Mike's Movie Tips

3.5/4 Starring David Duchovny, Brad Pitt, Michelle Forbes, Juliette Lewis Rated R for Strong Violence, and for Sexuality and Language Be careful what you wish for.  You just might get it. It's an old adage, but one with a lot of truth in it.  We all have our dreams, our visions for a life, that while not necessarily perfect, is at least idyllic.  We, as human beings, are also pulled to the darker side of our natures.  It is a part of being human to be drawn to the things that scare or disgust us.  We watch horror movies, we slow down to look at a car accident, we get a thrill out of seeing the hero triumph over the villain.  It's human nature. One of the things that makes "Kalifornia" so effective is that it remembers this.  Not only that, this reality drives the characters, in their own way, and thus the plot.  Although one could classify this as a serial killer movie, it's an atypical one.  There is a tremendous amount of tension ...

2.5/4 Starring (voices): Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, Rosie Perez, Armand Assante, Edward James Olmos, Jim Cummings Rated PG for Mild Thematic Material and Language Disney cornered the animation market since the release of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarves."  But about 20 years ago (give or take), other studios wanted a piece of the pie.  Few of them were any good, and none of them could capture that Disney magic.  Although with franchises like "Despicable Me," DreamWorks Animation is on solid footing (this is the only animated film of theirs that failed to turn a profit), "The Road to El Dorado" has been all but for forgotten because it's a forgettable movie. Tulio (Kline) and Miguel (Branagh) are two con men living in Spain in the mid-1500's.  In an attempt to escape the authorities, they end up on the voyage to the New World.  There, Captain Cortes (Cummings) throws them into the brig and plans to sell them to a plantation in Cuba.  Wit...

2.5/4 Starring: Laura Prepon, Misha Collins, Patrick Bauchau Rated R for Brutal Psychotic Violence including Murder, Rape and Spousal Abuse, Disturbing Sexual Content and Strong Language It is important to understand that the events in "Karla" cannot be accepted as 100% factual without reasonable doubt.  While there is no question that Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo were responsible in some way for the murders of three young women (including Karla's sister Tammy), the truth about who was behind it all is closer to a "he said, she said" case.  That's one thing that the film forgets, or chooses to ignore, and it's not to the film's benefit. Karla Homolka (Prepon) knew from the second she saw him that she was going to marry Paul Bernardo (Collins).  Finding out that he was the Scarsboro rapist did little to dissuade her.  She loved him unconditionally, and that was enough.  She would do anything to please him, including letting him drug and rap...

3/4 Starring: Danielle Harris, Tony Todd, Kane Hodder, Parry Shen, Tom Holland The version being reviewed is unrated.  For the record, the theatrical cut is rated R for Strong Bloody Horror Violence, Sexual Content, Nudity and Language A movie like "Hatchet II" cannot be reviewed as a normal movie.  It's goals are different from a movie like " Halloween ."  Or " Scream ," for that matter.  None of it is intended to be taken seriously.  Well, not too seriously.  Like the first film, writer/director Adam Green finds the sweet spot between scares and laughs.  Also like the first one, he does so with gusto. And does he ever!  While no one could argue that the original shied away from the red stuff (quite the opposite in fact), Green has upped the ante.  The ways the characters in this movie meet their grisly ends is over-the-top for even a horror movie.  Blood and body parts fly everywhere in quantities that exceed normal units of me...

0.5/4 Starring: Natasha Henstridge, Christopher Lambert, Andrew Divoff Rated R for Gruesome Violence and Gore, and for Strong Language Watching "Adrenalin: Fear the Rush," I wondered what writer/director Albert Pyun was trying to do with this film.  Was he trying to create a surrealistic nightmare?  Or was he trying to make Ed Wood look like Steven Spielberg?  Either way, I felt my IQ drop with every passing minute.  Fortunately the movie is 77 minutes long, so I can still eviscerate it in a review. This movie is bad in a way that few movies are.  It's so bad that you watch it with some kind of mental distance.  I guess it's the brain's way of protecting itself from spontaneous combustion.  Dario Argento's " Opera " looks better with each passing minute.  At least that movie didn't repeat itself incessantly. There's not much of a plot.  It's a post-apocalyptic chase movie, although based on the evidence, I'm guessing that is...

1.5/4 Starring (voices): James Arnold Taylor, Nolan North, Mikey Kelley, Mitchell Whitfield, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Patrick Stewart, Chris Evans, Mako, Ziyi Zhang Rated PG for Animated Action Violence, Some Scary Cartoon Images and Mild Language Watching "TMNT," I thought to myself, "At least it's not as bad as the last iteration that, despite earning universal derision, made enough money to warrant a sequel.  I also thought to myself, that's a totally backhanded compliment. Unlike the disaster that made my Bottom 10 list two years ago, "TMNT" didn't threaten to drive me insane.  It's just deadly dull.  The story doesn't make a lot of sense, the action scenes are boring, and the jokes are lame.  For a movie that never had a hope of being taken seriously, that's a strike out. After defeating the Foot Clan, their bitter rivals, the Turtles are bored.  Leonardo (Taylor) has gone to Central America for training, which builds a lot...

4/4 Starring: Soren Fulton, Matt Borish, Sam Semenza, Michael Dean, John Michael Bolger Not Rated (Probable PG for Thematic Material, Rude Behavior including Drinking, all involving Young Teens) With a movie like "Rounding First," you have to be a little forgiving.  The film was clearly shot with no budget, which means that it had to have been made very quickly with a minimal crew.  "Rounding First" has some problems, like stilted dialogue and some raw acting (" Confession ," another fantastic no-budget movie, had some of the same problems), you'll find something much rarer and more valuable: good storytelling.  I don't know about you, but I'd rather watch an unpolished movie like this that manages to really involve me than a professional one that doesn't. The year is 1980.  Joe Koerner (Fulton) is a 12-year-old who lives with his parents.  He idolizes his older brother Tommy (Aaron Fiore), who is a scholar living in Europe, even th...