Bloody Images and Language Michael Bay has become a popular whipping boy these days.  Considering the bloated behemoths (" Transformers " movies) he has directed and the trash he has produced (" Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ," " Ouija " and the first installment of " The Purge " franchise, although the sequel kicked ass), it's warranted.  But remember that he also directed " The Rock ," and for the most part the "Transformers" movies were stupid fun.  But let loose with a teen-unfriendly R-rating and allowed to flex his visual flair, there's no one who can top him.  This isn't a perfect film, but it is very good (at times bordering on excellent), and it should allow him to regain much of the cred that he lost with the "Transformers...

2.5/4 Starring: Bradley Cooper, Vinnie Jones, Leslie Bibb, Roger Bart, Brooke Shields The version being reviewed is unrated.  For the record, the theatrical cut is rated R for Sequences of Strong Bloody Gruesome Violence, Grisly Images involving Nudity, Sexual Content and Language "The Midnight Meat Train" starts out strong, but begins to lose its way around the halfway mark and continues to fall.  The film is by no means a waste of time, but I can't help but wish that director Ryuhei Kitamura could have sustained the tension that he constructs early on in the film. Leon (Cooper) is an amateur photographer looking for his big break.  His goal is to capture the heart of the city, but as an art dealer (Shields) tells him, he's only scratching the surface.  She tells him that when he finds something that makes him tense, he should keep shooting.  He takes that to heart that night.  A girl on the subway is being harassed by a group of thugs, and while h...