Vanishing on 7th Street (2010)

Over the last few years, director Brad Anderson has steadily crept into my cinematic consciousness with his limited but impressive filmography. The first film of his, that I saw, was Session 9 (2001), a micro-budgeted psychological/haunting thriller that was better than it had any right to be. The next film I took in was The […]

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

Having thoroughly enjoyed J.J. Abrams rebooted take on the Trek franchise with 2009s Star Trek, I was definitely looking forward to seeing what he would pull off with an expansion of the ‘new’ universe. The man certainly has a near-Spielbergian touch when it comes to his cinematic efforts (Just take 2011s Super 8, as a […]

Jack Reacher (2012)

This Tom Cruise action thriller sort of popped in under the radar for me. I’ve never read any of author Lee Childs books dealing with a dangerous and intelligent former military police investigator and his various crime-related adventures. The one thing that did catch my eye was that this flick was to be the second […]

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Seemingly, Marvel Studios can do NEARLY no wrong. Iron Man 3 is yet another testament to the care and understanding that this new studio is putting into its admirably well-thought out series of Phase One Marvel movies (Iron Man 1-2, Thor, Captain America, The Avengers…with Iron Man 3 being the springboard for Phase Two). Now, […]

The Possession (2012)

Well, I do love me a good demonic possession/haunted house flick, and this little offering from Sam Raimis Ghosthouse Pictures qualifies nicely in both categories. The supposedly ‘based on a true’ story follows Clyde, a high school PE teacher, played with impressive depth by the ever-awesome Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen), as he and his family, […]

Killer Joe (2011)

Wow. Once again Ignorance has served me well. Hmmm….that’s a disconcerting sentence when said out loud. But in the case of Killer Joe…it’s completely accurate. I knew virtually nothing about this flick when it got its initial limited release. This film marks the return of classic film maestro William Friedkin, the man at the helm […]

Oblivion (2013)

Well, Mr. Scientology himself, Thomas Cruise Mapother IV strikes again, once more returning to the ‘hard’ sci-fi genre line-up he began with Minority Report (2002). This time around, he plays a ‘tech’ named Jack Harper, essentially a roving sentry/repairman who’s primary responsibility is to watch out for the fleet of sphere-like automated drones that patrol […]

Welcome to the Punch (2013)

Well, THAT was a pleasant surprise. I’d heard positive ‘rumblings’ about this UK-born action thriller and now that I’ve had the chance to see it…I can say that it’s one of the better action flicks I’ve seen in quite a while. The story follows Max Lewinsky, a dangerously obsessive London cop, played by Englands answer […]

Grabbers (2012)

I’d never heard of this silly Irish ‘creature-feature’ before it was mentioned by a conveniently Irish co-worker…who grew up in the area where the flick was filmed. Beyond the initial premise that he’d described, I had no idea what to expect. So…the premise goes like this: A straight-laced, by-the-book female police officer, Lisa, is temporarily […]

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Sometimes it really does pay to know exactly JACK and SHIT about a film before soaking it in. Here is a prime example of that. All I knew going in was: A) Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence were in it and B) it was a ‘darling’ on the awards circuit. So with a little persuasion, […]