I’m watching the 1996 film Chain Reaction, starring a young Keanu Reeves and while it’s not too bad as an actioner, there’s a trope that appears in the film that drives me crazy. What’s worse, it happens over and over again in even otherwise decent films: the hero’s in trouble, their photo shows up on TV, and they run, propelling the story forward. And then won’t adopt even the most meager disguise. What the deuce?Read More
Review: Oz: The Great and Powerful
There’s a special place in cinematic history for the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz with its groundbreaking use of color, terrific visual effects and prototypical hero’s journey, wherein little Dorothy (Judy Garland) has to travel through a strange land to find her way back home to Aunty Em (Clara Blandick) and their farmhouse in Kansas. But truth be told, it’s also quite a frightening film too, with lots of dark imagery and scary creatures,…Read More
Review: The Bourne Legacy
The Bourne trilogy (Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum) is one of the most dynamic action thrillers in the history of cinema, with Jason portrayed by Matt Damon in the career-defining role of the everyman who finds he’s been programmed by the CIA to be a deadly assassin. The third film ends with Bourne lured out of hiding by reporter Simon Ross (Paddy Considine) promising to write an exposé on Project Treadstone, the CIA…Read More
Review: The Lovely Bones
When someone is murdered, their spirit lingers on, observing and trying to influence the course of justice, a ghost seeking revenge or simply to experience the karmic balance that we hope will transpire. But what of the ghost during this period of time, what’s their experience and what if there is no peace, no justice, nothing but someone who refuses to let go, who refuses to accept that they have died? That’s the basic story…Read More
Review: The Brothers Bloom
I’m not sure if I am going to have my film reviewers membership card yanked for saying this, but The Brothers Bloom was one of the most delightful, entertaining films I have seen so far this year. That’s right, no complaints, no “but…”, just a straight out positive review of a film that works beautifully on so many levels. The first of these levels is that in a bold move the distribution company released a…Read More