Movie Muse

It had been 12 years since John McClane (Bruce Willis) last stopped a criminal mastermind’s mass terrorist plot and “Live Free or Die Hard” tries to make up for every single one of them. John drives three pedestrian cars, a police car, a mack truck and flies a helicopter; he survives at least three long-distance falls and outruns two or three explosions; he saves two lives (including someone close to him) and kills at least a dozen. Well, that last bit was at least expected. Read the rest of this entry »

“Chocolat” sounds like a gooey foreign love story, but it’s actually a fable with classic story archetypes and a hint of magic, all of which finishes pleasantly with a tender morsel — err, moral.

It’s about as sophisticated as chocolate, which is not very sophisticated, so “Chocolat” is as easily digested as it is open to criticism for a lack of heady drama. Nominated for five Oscars, one would think it dwells in intellectual territory, but “Chocolat” comes from the heart — and possibly the stomach. “The Cider House Rules” director Lasse Hallstrom sees these charms and wisely makes them the focal point of this likable film. Read the rest of this entry »

“Brothers” boasts great dramatic prowess and a trio of talented actors in their prime. The only thing missing is originality. The family drama caused by a father leaving his wife and kids as he’s deployed to Afghanistan coupled with the terrors of post-traumatic stress disorder are – - as insensitive as it feels to say — nothing new, at least to the world of film. Read the rest of this entry »

When a zombie film gets a sequel, the assumption is that the producers are looking for ways to make more guts, gore and money. But “28 Weeks Later” is just as sharp as its predecessor in nearly every way, primarily in continuing the sci-fi post-apocalyptic elements that have clearly been thought out and made believable as they were with “28 Days Later.” Read the rest of this entry »

There are countless ways to interpret a comic series for the big screen, not including story. “The Losers” could’ve been done as a straight-up action film about a team of black ops soldiers getting revenge on the man who left them for dead, but director Sylvain White opts to honor the source material with an equally slick production. Although it fattens the film up with action movie clichés, it gels with the tone of the script and the carefree romp that is “The Losers.” More importantly, it passes fun action movie rule number one: acknowledge your film is nothing more than a fun action movie. Read the rest of this entry »

Wonder where on earth the idea for “Dinner for Schmucks” came from? Well, it’s this little French farce called “Le Diner de Cons” a.k.a. “The Dinner Game.” The two films are far different from one another based on having seen this film and the trailers for “Schmucks,” but both revolve around a business dinner where men bring idiots to be made fun of. Here is my review of the late ’90s comedy. To help you understand, the character of Francois will be Steve Carell’s character in tomorrow’s film and Pierre will be Paul Rudd. Read the rest of this entry »

As strange as the title “Hot Tub Time Machine” might seem, it oddly fits this movie. You can only expect so much from a flick that has two nouns in the title that are as seemingly opposite as “hot tub” and “time machine.” It’s the kind of title that says “I’m not going to make sense, but who doesn’t love hot tubs or time machines?” It’s a silly, mindless film that revels in time travel jokes and an assortment of gags related to the discrepancy between being middle-aged now and being a 20-something in the ’80s. It’s the kind of pure sugar fun you need to be in the mood for. Read the rest of this entry »

Few classic era film directors did comedy better than Frank Capra, if any. The over-the-top ridiculous dark comedy farce “Arsenic and Old Lace” is not the three-time Oscar winner’s usual cup of tea (there’s an inherent lack of romance), but he captures the adaptation of the play with a sense of humor that’s critical for a story so ridiculous. Read the rest of this entry »

According to his friends and himself, Kirk (Jay Baruchel) is a five out of ten on a scale of general sex appeal. Funny, because that’s the exact score I give this film. Kirk’s a decent enough guy. A bit scrawny, has some self-esteem issues, but he’s funny at times, genuine and often charming. I don’t know about those negatives, but the positives could also be said about “She’s Out of My League.” Read the rest of this entry »

Not often does an Oscar winner for leading actor or actress dominate the entire picture through and through. Everything in “Gandhi” gravitates around Ben Kingsley in the role of a lifetime, or quite simply: the role he was born to play. Mahatma Gandhi’s story is about the power of one influencing the power of millions. Richard Attenborough’s film aspires to spread that message in this fascinating three-hour biopic about the strength and willpower of the human spirit. Read the rest of this entry »

When Tim Burton and Disney present you a pretty little 3-D film with a tag on it that says “Watch Me,” you’re likely to indulge. The prospect of one of the finest fantasy directors (who’s a bit mad himself) creating the beloved and colorful world of Lewis Carroll’s classic children’s tales in the era of CGI and 3-D seems flawless. Yet somehow, the magic factor does not find its way where it is needed most: the story. Read the rest of this entry »

“True Romance” blossoms on a lot of levels, but it most distinctively bears the mark of an early Quentin Tarantino film. The scene dynamics and the way it plays beautifully in and out of turning points are all early signs of the would-be master at work. Released the year between “Resevoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction,” “True Romance” doesn’t carry his directorial signature, but it reeks of Tarantino in all the right ways and compares favorably with those two early ’90s crime thrillers. Read the rest of this entry »

It will always remain a mystery as to what took so long for just a good old computer animation version of a Dr. Seuss story. “The Grinch” and “The Cat in the Hat” had their entertainment value, but the confines of the real world simply don’t reflect the towering imagination of one Mr. Theodor Geisel. “Horton Hears a Who!” conveys that spirit of wacky yet message-driven entertainment. Read the rest of this entry »

With “Black Dynamite,” it’s pretty simple: what you see is what you get. Blaxploitation at its finest, the film attempts to rediscover, through means of both tribute and satire, an oft-forgotten genre of the 1970s. Drug-dealing, flashy clothes, afros, kung fu and a soundtrack layered with wah-wah pedal all contribute to flawless period re-creation. Quite simply, “Black Dynamite” provides a nice care-free jaunt to an odd corner of movie history. Read the rest of this entry »

Crack open the mind of filmmaker Terry Gilliam and you’re likely to find something akin to the imagination world inside the mirror in his film “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” Known for surrealism, candy-coated visuals and deliberately hacking at all that stands for common sense, Gilliam applies these trademarks to the kind of film where they belong most: in a fairytale fantasy. Read the rest of this entry »