Mike's Movie Tips

 2.5/4 Starring: Josh Hartnett, Diane Kruger, Rose Byrne, Matthew Lillard Rated PG-13 for Sexuality and Language My opinion for "Wicker Park" is mixed.  I am delighted that the film blindsided me with some of its twists and turns, but was disheartened at what it all amounted to.  I desperately wanted a happy ending, but was disappointed at what it all boiled down to.  The film has such an intriguing premise but the follow through doesn't live up to its promise. Two years ago, Matt (Hartnett) fell in love with the beautiful Lisa (Kruger).  When he asked her to come with him to New York, she was so taken aback that she said she needed time to think about it...and disappeared.  Now, Matt saw Lisa, or thinks he did, and is determined to find her.  And to find an answer to the greatest question of all: what happened two years ago. "Wicker Park" is an uneasy fusion of a psychological thriller and a bad soap opera.  On the one hand, it's devilish fun to ...

 1.5/4 Starring: Penelope Cruz, Yohana Cobo, Lola Duenas, Blanca Portillo, Carmen Maura, Antonio de la Torre, Chus Lampreave Rated R for Some Sexual Content and Language A thought continued to run through my mind as I watched "Volver," the 2006 film from acclaimed director Pedro Almodovar: who cares? I didn't.  This is a melodrama about people who meant nothing to me.  It could have been a story of some dramatic charge if I gave a damn about the people in it, but despite some fine acting, I didn't.  I'm not sure why I cared so little.  Maybe the characters are half-developed.  Maybe the film is so convoluted that there needs to be an evolving chart of who knows what at what time.  And how they relate to each other.  Maybe it's because the film never effectively straddles the line between hard-hitting drama and farce. Raimunda (Cruz) is a young woman trying to make ends meet for her teenage daughter Paula (Cobo) and loutish husband Pack (de la Torr...

 3.5/4 Starring: Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank, Nicky Katt, Paul Dooley, Martin Donovan Rated R for Language, Some Violence and Brief Nudity "Insomnia" is a psychological thriller.  It's about people and why they do what they do.  There isn't much in the way of conventional action like chases (there is one, but it's short and not especially important).  This is about a cop in a situation with no good solutions, and a killer who knows this all too well. Legendary detective Will Dormer (Pacino) has been flown to Alaska with his partner Hap (Donovan) to solve a murder.  Seventeen-year-old Kay Connell was found murdered, and it's their job to find out who killed her.  Helping them in their efforts are the ambitious Ellie Burr (Swank) and the cocky Fred Duggar (Katt).  Will and Hap are debating how to move forward on an Internal Affairs investigation back home.  They, especially Will, have a habit of skirting the law to nab their suspects. ...

 1/4 Starring: Isabelle Huppert, Benoit Magimel, Annie Girardot Rated R for Aberrant Sexuality including Violence, and for Language For most people, when they hear "art film," their radar goes up.  They think of emotionally sterile movies with incomprehensible dialogue, lots of long takes of actors staring off into space, and so on.  It's largely untrue.  There are plenty of "art house" movies that can be enjoyed by the multiplex crowd if distributors took a chance (" Brotherhood of the Wolf ," my favorite movie of all time, is an excellent example).  There are, of course, movies where the stereotype of the movie applies.  Such as "The Piano Teacher." Any stereotype of arthouse movies that you can think of applies to "The Piano Teacher."  It is dry.  It is dense.  It is without any sort of action or humor.  It is also so emotionally inert that watching it is an endurance test.  There are some things worthy of praise to be found here...

 2.5/4 Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, Nigel Hawthorne Rated R for Non-Stop Action Violence, and for Strong Language Despite the sky high testosterone levels of Stallone and Snipes, "Demolition Man" works better as a comedy.  Oh there's a lot of action, all right.  It's just that everything is played tongue-in-cheek.    In fact, in many ways it's a satire of the movies that the two burly stars made in their heyday. John Spartan (Stallone) is a man on a mission.  He's out to get his nemesis, a psychopathic lunatic named Simon Phoenix (Snipes), and there ain't no one who's gonna stop him.  Not his superiors, not the law, nothing.  Of course, believing that you are above the law sends you careening towards a cold reality check.  Spartan ends up cryogenically frozen alongside Phoenix with a sentence of 70 years.  At his parole hearing, the madman escapes and finds that the world of 2032 to be a very different pla...

 4/4 Starring (voices): Tsutomu Tatsumi, Ayano Shiraishi Not Rated (probable R for Images of War) Note: this is a rewrite of my original review of this film.  For the record, the original review can be found here . "Grave of the Fireflies" is absolutely devastating.  It's so emotionally wrenching that, yes, I would compare it to films such as " Saving Private Ryan " and " Schindler's List ."  That the film is animated does not lessen the brutal impact of watching this movie.  In fact, it's exactly why this film has such power. "September 21, 1945...that was the night I died."  Seita (Tatsumi) utters those words as he watches the life ebb out of his body.  He then rejoins his sister Setsuko (Shiraishi) as they journey to the next life. The film then turns the clock back about six months.  Seita is caring for his ailing mother and Setsuko as they fight to survive in the waning days of WWII.  A bombing raid kills their mother, forcing t...

 3/4 Starring: Yifei Liu, Gong Li, Tzi Ma, Donnie Yen, Yonson An, Jason Scott Lee Rated PG-13 for Sequences of Violence It goes without saying that the live action remakes of the Disney classics are entirely pointless.  The animated films still hold up well, so the decision to remake them with flesh and blood actors can only be understood as a financial decision.  Like the umpteenth entry into the MCU, these movies are less about telling stories and more about rewarding shareholders and appealing to nostalgia and name recognition.  Of them, "Mulan" is the best, but that's not saying much considering how lame the rest of them are (don't get me started on that cinematic turd that was " Aladdin "). "Mulan" works because it at least tries to be somewhat different.  Ultimately what holds it back is that it spends too much time cramming in as many moments from the original .  A good remake should take this same concept and take it into a new direction.  ...