In “2 Guns,” a pair of mismatched lawmen find themselves trading bullets with bad guys and banter with each other, moving methodically towards a climax that sees nearly every character torn apart by gunfire. Does this sound interesting to you? I don’t ask ironically. This kind of plot holds an ample degree of appeal not […]
Given the media storm surrounding Ryan Coogler’s “Fruitvale Station,” which has linked the events depicted in the film to those of the recent Trayvon Martin case, you might be surprised to learn that the film doesn’t explicitly take the position that its subject, Oscar Grant, was killed because of his race. In fact, Coogler doesn’t
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It’s ironic that the creator of “Saw,” the first film in the defining franchise of the “torture porn” movement that represents everything that’s wrong with contemporary horror filmmaking, would go on to become Hollywood’s leading director of old-fashioned ghost stories that overtly reject current genre trends, but such has been the fascinating career path of
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“Pacific Rim” belongs in a better summer for movies. At a time when virtually every would-be blockbuster release is a dreary franchise entry, when what were once dazzling special effects have been whittled down into the mundane, “Pacific Rim” does something enthralling. Here we have a movie heavily inspired by existing material but not a
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With a skeletal narrative and more tepid one-off gags than you can count, “Despicable Me 2” would be indistinguishable from your average Nickelodeon cartoon episode if not for its $76 million budget, A-list voice cast, and hour-and-a-half running time. The first two components of that list are saving graces—at least the images are top-of-the-line and
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Pixar is widely considered the industry leader in computer animated films, but the studio’s immaculate image detail and inventive character design are not what earned them that position. Instead, people love Pixar more for their narrative accomplishments, that they show us things we’ve never seen before (or ever expected to see)—a balloon-powered house flying to
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I’m in a tight spot. I didn’t find “This is the End,” the new comedy made by Team Apatow without Judd Apatow’s involvement (Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg directed and produced), to be particularly funny. But most people I know and respect—and the general public, if the “B+” CinemaScore is any indication—think that the movie
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It would be difficult to tell a superhero origin story better than was done in the 1978 “Superman.” “Man of Steel” is a relentless attempt, one handled with an abundance of violence and characters but near complete lack of humanity. Before, Superman was the embodiment of decency, raised by two plainspoken, kind middle-Americans who imbued
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There’s a scene in Olivier Assayas’ recent movie “Something in the Air,” about the youth culture movements in France in the years following the sociopolitically tumultuous Summer of 1968, in which a group of filmmakers premiere their latest activist work on Laos. Its conventional essayist presentation prompts an audience member to challenge, “Shouldn’t revolutionary cinema
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“The Purge” is a high-concept thriller with a low budget and an even lower amount of thought put into its plot. There’s potential in the premise, which allows for all sorts of bloodletting, suspenseful situations, and a healthy dose of political commentary, if that’s your thing. And it is writer/director James DeMonaco’s thing, though his
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