CinemaUS Reviews

The only thing selfishly contemptible about ”Despicable Me 2”, Uni’s latest Quidditch match with Pixar, is that it’s totally lacking in the frames department. Do you get what I’m saying? If bladders could handle it, I’d suspect there’d be no complaints about watching a Terrence Malick-sized version of the film – particularly if those butter-coloured [...]

As a car in abundant supply of oil will attest, sometimes having too much liquid at your disposal will result in a vehicle blowing lots of smoke but lacking in chug. Such is the case with ”Dude, Where’s My Third Act?” Or, as it’s butchered script’s title page reads, “World War Z”. Inspired by the [...]

This film tells the story of a group of misfits who must band together to win the ultimate college competition. Outcast by the rest of the school, one leader brings a team together, practising day and night to perfect their techniques, but in the end, they must learn to trust each other and embrace change [...]

A short opening sequence involving 6 bowling pins falling towards the polished floor of a lane isn’t, unfortunately, symbolic of what’s ahead in “Rapture-Palooza” – unless, of course, the pre-credits bowling score is suggestive of director Paul Middleditch striking out big time! The latest in a string of end-of-times flicks – a roster that also [...]

If Vince Vaughn’s as good as a salesman in real life as he is in his latest movie, I’m not surprised Fox agreed to empty their pockets to make “The Internship” – the guy he plays in this elongated company training video could sell a poop-smeared dial-up modem to a PHP programmer (note : that [...]

Not since Morgan Creek slapped Kevin Costner in a pair of emerald slacks have their been so many fairies gathered in a cinematic forest – not that that’s really going to get the film’s I-want-it-and-I-want-it-know, pre-school aged audience to pick Epic as it’s next subject of tantrum. Honestly, the whole business proposal behind 20th Century [...]

For some reason Hollywood has been enamored of light about films dealing with the end of life on Earth as we know it. Earlier this year we had “Oblivion.” Later this summer we’ll get “Elysium.” And this week we get Big Willie and his little boy in “After Earth.” As the story begins we learn [...]

There’s something attractive about the illusion of magic. From a simple card trick to making an elephant disappear, when it’s done right it’s a delight to see. Which makes me happy to report that the new film, “Now You See Me,” is certainly done right. J. Daniel Atlas (Eisenberg) is a fast talking, playing card [...]

The “Fast and the Furious” franchise reminds me of shy kid at the start of a school year. They start off rather quiet, displaying their talents in short spurts, but as time passes, and knowledge and recognition kicks in, the park-brake comes off and we’re treated to a unabashed showcase of cocksure shenanigans so ridiculous, [...]

You only need to have seen one “Hangover” film to know the formula of this series: Bachelor party. Memory loss. Retrace steps of crazy drunken night. Solve a mystery like some sort of frat version of the Scooby gang. But in this third (and potentially final) film by director Todd Phillips, the story manages to [...]

The very concept of a small budget comedy by Michael Bay sounds like a big studio action adventure by Ken Loach. But within minutes you know you’re firmly in the grip of Bay’s unique vision no matter how many millions he’s saving on special effects. The bikinis are tiny, the muscles are huge and the [...]

When I was in middle/high school (mid 1970s – yes, I’m old) there were several books we were required to read, among them “The Old Man and The Sea,” “To Kill a Mockingbird” and “The Great Gatsby.” Though they had all been made into films, because there was no home video I actually had to [...]

Even by the mid 19990s, years before the current Twilight-inspired vampire craze, we could have asked ourselves whether cinema’s most over-represented monster had run its course. We’d already had dozens of films about them, from the purist approach (”Bram Stoker’s Dracula”, 1992) to Gen X partygoers (”The Lost Boys”, 1987), and sci-fi (”Lifeforce”, 1985) to [...]

Halle Berry offers up the muscle in WWE Films’ latest release, a non Wrestler-headlined thriller that rejigs the old “Play Misty for Me”/”Talk Radio” template and interlaces it with the kind of heavy-volumed teen-friendly thrill sequences most of the successful popcorn thrillers embody. Halle Berry, in one of her better parts in a while (her [...]

He knows how to pick the prettiest postcard on the rack, just isn’t sure what to write on it. Terrence Malick’s companion piece to “Tree of Life”, structured and in the much the same way as this, is a visually strong and breathtaking beautiful movie – like the 2011 film – that will have film [...]