The Brooklyn Heist
Amusing heist film about three separate teams of crooks (the “Amateurs”, the “Moolies” and the “Sputniks”) who all just happen to rob a local pawn shop owner of her safe, on the same night. Debut feature from director Julian M. Kheel is an utterly original and stylish comedy which uses 3 different film styles to […]
Flash of Genius
Biopic of how Robert Kearns, the man who invented the intermittent windshield wiper, went up against the Ford Motor Company for stealing his idea. David and Goliath story presents its tale competently, but it’s hard not to feel like we’ve seen this many times before. Our protagonist never gives up, regardless of the consequences or […]
Fast and Furious
Fugitive ex-con seeks revenge after his girlfriend is murdered. Fourth film in The Fast and the Furious series reunites stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. That’s a good thing. Unfortunately, despite several exciting car chases, this hackneyed action film is beset with useless dialogue and a weak plot having to do with drug-smuggling nonsense. The […]
Adventureland
Coming-of-age drama set in the summer of 1987 about a hapless college graduate who must take a depressing job at a local amusement park. Joyless period film from the director of Superbad was marketed as a comedy, but it’s actually quite serious in tone. Actor Jesse Eisenberg’s sad sack of a hero is clearly modeled after […]
The Boys from Brazil
Far fetched, but compelling thriller, is based on the novel by Ira Levin about an aging Nazi hunter who uncovers a diabolical plot orchestrated by Nazi death-camp doctor, Josef Mengele. Seeing Laurence Olivier in an Oscar nominated role and Gregory Peck cast against type, is fun and they are surrounded by a solid cast. Well […]
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
DreamWorks rips off The Lion King this time, but instead of warmth and humor, the storyline is replaced with 90 minutes of headache inducing pop culture shtick. That irritating old woman from the first film gets an even bigger part as the de facto leader of a group of stranded tourists. Nevertheless this was one of […]
Sunshine Cleaning
A single mother becomes an entrepreneur when she starts her own crime-scene clean-up business. Quirky drama is an occasionally amusing slice of life about a woman down on her luck in life and love. Nice performances from Amy Adams and Emily Blunt make up for the rather uninvolving and listless story.