Mike's Movie Tips

3/4 Not Rated (probably PG-13 for Brief Language) Anyone wondering why Congress is seemingly caught in an impenetrable deadlock and why last year's presidential election resembled Jerry Springer need only look at the Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court decision.  In essence, it rolled back nearly a century of campaign finance law, and allowed both corporations and unions to donated unlimited amounts of money to politicians, albeit indirectly.  Now, the Koch Brothers, for example, can spend $900 million dollars on elections, and can hide the fact that they're doing it. If that doesn't chill you to the bone, well, watch this documentary to see the devastation it caused.  Unions are crippled, people's benefits are vanishing, and the idea of a corporatocracy is becoming a reality. "Citizen Koch," a clever, if unsubtle, word play on "Citizen Kane" and the Koch Brothers, seeks to do two things: show how corporate money has hijacked our government ...

As bad as the state of movies these days is (and it's pretty bad), it's nice to know that Hollywood is still able to make good movies.  So while movies like "Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice" and whatever Marvel movie was released last year are cynical cash grabs, movies like the criminally overlooked " Eye in the Sky " or "Manchester by the Sea" are still getting made.  And that's a good thing for people like me, who view movies as something other than amusement park rides or porn for Joss Whedon. This year's Oscar line-up is surprisingly strong.  There are some great movies nominated and some strong performers too.  There are few, if any, categories where I'm hoping against hope that a nominated movie doesn't win (I suppose it helps that Wes Anderson didn't release anything this year and that the Academy apparently sees Seth Rogen for who he is). As usual, I'll list the nominees, then go ahead with my predictions an...

3/4 Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Ken Watanabe, Naomi Watts Rated PG-13 for Mature Thematic Material, Some Disturbing Images and Brief Strong Language Judging by the critical reception (it has a measly score of 23 on Metacritic) and the fact that even with a trio of big names and a independent film maverick at the helm, it was barely visible upon release, I was expecting a train wreck.  One on par with " Paranoid Park ."  Fortunately, this was not the case.  It has its problems, but on the whole, I liked it.  In fact, I might argue that I will probably like it more when I see it again. Arthur Brennan (McConaughey) has bought a one-way ticket to Japan.  His intention is to go to Aokigahara Forest (aka "Suicide Forest"), down a bottle of pills and leave this earthly realm.  But just as he's about to do the deed, he spies a desperate man walking through the forest.  Taking pity on him, Arthur resolves to help this man named Takumi Nakamura (Watan...

2.5/4 Starring: Ryan Kwanten, Donnie Wahlberg, Michael Fairman, Amber Valetta, Joan Heney, Bob Gunton, Judith Roberts, Laura Regan The version being reviewed is unrated.  For the record, the theatrical cut is rated R for Horror Violence and Images "Dead Silence" has a pretty nifty idea for a horror flick: a ventriloquist as a villain.  However, it stumbles in the execution.  The acting is subpar and the screenplay could have used another run through the computer.  Perhaps the rumored studio meddling was to blame.  Still, it's far from a disaster. Jamie Ashen (Kwanten) has just gone out to pick up some Chinese takeout.  His wife Lisa (Regan) ordered it while he was trying to fix the sink, which was a futile endeavor, apparently.  When he returns, he finds her savagely murdered.  The local detective, a macho smart-ass by the name of Lipton (Wahlberg) thinks he's the one who did the deed.  But Jamie thinks otherwise.  He and Lisa re...

1/'4 Starring: Matt Damon, Tian Jing, Pedro Pascal, Andy Lau, Willem Dafoe Rated PG-13 for Sequences of Fantasy Action Violence I've been playing some of my favorite video games again lately, such as the "Uncharted" games.  This is my fourth time going through the whole story again, but I return to them fondly because I enjoy the characters and the storytelling.  I wonder why movies can't do the same thing.  They used to, but now they're just soul-sucking, noisy cash grabs.  For a while I thought that it was just them trying to appeal to foreign audiences or the filmgoer that doesn't want to use their brain, or to sell a spectacle.  Now, I realize that it's simply contempt for the audience.  They're lazy and think that the audience is so hard up for entertainment value that they'll watch anything.  Or maybe they're still bearing a grudge after that writers strike a few years ago.  I don't know, but I do know that unless Hollywood ...

1.5/4 Rated PG for Thematic Material and Images "Boy and the World" is a "Fantasia" short stretched out to nearly 90 minutes.  Although the art style is adventurous and it looks great, there's nowhere near enough material for a feature length film.  Even one as short as this. The film is light on plot: a boy's father doesn't come home from work so he goes searching for him and undergoes a series of surreal adventures.  It's so light because writer/director Ale Abreu is using this as a jumping off point to illustrate the dangers of out-of-control capitalism, industry and the plight of workers. I have no problem with a filmmaker using film to make political points or metaphors.  What I do have a problem with is the fact that the end result is so boring.  In addition to basically being a checklist of just about every left-leaning cause, the points are obvious, trite, and with no interesting characters or plot to guide us through it, it comes acr...

4/4 Starring (voices): Scott Weinger, Linda Larkin, Robin Williams, Jonathan Freeman, Gilbert Gottfried, Douglas Seele Rated G I remember the first time I saw this movie in theaters.  It was at the AMC Galleria in 1992.  I remember going down the darkened hallway with my family, settling down in my seat.  The little man made of film flew down the screen on a film reel and introduced AMC.  Then the movie started.  It was an amazing experience, and the sound and images enveloped me.  Being able to hear the echoes in wide spaces or deep bass in close-up really made the film come alive for me.  Now, all these years later, the film still holds up surprisingly well. Aladdin (Weinger) is a young thief living in Agrabah.  With his pet monkey, he gets by on stealing food, but when he dreams of living in the castle, where he would be wealthy and have no problems at all.  At the same time, Princess Jasmine (Larkin) is feeling the pressures of pa...