Boardwalk Empire (2013)

Boardwalk Empire Season 4, Episode 12: ‘Farewell Daddy Blues’ was a powerful and well-constructed season ‘closer’, with the near-operatic death of one particular character actually making me pause to see if that was ACTUALLY a feeling of ‘choked up’ that I was maybe kinda sorta feeling (it was). HBO knows their shit and I highly […]

Dead Bang (1989)

Ok, Dear Reader…it’s Confession Time. For the last little while, I’ve been maybe, kinda, sorta a lil bit addicted to ‘Miami Vice’. That’s right…’Miami Vice’, the vapid, cheese-smothered yet strangely ground-breaking TV series that ran from ’84-’90, and pretty much defined the mid-late 80s. As a kid, my folks, terrific people that they are, did […]

Europa Report (2013)

Well, that WAS impressive. Again, a lack of forewarning, foreshadowing, fore…something or another, served me well. The first and really only things that I had heard, in advance, was that this low-budget ‘found footage’ story of a doomed mission to one of Jupiter’s moons (guess which one) was a curious sideproject for South African actor […]

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

This sequel to the 2011 ‘surprise hit’ original is a good follow-up, but suffers from not being anywhere near as concise as it could’ve/should’ve been. It seems to me that director Alan Taylor, on his first foray into movies after a lengthy and distinguished career directing for companies like HBO, is more comfortable helming portions […]

Ender’s Game (2013)

Interesting. I don’t think that I’ve ever had it happen where I’m about equally ‘Meh’ about a film adaptation as I am about the original source material. For a good chunk of time, I’d heard about Bigoted Asshole Orson Scott Card’s ‘epic’ sci-fi book series, with the first novel ‘Ender’s Game’ being hailed as some […]

The Counselor (2013)

Amazing. (Shakes head slowly…and sadly). Fellow Cinephiles! The Day has come! The Day in which I must acknowledge that one of my absolutely favorite directors, Sir Ridley Scott, has FINALLY shat out a legitimately BAD movie. Up until this point, G.I.Jane (1997) was easily Scott’s worst flick (in my humble opinion), but this one has […]

The Fury (1978)

I’m an admiring fan of Brian DePalma, and have seen many of his flicks. THE GREAT: ‘Carrie’ (1976), ‘The Untouchables’ (1987), ‘Carlito’s Way’ (1993), THE GOOD: ‘Mission Impossible (1996), ‘Snake Eyes’ (1998). THE NOT SO GOOD: ‘Mission to Mars’ (2000),’The Black Dahlia’ (2006), among others. Somewhere along the way, this particular flick never registered with […]

Captain Phillips (2013)

I can’t help but to think that Tom Hanks has easily proven himself now as one of the most diverse and interesting actors around. This ‘based on a true story’ drama is just another ‘notch in the belt’; further evidence of his skill and conviction to bringing his characters to effective life. He’s terrific here, […]

This is The End (2013)

Damn…even as I write this…I’m still chuckling. This celebrity-stoner fever dream is hilarious, pretty much from beginning to end. At least…I think so. Co-written and co-directed by Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express), this is one of the slickest ‘comedy sketch-blown-to-movie size’ flicks I’ve ever seen. One of the key assets of this gory comedy is the […]

Gravity (2013)

Right out of the gate, it must be said that ‘Gravity’ is a stunningly beautiful film. Director Alphonso Cuaron (Children of Men) proves once again that he is essentially Michael Bay’s intellectual nemesis, seeing as how they occupy opposite ends of the ‘film-making talent’ spectrum (HACK———-VISIONARY). Cuaron has gained a notable reputation as a very […]