Some actors are easy for me to believe in a historical setting while others are not. Tom Selleck falls in the hard to believe category. It’s no fault of his own. He’s not a bad actor but put him in a period piece where he’s a sharp shooting American cowboy, Matt Quigley, and I find …
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
Way late review: Moneyball
Baseball, America’s past time. That is not what the movie Moneyball (based on the best selling book of the same name by one of my favorite authors, Michael Lewis) is about. Nor is it about sabermetrics, the analysis of baseball metrics that overcomes the subjective with the objective. True, baseball and sabermetrics are key to …
Way late review: Certified Copy
I’m still processing what Certified Copy is about exactly. The film centers on a man and a woman who meet in Tuscany. From the start we’re unsure whether there is or was a romantic relationship between them or not. At times it feels as though they are antagonizing strangers. Other times they seem the closest …
Way late review: Rocky V
If Rocky IV needed to be made to save the world, as I so eloquently argued in my review, then Rocky V needs to be unmade, if not to save the world then to save some dignity for the Rocky franchise. There is so much wrong with Rocky V. I learned recently that Sylvester Stallone …
Way late review: Rocky IV
Some might say there was no need for Rocky IV to be made. Maybe. But remember, America needed Rocky IV to be made. The WORLD needed Rocky IV to be made. The US was in the midst of a cold war with the Soviet Union. Without Rocky there to remind us that good triumphs evil, …
Way late review: Midnight in Paris
When we look back on the year in movies of 2011 we might see it as a pinnacle year for nostalgia. There were numerous super hero movies that have a long history in comic books. Super 8 was nothing if not a call back to the “good old days” of the 1980’s. We even saw …
Way late review: Rocky III
Rocky is the champ. He’s defending his belt since beating Apollo Creed. He lives in a giant house, owns numerous sports cars, looks better than ever. Top of the world for Balboa in Rocky III. Yet lingering in the background is an angry fellow with long feather earrings. Mr T? No (well, kind of). B. …
Way late review: Rocky II
After the surprising success of Rocky, there had to be a second – if only for business reasons. Beyond the financials, one could argue that there was a decent reason for Rocky II to be made. Rocky and Apollo Creed left their first match in much doubt. It would be easy to believe that Creed …
Way late review: Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Wait, I thought Tim Burton killed the Ape franchise with his 2001 rendition of the classic. He didn’t succeed. I’m thankful he didn’t because Rise of the Planet of the Apes is close to a perfect sci-fi action flick. Rather than focus on the human protaganist, Rise takes a fresh approach by making the genetically …
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Way late review: Senna
Formula One racing is a mystery to many of us in the US. NASCAR dominates as they drive “stock” cars in an endless loop. Meanwhile Formula One races through twisting tracks in cars that seem like they’re one strong wind away from being blown off the track. After watching the 2011 documentary, Senna, I have …