Film reviews

the final Wolfpack installment :(

Renoir deserves special praise for balancing, albeit not flawlessly, an artist’s pain and fear as he tries to capture the last bright sunrises life has to offer before his canvass is torn.  And, if nothing else, watching it definitely earned me some cultural cool points.  There is nudity aplenty in this film, so be warned if that sort of thing offends you.  But, maybe you could lighten up a bit!  Impressionist students will get that joke!

So, yea, your mom called . . . she wants a movie night for Mother’s Day!  No, seriously, she loves Kris Kristofferson.  She doesn’t care that you think he’s Whistler from Blade – to her, Kris is the bee’s knees as John Norman Howard in A Star is Born.

And while Joel Grey is immediately recognizable to you as Chiun from Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins . . . he’s done some other stuff apparently.  He co-stars opposite Liza Minnelli in another little gem from the 70′s that your mom can’t wait to experience on Blu-ray.  But, if you don’t hurry, some other mom will win the prize.

The H-Bomb: Dave (Chase Williamson) and John (Rob Mayes) were just a couple of typical, twenty-something slackers when they came upon a new mind altering drug called Soy Sauce. A pitch black goo with hair growing out of it, Soy Sauce can “open doors to other worlds” by giving its users an array of psychic powers, as well as making them able to see things normal people cannot… like strange, otherworldly creatures. Other side effects of the Sauce include turning sausages into cellphones and doorknobs into dicks… but let’s not get into that.

The movie wants to take its background from Mark Twain’s “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” but it feels more like “Winter’s Bone.” It is a complex tale told in a sly quiet way that forces itself into your mind, because you’re compelled to find out what the characters are really all about below the surface.

Pain & Gain, in theaters nationwide this Friday stars Mark Wahlberg, Tony Shaloub, Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson and Anthony Mackie in the third Michael Bay feature set in the Sunshine State.  They recently sat down for a press conference at the prestigious Mandarin Oriental in South Beach to discuss their roles and the challenges in portraying actual infamous people who committed a series of really unbelievable crimes in the mid-nineties in South Florida.

This flick contains guts and gore galore, with people getting dismembered and disemboweled in all kinds of creative ways, ways which made even me wince once or twice… that bit with the tongue and the box cutter… eew!!! I don’t know how many gallons of fake blood were used in this movie, but I’d be very surprised if it didn’t set a record. Believe me, nothing was watered or sanitized for this remake. If the original Evil Dead was too gross for you to stomach, then you don’t want to go anywhere near this new one.

Today we lost a visionary of the Film Industry; Roger Ebert, fought valiantly, but lost his battle with cancer. I wanted to take the time to thank him, and his wife Chaz, for everything they have given all of those who have ever gone to a movie as a critic, and even as a fan of cinema. Working for iRATEfims.com has afforded me many GREAT opportunities, but being able to say that I have been able to see Roger “At the Movies” is something I will always treasure and never forget.

If you don’t watch this film, at least brush off the Bill of Rights and realize that you have them.  You have a right to deny illegal detainment, illegal search and seizure and you sure as hell have a right to keep your private parts, private.  The day we let compliance over-rule freedom is the day we’re trapped in not a fantasy, but a nightmare!

Full cast of Disney's "PLANES"

If you’re a parent, then Bully is a must see.  In fact, it should be required by law that every parent, and every school age child in this country see this movie.  Like the ads for those HBO after school specials used to go, “See it with your kids, see it for your kids.”

It's FAST AND it's FURIOUS - AND LETTY IS BACK!

Commander Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) are an odd couple in this universe, with both more or less tolerating one another yet grudgingly admitting they are a fantastic team.  And from the moment the action starts, we are given a glimpse of how each views their duties.  Spock is always logical and by the book, even at great personal risk, while Kirk is always a seat-of-your-pants type leader.  This film changes those roles to a certain degree, as Kirk is betrayed by Spock and loses his command of the Enterprise.

Check out BOTH reviews - he said/she said...  They both thought it was an incredible film, worthy of an Academy Award.

If you like watching your heroes torn down, Iron Man 3 is your flick.  But of the three, I still think Iron Man is the best of the series.  Until The Avengers came out, it was my favorite comic book film from Marvel.  Still, if you are hungry for an action-packed blockbuster this May, I can’t think of a better place for your butt to be than in a seat for Iron Man Three!

Solo, the best soft drink out of Norway, has endeavored to create a spectacular cross-Atlantic voyage and this campaign is as inspiring as a real live Willy Wonka, someone will be the lucky recipient of one bottle for each nautical mile the bottle travels if they can pinpoint the exact location of landfall for this Norwegian long neck.

This is a true story, and yes it is also tragically funny.  It’s hard to explain how it made me feel, because as Michael Bay put it, “I want people to be conflicted.”  Well, that about sums up how I feel . . . conflicted.  One one hand you have a bizarre comedy about Americans that want it all without putting in the hard-work, and on the other hand you have a true crime that affected real people in the South Florida community

Heavy on Sci-Fi with a script that makes you care about the characters, Oblivion is my Sci-Fi sleeper pick of 2013 . . . so far.  In a future world, Earth is mining her last natural resources for a trip off world due to an alien invasion.

After 20 years it is still one of the best movies ever made!

Not a terrible movie, but not up to the high Hitchcock standards of excellence, and Hopkins didn't bring his best work to the role.

As far as I’m concerned, Korine is a gutter auteur of toilet bowl cinema, and I’m not exactly a fan of his. However, if there is one thing being un critic du cinema has taught me, it’s to go into every single film, even the ones I think are going to blow beaver butt, with an open mind… as doing so can periodically bring about a pleasant surprise. Such is the case with Spring Breakers. I expected to despise it, strongly, but I ended up kind of liking it.

Pulse pounding action with great special effects will make you feel like you’re in the movie and make you want to duck for cover. The script was rather simple… the White House is overrun by bad guys. The play through and character development was really good. You can get attached to the cast and will come to love or hate them accordingly, due to the background details in the story that help to build and keep the movie going.  [Thanks to Michael of Back Seat Viewer for this review]