The opening sequence of SKYFALL is a mind-boggling, ass-kicking, death-defying Rube Goldberg variation involving a speeding car, chasing a speeding train, carrying a giant front loader, with 007 and his nemesis-of-the-moment locked in combat and dangling by their fingertips, heading for an overpass, with a sniper looking to take one of them out! I nearly [...]
The silly season is over. Now it’s time for some serious fun—and that means FALL MOVIES with Oscar in mind. Here's what I can't wait to see! (Check out the link to my article on Page 68 of EXHALE Magazine!) ARGO is directed by and stars Boston's own Ben Affleck! (I recently chatted [...]
If you missed Matthew McConaughey in MAGIC MIKE one of the best films this summer, look for him at Oscar time. Now, a few words about a few flicks still out there as the season slips away: THE BOURNE LEGACY-- Jeremy Renner is no Matt Damon, and can only go through the motions --which are [...]
Though I saw TOTAL RECALL a mere 48 hours ago, my recollection of it is less than total. I do remember Kate Beckinsale and Jessica Biel walloping the daylights out of each other. And, as is usually the case in these sorts of action thrillers, neither of them so much as dislodges her lip gloss-- [...]
It's the movie we've been waiting for all summer: THE DARK KNIGHT RISES is the stunning culmination of writer/director Christopher Nolan's BATMAN trilogy. Once again, Christian Bale is perfect as the magnetic and mysterious Bruce Wayne, millionaire orphan hero who finds his identity behind a mask, avenging the random torments humanity is heir to. His [...]
I sat down to write my review of the most anticipated movie of the summer, when news of people gunned down at a midnight screening of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES in Aurora, Colorado --15 miles from Columbine-- hit me like a shot. My daughter was at just such a screening last night, and the thought [...]
Within the first minute of director Oliver Stone's SAVAGES, we hear Blake Lively's character say in voice over about the man we see sexually grinding her to a pulp, that she has "orgasms," but "he has war-gasms." And we know we're off on a testosterone-fueled rampage where men are at war and women-- even when [...]
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN--a redo of Sam Raimi's 2002 SPIDER-MAN starring Tobey Maguire--is better and worse. Raimi's was a darker, more interesting and resonant film, but Andrew Garfield is my preferred Spidey. Garfield has the narrowest body on the big screen today; when he suits up, he seems barely wider than the silver filaments he casts [...]
This is a lean time of year for good films-- but THE HUNGER GAMES has put an end to the famine. It isn't perfect-- but it is perfectly cast. Jennifer Lawrence who earned considerable notice for her powerful, understated performance in 2010's WINTER'S BONE, is bound for superstardom in this futuristic thriller directed by Gary Ross, [...]
Marvel's THE AVENGERS kicks off the summer movie season May 4! But this LEAP DAY--you can see all your favorite action heroes in the new trailer starring: Robert Downey Jr, (IRON MAN), Chris Evans (CAPTAIN AMERICA), Mark Ruffalo (BRUCE BANNER), Chris Hemsworth (THOR), Scarlett Johansson (BLACK WIDOW), Jeremy Renner (HAWKEYE), Tom Hiddleston (LOKI), and [...]
