Jeremy Pelzer/Pinewood Pictures
MOVIE REVIEW
Pressure (2015)
Most of us don’t spend our time thinking about the world’s infrastructure. We turn a button on the stove; and there is gas with which to cook dinner. “Pressure” is about the men who are on the front line of making that happen. That front line happens to be at the bottom of the ocean, where they travel in submersibles only loosely tethered to larger ships. They walk in diving suits along the sea floor to do underwater welding, if necessary. This is an amazing place to work; and the underwater setting, at the edge of human endurance, is a great place for telling an interest story. Unfortunately “Pressure” buckles.
Continue reading “Sinking Into Despair” »
MOVIE REVIEW
The Congress (2013)
57th BFI London Film Festival
A divisive entry in Cannes Director’s Fortnight back in May and now a polarizing presence at 57th BFI London Film Festival, Ari Folman’s almost dementedly ambitious film could well antagonize some viewers with its scattershot approach to a variety of 21st-century concerns, from modern culture, to science, technology, aging and more. But for its sheer audacity and willingness to approach both philosophical concepts and a bewildering animation style, I’d argue it’s a film to be dissected and admired.
Continue reading “Being Robin Wright” »
MOVIE REVIEW
The Conspirator (2011)
Claudette Barius/Roadside Attractions
Robert Redford’s “The Conspirator” suffers from some of the the same wooden, point-and-shoot didactic dramatics that characterized the Academy Award winner’s “Lions for Lambs.” Yet it offers a valuable look at an iconic historical event from a never-before-seen perspective, molded to an evocative portrait of high-society Washington D.C. on edge in the wake of the Lincoln assassination.
Continue reading “The Lincoln Lawyering” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Robin Hood (2010)
David Appleby/Universal Studios
You don’t need to see Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood” to know exactly what you’d be in for if you did. For that, one need only look to the director’s “Gladiator” and “Kingdom of Heaven,” or, failing those, any swords-and-sandals Hollywood epic set in medieval England.
The charm and underdog attitude of the bandit of Sherwood Forest and his merry men have been scrubbed out, replaced by Russell Crowe’s intensely serious visage, a glum story about unjust taxation and expertly choreographed large-scale action scenes that are anathematic to the personality-driven legend.
Continue reading “Thickheaded as Thieves” »
MOVIE REVIEW
Edge of Darkness (2010)
Melinda Sue Gordon/Warner Bros. Pictures
Revenge tragedies should be hot-blooded and cold-hearted, but "Edge of Darkness" is blanded out into something just vaguely mild. It has the curiosity value of a returning Mel Gibson — now a very strange screen presence indeed — as Boston cop Thomas Craven on the trail of his daughter's killer, but that can't hide the fact that it's a weak thriller which forgets to do much thrilling.
Continue reading “Cashing a Payback” »
MOVIE REVIEW
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Michael Muller/20th Century Fox
It’s fair to question whether the “X-Men” cinematic franchise would be remotely viable were it not for the presence of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, its bad-ass centerpiece and seemingly the only mutant more prone to kicking butt than moping. He oozes charisma in the role, snarling and pounding away at his enemies with gusto while projecting wells of anger sprung forth from deep, hidden pain.
So it’s perfectly logical that he’d serve as the focal point of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” the first spin-off. The film, directed by Gavin Hood from a screenplay by David Benioff and Skip Woods, reveals the tumultuous, century-spanning back story that led Wolverine (née James Logan) to Prof. Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his team. It begins with the defining traumatic event of his childhood, spans the major American wars, incorporates his brief time working on an illicit operation spearheaded by William Stryker (Danny Huston) and culminates with his quest for blood years later, after Victor Creed/Sabertooth (Liev Schreiber) murders Kayla Silverfox (Lynn Collins).
Continue reading “Stalked in the Forest, Too Close to Hide” »