“We know where Barack and Michelle are heading. We know what this spark is going to turn into. For me, that spark, that idea, it gave the story a richness that a fictionalized love story maybe couldn’t have had.”

There is no letup to Don’t Breathe’s second half, the whole thing a white knuckle train of bloodshed that just gets more disturbing and destructive as things go on. It all culminates in a series of captures and escapes that are bone crunching in their primeval intensity, the level of agitation attained throughout the final minutes extraordinary.

Frustrating Hands of Stone Pulls Its Punches Spanning the years between 1964 and 1983, Hands of Stone is a boxing biopic that chronicles the life of Panamanian icon Roberto Durán (Edgar Ramírez), primarily focusing on his relationship with legendary American trainer Ray Arcel (Robert De Niro). It also makes an attempt to take a snapshot […]

If the emotional component didn’t end up feeling so forced, so fake, McConaughey’s performance alone would likely be enough for me to want to cut The Sea of Trees some slack. But it is, there’s just no denying it, and as such, as much as I don’t think Van Sant’s latest deserves all the hate, that doesn’t mean I can send much in the way of love its direction, either.

Here’s hoping those predisposed to stay away because the “Obama” name is associated with Southside with You have second thoughts as far as those are concerned; they might just be surprised to discover just how blissfully entertaining this particular story ends up proving to be.

Disorder is a powerhouse of dramatic tension, the film a deeply human journey of perseverance and catharsis I almost didn’t want to see come to an end.

Let’s Be Evil builds to an unsatisfying conclusion that is neither scary nor shocking, only perfunctorily anticipated, frustrating me to no end because the potential for something far more interesting and disquieting was there.

“I think people will be very surprised by the film, about the genre they think that they know. There is so much depth and layering to the story yet at the same time it is completely entertaining. It doesn’t hit you over the head, message-wise, but at the same time you’ll get a taste of a lot of provocative thoughts and ideas; how we view the world and ourselves in it, how we treat one another in it. It’s all there and more.”

This new version of Ben-Hur is consistently at war with itself, a tonal nightmare of didactic faith-based melodramatic drivel coupled with over-edited, nonsensical action poppycock that helps make the movie nothing short of an out-and-out disaster.