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Katniss Everdeen and company are back with THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE. With this second installment in the YA franchise, now helmed by Frances Lawrence and written by Simon Beaufoy and Michael deBruyn, we catch up with the 74th Hunger Games victors, Katniss and Peeta on their return home to District 12. Panem is an even darker and more oppressive country than before the Games. The ever malevolent President Snow is less than pleased with the victorious tie between Katniss and Peeta thanks...
With BEST NIGHT EVER, co-writers/directors Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, take us on a bachelorette party road trip to Las Vegas under the guise that “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”. Or does it? Vacillating between laugh-out-loud funny and “WTF?”, BEST NIGHT EVER feels original and fresh in certain instances, but then repeatedly falls into hackneyed, poorly mimicked skits from other ventures. Bride-to-be Claire is being feted to a Las Vegas bachelorette party by her sister, Leslie,...
Relationships are never easy and neither are movies about relationships. In THAT AWKWARD MOMENT, writer/director Tom Gormican focuses on three male 20-something best friends navigating the course of sex, love and relationships in 2014. Although falling into some genre tropes and cliche, Gormican keeps the ship of love steady as it treads through some rocky waters predicated on the relationship “So???” question (So, are we a couple? So, are we planning a future? So....). A constant buoy is the...
Written and directed by first-time director Herschel Faber, CAVEMEN boasts some entertaining and emotionally arced performances by Skylar Astin, Chad Michael Murray, Kenny Wormald and the lone gal in the group, Camilla Belle (look, she faced off with baby Velociraptors in "The Lost World", I think she can hold her own with the guys), but its strongest suit is its cinematography and technical excellence. Dean is a struggling screenwriter. Jay is a wannabe actor and prides himself on screwing a...
Take one look at the purity of a magically light, bright and ethereal fountain scene in AT MIDDLETON and you immediately know how love feels, or should feel; how bliss and joy feel, or should feel. Take one look at Andy Garcia’s face in the car or hear the sweet sadness in his voice as his character George and son Conrad “take the long way home” so the beauty of a day can linger a bit longer and that also tells you not only how love and bliss feel, but also heartbreak. One look at the wisp...
For many of us who grew up in or were familiar with the tri-state area encompassing the Delaware Valley of Philadelphia north into New York/Newark, New Jersey and southeast into Delaware, the 1980's was a tumultuous time for not only national and international news, but local news as well. One of those news stories that stuck with me for decades originated out of New Jersey surrounding Kathy DiFiore. For those unfamiliar with DiFiore's story, she is the founder of Several Sources Shelters, a...
I am in awe of THE INVISIBLE WOMAN. Directed by Ralph Fiennes and written by Abi Morgan based on Claire Tomalin's book, THE INVISIBLE WOMAN is the story of Charles Dickens and Nelly Ternan, a much younger woman who becomes mistress to the much married Dickens, in a love story for the ages. An intensely enlivened multiple character study that speaks not only to character but character within the confines of socio-politcal mores of the day, while much of the film is quiet introspection, Fiennes...
Thank you director Peter Segal, Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro, Jon Bernthal and Kevin Hart for giving me a great Christmas present with GRUDGE MATCH. The fictional story of former boxers Henry "Razor" Sharp and Billy "The Kid" McDonnen, Razor and The Kid haven't spoken in 30 years. Each winning hotly contested bouts against the other with a third match set to "break the tie", on the eve of the final bout, Razor abruptly throws in the towel, announcing not only his retirement from the...
One of the great strengths of THE LEGEND OF HERCULES lies in the story origins and bringing in Sean Hood and Daniel Giat as screenwriters, tapping into Hood’s experience with mythology and reimagination with films like “Conan the Barbarian” (2011). The other is having Renny Harlin direct. The mythology of Hercules is a centuries old favorite and one of the most enduring legends. Hollywood has long ago embraced its wonder as it provides ample fuel for fantasy and visual mastery of techn...
Thanks to a special double feature of fun next week (not to mention some strict review embargoes currently in place), I start off the first full week of 2014 with an early review of REASONABLE DOUBT, a riveting legal thriller starring Samuel L. Jackson and Dominic Cooper that is available now on VOD and in theatres next week, plus, THE TRUTH ABOUT EMANUEL, the sophomore directorial efforts of a keenly executed psychological coming-of-age thriller compliments of writer/director Francesca...
THE BOOK THIEF has stolen my heart. To describe the film in a word, it's quite simply, MAGNIFICENT. Adapted from the 2005 best-selling novel of the same name by Markus Zusak (a book that remained on The New York times best-seller list for almost seven years), THE BOOK THIEF is the story of Liesel, a young German girl shipped off to live with foster parents just prior to the onset of WWII. Taken away from her mother due to the changing political and ethnic cleansing being implemented as Hitler...
There couldn't be a more appropriate film to hit theatres this Thanksgiving weekend than HOMEFRONT. Based on Chuck Logan's best selling novel, HOMEFRONT is rooted in hearth and home. Adapted for the screen by Sylvester Stallone, HOMEFRONT boasts a stellar cast, performances that go through the roof and a perfect blend of action and emotion, all expertly choreographed by director Gary Fleder. Led by Jason Statham and James Franco, each performance is as superb as the next, particularly when it...
In his sophomore outing with OUT OF THE FURNACE, writer/director Scott Cooper proves that he is no "flash in the directorial pan." Facing the daunting task of at least equaling, if not surpassing, the excellence of his award winning debut feature "Crazy Heart", Cooper pulls no punches, delivering a prosaically melancholy tale of hearth, home and the ties that bind. Set in the Rust Belt region of the United States outside Pittsburgh in Braddock, Pennsylvania, Cooper again embraces the...
Amidst all the early awards hoopla and limited release of some “big” movies, this week I direct your attention to a very special indie film - HOURS. Written and directed by Eric Heisserer, who here makes his directorial debut, HOURS is also one of the final films of Paul Walker and the one of which he was most proud. Close to Walker’s heart, his passion and dedication to the story results in a tour de force performance that makes his recent passing all the more poignant, as with HOURS we see t...
The literary world first met young Ender Wiggins back in 1977 when he appeared as the protagonist in a short story written by Orson Scott Card. This was the story of a young boy named Ender set centuries into the future in a world that had fought, and barely defeated, an alien race known as "Buggers" (changed to "Formics" in later writings). In order to prepare for anticipated future battles with the Buggers, the best and the brightest children were taken from their families and shipped off to...
Opening for FROZEN is the latest animated short from Disney and this is unlike anything you've ever seen. And yes, just hand director Lauren MacMullan (who holds the title of being the first female director to direct a film for WDAS solo) now for GET A HORSE. A perfect hybrid of hand-drawn 2D animation and CG, set to a 3D format, this is the stuff for which 3D (and Disney dreams) was made. Working off original 1928 black & white renderings of Mickey Mouse and company, MacMullan and her artisans...
Most of us are familiar with the story of CARRIE; be it through Stephen King’s novel or the classic 1976 Brian de Palma film starring Sissy Spacek, complete with the now iconic blood-drenched imagery etched into our collective consciousness. Such a classic, it begs the question: Why? Why a new version? Why a remake? Why a reimagination? The answer is because this new 2013 CARRIE from director Kimberly Peirce is just that - a reimagination that harkens back to the original source material - K...
An exploration into sibling relationships set in a world of life on the wrong side of the tracks comes to us compliments of real-life brothers, Alan and Gabriel Polsky, who make their feature co-directorial debut with THE MOTEL LIFE. Although losing some depth and gravitas due to a scantily developed backstory, the emotional strength of the film is buoyed by a superlative performance by Emile Hirsch buttressed with perhaps the most potent work we've ever seen from Stephen Dorff. Frank and his...
Sadly, the timing of release of 12-12-12 couldn't be more appropriate in light of the recent devastation in the Philippines. As we reflect on one disaster and take pride in the generosity of America and the world in helping with that recovery, we are collectively faced with yet another that requires even more global attention. Mere weeks after Superstorm Sandy devastated the Northeast coastlines of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, a six-hour concert/telethon was put together by the Robin Ho...
Classic! Classic action. Classic one-liners. Classic buddies. Classic action. ESCAPE PLAN is everything that we love about classic action movies and the genres high gods, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. And while I am the first one to admit to emotionally orgasmic fun with the Expendables crew, it's about time these two classic action legends join forces together one-on-one and eschew the scenery, muscle to muscle. It's action, story and stars like this that catapulted action to...
Who hasn't heard of The Mustang Ranch? The most famous brothel in the United States, the Mustang Ranch stood proudly for decades in the Nevada desert catering to a diverse clientele base, including crews of many famous Hollywood westerns. Several years ago, Helen Mirren and Joe Pesci brought to life a fictionalized version of the Mustang Ranch story and its owners Sally and Joe Conforte in the Taylor Hackford directed Love Ranch. In Love Ranch, many moviegoers learned for the first time of the...
Just say “hell yes” to HELLBENDERS 3D!! Beyond entertaining and filled with laughs, HELLBENDERS 3D is the tale of the most unlikely bunch of exorcists on the planet - The Brooklyn Order of the Augustine Interfaith Order of Hellbound Saints aka HELLBENDERS. What makes them so special is that beyond their elite exorcism training they do what no others do - live in perpetual debauchery, madness and mayhem, ready to go to Hell on a moment’s notice. After all, what better way to lure the Devil and h...
With well over 150 adaptations and imaginations of what is perhaps Shakespeare’s most famous, and definitely most adapted, work on screen, director Carlo Carlei’s new ROMEO & JULIET is, in a word, masterful. Bringing the grandeur and majesty of Shakespeare and the legendary story of star-crossed love to life in this luminous version, is nothing short of golden - - as in Oscar gold. Having seen well over 100 incarnations of the story, including shorts that showcase only specific scenes, this ROM...
Continuing on our countdown to Halloween, this week brings us an honest to goodness, goosebump inducing, arm & neck hairs standing on end, thrills & chills fright that even had me jumping a bit with those noises and sudden haunting whispers. A good old fashioned haunted house ghost story with a twist, HAUNTER is hauntingly chilling. Showcasing everyone's favorite "Little Miss Sunshine", Abigail Breslin, with a performance that calls for depth, emotion and carrying 90% of the on-screen scenes,...
It’s been a long time coming, but good things come to those who wait, and DON JON is definitely a good thing. We’ve watched Joseph Gordon-Levitt transform from the young Tommy Solomon on “3rd Rock from the Sun” into a first-rate film actor with stellar turns in films like “50/50", “Hesher”, “Inception” and “The Dark Knight Rises”. For the past few years, Gordon-Levitt has also transitioned into filmmaking with HitRECord, a collaborative cooperative where artists of all kinds are invited to...
