While technically a step up in quality from the first film in terms of storytelling, the second entry in the somewhat unnecessary Ghost Rider franchise still manages to feel like a bit of a missed opportunity given the talent both in front of and behind the camera. A film starring Nicolas Cage and directed by the duo of Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank, Gamer) should be balls to the wall, action packed insanity. Instead, what we get is a film that feels curiously neutered in terms of content and budget.
Even dubbed into English, it’s hard to go wrong with almost any film bearing the Studio Ghibli name on it. Similarly, the much beloved children’s novel The Borrowers – written by the late Mary Norton with no fewer than four big and small screen adaptations – stands as an enduring brand in family entertainment. While only written by Ghibli head maestro Hayao Miyazaki and only somewhat faithful to Norton’s beloved source material, The Secret World of Arrietty still manages to be another solid, but slight effort from the Japanese powerhouse.
This Means War refers not only to the title of director McG’s latest romantic action-comedy, but also to the exact sentiment I felt about forty minutes into the film. Staggeringly unfunny with a masochistic mean streak, only one of the jokes in the film even manages a single actual laugh, making for an extremely long feeling 95 minute sit. Ugly, incoherent, and all around lazy as hell, this is exactly the kind of movie I feel I will be weeping about when it inevitably hits number one at the box office.
Much like similar attempts to reduce the complete works of Shakespeare into a single scant theatrical running time, the unauthorized J.K. Rowling reduction Potted Potter (now on stage until March 25th at the Panasonic Theatre in Toronto after successful runs in the UK) has the feeling of a madcap romp boiled down to a science. This cramming of all seven Harry Potter books into a 70 minute production definitely skews slightly towards a younger crowd, but the fan appeal is undeniable and the uninitiated will have a hard time erasing the ear to ear grin from their faces.
Not much of anything romantic on DVD this Valentine's Day (unless you count the family dynamic in the brilliant Take Shelter), but there are a pair of decent horror films, a drunken Johnny Depp, Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones arguing in a room for 90 minutes, and some pretty great philosophical discussions. Something for everyone! Except romantics.
To celebrate TIFF’s ongoing Bangkok Dangerous: The Cinema Of Nicolas Cage series, Alan Jones has resurrected his retrospective of the actor’s work entitled The Nic Cage Project. In this edition, Jones analyzes David Lynch's violent road trip Wild at Heart – playing tonight at the Lightbox.
Ever since Paul Greengrass’ Bourne Identity sequels, espionage movies have been about terrorism and government cover-ups, set in third world countries and filmed with shaky handheld cameras and blown out colour schemes. Safe House falls firmly into this camp, loaded with nods to dirty dealings and water boarding. It’s a fairly entertaining movie, just one that definitely feels like it’s coming out a few years too late.
When considering whether or not you want to watch Journey 2, the only question you have to ask yourself is: “Do I desperately need to see The Rock play a ukulele and bounce berries off his pecs in 3D?”
It’s simultaneously mind-boggling and easy to see why director Lynne Ramsay’s We Need to Talk About Kevin was snubbed and shut out of so many potential accolades this awards season. Despite having a stellar lead performance from actress Tilda Swinton as a mother at the end of her wits, Ramsay’s film might be looked down upon as just another genre film with a high gloss. That’s sad, since it’s one of the best and most outright terrifying bits of familial horror from last year.
This week on DVD we go nose to nose with Lady and the Tramp, shot for shot in the Texas Killing Fields, word for word with Anonymous, and puff for puff with A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas.
To celebrate TIFF’s ongoing Bangkok Dangerous: The Cinema Of Nicolas Cage series, Alan Jones has resurrected his retrospective of the actor’s work entitled The Nic Cage Project. In this edition, Jones takes on 1996′s Michael Bay-tastic The Rock – playing tonight at the Lightbox.
An underdog story both thematically and in its making, Moon Point has you rooting for the characters and filmmakers alike. Since Canadian features, particularly the independents, usually end up seen by few if any, this one should be considered a victory just by virtue of you reading about it here. Fortunately the film does succeed in that it delivers a bit of fluffy entertainment, which is all most really ask for when going to the movies.
Just one month after The Devil Inside seemingly ruined the found footage film for everyone, along comes Chronicle, a sci-fi tinged powerhouse of a movie that single-handedly saves the sub-genre to stand as quite possibly the best example of the format. Even more than the iconic Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield, Chronicle dares to tell a dark and bold story that actually feels painfully real and heartbreaking despite being somewhat of a superhero origin story.
If The Woman in Black is any indication, Daniel Radcliffe will be very savvy when it comes to choosing his post-boy wizard roles. A pitch perfect bit of period horror with menace to spare, this is exactly the kind of film that Harry Potter fans who grew up with the actor would just be starting to get into at their point in their lives. While not reinventing the wheel in any way, director James Watkins has crafted a thoroughly efficient and thrilling genre exercise that evokes favourable comparisons to the works of Wes Craven and Sam Raimi.
As his first film since The House of the Devil, The Innkeepers is horror director Ti West’s opportunity to show a winning streak, or at least an uncanny corridor. It also happens to be a chance for star Sara Paxton, often cast as that pretty blonde in really forgettable roles, to earn a new start, not unlike West himself.
