Given that marvel movies are about guys in costumes fighting crime, it’s incredible how realistic and believable the stories are. But not only that, you have to add in Marvel’s ability to cross pollinate so many different characters stories. And they always balance out the action with a good amount of character-building dialogue. We come to love these characters and genuinely care about what they go through. Too many action movies don’t spend enough time making us interested in what happens to the people, and instead get lost in explosions and dudes punching other dudes. Read... Read More

“You’re in my place,” says a man to Simon James (Jesse Eisenberg) on the train. There are plenty of other places to sit, but the nondescript man wants Simon’s seat. Simon, being the meek man he is, gives up the seat. So opens The Double, based on the novel by Dostoyevsky. It’s a drab, mustard-colored look at identity. The setting is some kind of surrealist 1970s industrial steampunk land, and the entirety of the movie takes place in an office building, an apartment complex, and a diner. Claustrophobia galore. Read More  Read More

As a Movie, Ender’s Game Missed The Point This last weekend, the wife and I watched the movie adaptation of the beloved book by Orson Scott Card, the author who seems to have developed a habit of espousing some not-so-popular opinions over the last few years. As a pure movie (ignoring the existence of the book), it was pretty good. The special effects were great, Asa Butterfield was convincing as conflicted, complicated young hero Ender, Harrison Ford was chilling as the manipulative leader Graff, Ben Kingsley was effective as the weird guy with a crazy accent and crap tattooed all over... Read More

When Sandra Bullock won the Oscar for the The Blind Side, everyone just shrugged and said, “meh, it was a thin year”. So the idea that Sandra Bullock is a talented actress has gotten way out of hand. Her performance in this movie wasn’t enough to ruin it, but it could have been better. Not as good as one of your Chastains, Lawrences, Hathaways (see: Interstellar and Mockingjay), etc. But decent enough. Gravity is a visually stunning movie. For reals. If you’ve got a big fat 4K LCD with 37.1 Surround sound, you’re in for a treat. It will possibly melt your eyeballs,... Read More

On principle, I’m against Tom Cruise. The couch-jumping, Xenu-praising freak gets way too much attention as is. But sort of like Kanye West, Tom Cruise offstage and Tom Cruise offstage are different beasts. I thought this was going to be a dumb action movie, but the pre-release reviews were glowing. So I gave it a try. Read More  Read More