by Jeff Schultz Check out Stormy’s and my reviews of the first one. Same applies here. It’s another winner, and for the same reasons. What we get is a slight advancing of the original, with jolting variations on the first one’s scariest element: the torture killings. Here, be they by fire, by ice, by beasts … Continue reading SINISTER 2
Month: August 2015
AMERICAN ULTRA
by Alan Yudman No AMERICAN ULTRA is not a new campaign to tell everyone how star spangled awesome America is (tip of the cap to Aaron Sorkin and “The Newsroom”). It is a sleeper CIA program that has been mothballed. One arm of it involved taking at risk youth and turning them in to sleeper … Continue reading AMERICAN ULTRA
THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
by Alan Yudman I recently watched an episode of the 1960’s TV spy show THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. I had fond memories. I think that’s why memory is unreliable. The TV show was kinda campy and kinda awful. So when I went to the theater to see the big screen adaptation, I was unencumbered by … Continue reading THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.
STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
by Alan Yudman I recently had a fairly intense discussion about rap music with someone on Facebook. His contention was that it is not music and that anyone who listens to it is an idiot. His argument was mainly about the violence and foul language that make up the lyrics. I argued that he may … Continue reading STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE
by Jeff Schultz Totally sweet, lovingly made, this British Claymation feature is of course in the Wallace & Gromit vein: it comes from Nick Park’s Aardman Animations. It’s so lighthearted and delightful that when the inevitable moment-of-true-peril comes, while you might feel silly for feeling upset and involved, you still will. This movie could be … Continue reading SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE
THE GIFT
by Jeff Schultz Jason Bateman is truly a protean actor. He can give an incandescent performance in a comedy that all but blinds his co-stars (SMOKIN' ACES), then find quiet dramatic power, as here, in a movie that takes a sharp turn halfway through, allowing us to watch Bateman steadily morph into the person the … Continue reading THE GIFT
THE END OF THE TOUR
by Alan Yudman David Foster Wallace. The brilliant, troubled and now deceased writer won acclaim for changing the voice of American writing. And it only took him 46 years to do it before taking his own life because of inescapable depression. Back when his novel, “Infinite Jest” was published another writer thought there would be … Continue reading THE END OF THE TOUR
RICKI AND THE FLASH
by Alan Yudman Diablo Cody showed such promise. Heck, she even fulfilled it. Winning an Oscar for best screenplay for JUNO. She showed similar talent with the biting YOUNG ADULT. So, if there is anything such as a “paycheck” movie for a screenwriter, RICKI AND THE FLASH fits the bill. Meryl Streep is aging wanna-be … Continue reading RICKI AND THE FLASH
BOJACK HORSEMAN – Season 2
This second time around, the season does not end with a punch to the gut. But by the time we get to its tenuous, hope-inflected sign-off we’ve watched 12 episodes in which the characters have become so enriched and “fleshed out”, it’s almost beside the point that it’s animated. Except, of course, for the wonderful … Continue reading BOJACK HORSEMAN – Season 2
TRAINWRECK
Stop me if you've heard this one. "Loveable" loser coasts through life with no responsibility and no consideration for others. They meet someone who's the complete opposite, realize they like them, has some personal setbacks, decides to be a better person, and lives happily ever after. That's TRAINWRECK...which is less funny than this review. Why … Continue reading TRAINWRECK
Hollywood and whine 