CinemaUS Reviews

I can hear the pitch: take two of the funniest people in Hollywood, put them in the same movie and put a few punch lines in the trailer. What’s the catch? Oh, it’s not a comedy. In my imagination this is how the new film “Admission” came about. While it does have its humorous moments [...]

French-Canadian comedy, “Starbuck,” is already headed for a Hollywood face-lift starring Vince Vaughn, (which I’m sure will come loaded with a U.S. title that guarantees to get that male 15-24 demographic in theater seats) but don’t let that deter you from catching the original because let’s face it, they’re usually better than their re-booted cousins. [...]

After a stint in Hollywood with the big budget “Green Hornet,” director Michel Gondry keeps it simple and returns to low budget fare in ‘The We and the I,” a film that follows a group of Bronx high schoolers on their bus ride home on the last day of school. Inspired by and starring a [...]

As “The Matrix” so pleasingly proved, sometimes all a science-fiction flick needs, in order to snare the intrigue of its audience, is a good hook; screw the giant robots and three-breasted women, give us a concept we can dig. And like the Wachowski’s high-concept ’90s classic of our previous para, “Upside Down” uses the ‘secret [...]

Young Albert (Mason Cook) is a lonely boy. He lives with his mother who works frequently, meaning he’s often home alone. One year, while celebrating his birthday (alone) he opens a present to reveal a magic kit complete with an instructional video featuring the great Rance Holloway (Alan Arkin). Albert practices the enclosed tricks and [...]

Ignoring the odd, erm, pot hole, the Yellow Brick Road has never looked so gloriously eyegasmic as it has in cinema’s latest return to Oz. Sam Raimi’s “Oz : The Great & Powerful” adds unyielding sunlit tar to the ‘Wizard of Oz’ legacy with a beautifully-looking, majestically entrancing and effortlessly-transporting escape that maximizes the full [...]

The first thing I did when I walked out of “21 and Over” was go double check the movie poster in the lobby. No, I hadn’t misread it. In big letters it proclaimed that “21 and Over” was “FROM THE WRITERS OF ‘THE HANGOVER’” I thought for a few minutes…maybe it’s the writers of the [...]

I’m perhaps amongst the rare few who was actually looking forward to seeing ‘A Good Day To Die Hard’. Also known as ‘Die Hard 5’, the fifth instalment of the once acclaimed ‘Die Hard’ franchise had many a journalist and fan-boy alike both cringe with concern (due to the wayward fourth venture ‘Live Free or [...]

If you’ve ever flown you’ve heard the great words of advice that greet you through the airport loudspeaker: “Don’t offer to carry something in your bag for someone else.” Thanks to the new film “Snitch” you can add this tip: “Don’t let your friend ship you a package, no matter how much they beg.” Jason [...]

I’m sure I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. One of the pleasures of this job is getting the chance to take a look at some of the first work a filmmaker does, especially when it’s done well. This week it was my pleasure to watch the first feature from writer/director Justin Chambers, a [...]

I can only imagine what it was like to go to a movie during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Long before television, home video and the internet you could go, uninformed, to see a movie and every now and then leave the theatre realizing you had just witnessed the birth of a star. I felt [...]

An empty room. On the floor, a set of bloody footprints. Fade to black. Martin (Channing Tatum) has just been released from prison where he did time for insider trading. His wife, Emily (Rooney Mara), appears to be happy that he’s home though the combination of a husband in prison and an uprooted life has [...]

My deep dive into music began when I picked up a copy of Nirvana’s “Nevermind” during my senior year of High School. Before then, I had only ever been a casual listener of music, but it was in that span between “Smells Like Teen Spirit” & “Something In The Way” that my appreciation of music [...]

Of course, like me, you remember the story of Hansel and Gretel. Two kids lost in the forest find a house made of candy, go inside and eventually kill the witch that hoped to eat them. The End. Or so you thought. Apparently there’s a little bit more to the story. Gorily rendered in pretty [...]

There must be something in the water in California. In 1967, actor Ronald Reagan began the first of two terms as Governor. In 2003, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger did the same. But the similarities don’t end there. Both were succeeded in office by Jerry Brown (ironically, Reagan succeeded Jerry Brown’s father). After leaving office both went [...]