Reviews

Spy is yet another 2015 action/comedy starring Melissa McCarthy as Susan Cooper. She's a desk jockey at the CIA who never did anything with her life, and now lives vicariously through the earpiece in Super-Spy Bradley Fine's ear. Fine is played by none other than the suave Jude Law (a Bond candidate at any stage of his career). Cooper monitors the spy's missions from a dank and rat-infested basement at Langley along with her friend and fellow misfit Nancy (Miranda Hart).

When resident alpha-bitch and European villain Raina Boyanov (Rose Byrne) obtains a portable nuke, Cooper is tasked with her first field work ever. Essentially Rayna knows all the top agent's identities (the likes of which include Law, Jason Statham and Morena Baccarin), so Cooper must go on an observe and report mission to prevent the sale of the deadly device.

What follows is an occasionally complicated game of cat and mouse, spy vs. spy – whatever you want to call it. It's the story of a woman who believes she's nothing special and who must rise to the challenge of becoming a foul-mouthed badass (as only McCarthy can do). Director Feig very clearly has an understanding and appreciation of the spy genre, and pairs it nicely with McCarthy's klutzy self-consciousness and mouthy confidence.

There are a couple of gags that feel repetitive (like the touchy- feely Italian guy), but one element that stayed fresh and ultimately became funnier as the movie went on was the over-the-top antics of Jason Statham. Throughout Spy, he makes progressively more and more outrageous claims of his exploits in an effort to overcompensate in the face of McCarthy's unexpected success. Just some of his tall- tales include posing as Barack Obama, stitching a torn off arm back on with the other arm, and surviving a complicated chase sequence that he flawlessly executed whilst on-fire.

Statham is just one member of an otherwise stellar supporting cast. Jude Law is a solid choice as the insensitively narcissistic Agent Fine, Rose Byrne delivers an atypical role as one of the bitchiest characters I have ever seen, and even 50 Cent shows up for a cameo! OK so that last one isn't one of the bedrocks of the film, but I laughed most heartily. McCarthy is solid throughout, but I don't know if she'd be able to support the film on her own, so hooray for supporting actors.

All together I think Feig does a lot of things right with this comedy, but it does tend to get bogged down occasionally with the complexity of the story. I'm not saying it's on the order of something like Inception, but the frequent inclusion of double- agents and more traditional espionage story elements just doesn't really gel with this type of comedy. If the comedy/action spectrum is tethered between Spies Like Us and Skyfall, then this film is more like Get Smart with raunchier humor. You'll laugh a bunch, but it does tend to stretch on a bit too long and frequently features unnecessary or tired jokes.

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What's the main difference between Divergent and Insurgent you ask? With Divergent I got to heckle at the screen to my hearts content and shout profanities, because I was in the comfort of my own home. With Insurgent I was bound to socially acceptable behavior, since it was a free advance screening in a theater.

When I say this is a bad series, I truly mean that there is nothing worthwhile to be taken away from either movie. The 2nd installment continues the overly convoluted and utterly senseless plot that pits our heroine Tris (Shailene Woodley) against a poorly defined villain and conflict. She is even less believable as the 'brave', tough-as-nails caste member she's been so effortlessly been trying to become, and then suddenly she exhibits all the other redeemable qualities that defines her as 'Divergent'? And I thought Twilight was awful...

This second installment centers around...well nothing in particular. It basically picks up where the first one left off and Tris and company have to 'get back at the Jeanine' - the out of place cartoon villain. There's some magical box that's introduced as the MacGuffin device which ultimately unravels the already fragmented narrative. Don't worry, the sequel adds a whole new level of plot-holes to the already ridiculous premise. Gee, all that futuristic tech that wasn't in the first film looks awfully familiar to another teen-girl-turned- heroine young adult series.

Characters? Development? Don't be preposterous! Those things don't exist in this movie. Just like the first film, you have painfully delivered dialogue that is more laughable than memorable. That forced romance from the first one? Yeah, you're just supposed to accept it in this one. (Sorry Four you're stuck with her for better or for worse).

Honestly the only redeemable part of this hackneyed and clichéd movie is Miles Teller's character. He's seldom on screen and is only funny because he plays a total jerk. Let's hope no one notices that they're borrowing a lot of elements from other classic and popular dystopian stories. Logan's Run? That's about a marathon right? Nope, there are no isolated societies in Divergent/Insurgent. Hunger Games? No! This is a movie about an impractical futuristic society that segments parts society for the greater good. You must be mistaken. Oh wait...

I made it through two and a half pitchers of beer, only drinking when there was something generally cringe-worthy on screen. See if you can beat my record (Drinking responsibly and in remedy of this movie of course) . The best part of the sequel? It's 20 minutes shorter than Divergent.

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First of all, you'll probably get more entertainment out of these user reviews than you will by seeing the actual movie. To clarify...aren't all possession movies inherently pro-Christian since the inclusion of demons and hell implies that there is are angels and heaven (since Lucifer was cast out of heaven and became the devil)?

As someone that has seen lot of REALLY bad horror films, I can safely say that The Lazarus Effect isn't all that bad. It's got a pretty decent cast in Mark Duplass and Olivia Wilde, but it's a cheap horror film. You get the predictable jump-scares, you get the dialed in dialogue, what else did you expect?

You don't go to see horror films because they're particularly well written or original. This movie is literally just a hodgepodge of movies like: Carrie, Lucy (the whole 10% of your brain thing), The Phoenix Project, Pet Semetary, Flatliners, etc.

I actually somewhat enjoyed this, but you realistically need to set your expectations 6 feet under. Maybe this film will find a way to resurrect some of your faith in the horror genre that way. It sure as hell isn't going to resurrect the $10 bucks you spent on the ticket at the theater.

Additionally, what ever happened to the novelty of watching a film before reviewing it?

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I would assume that you have some working knowledge to the first Hot Tub Time Machine prior to seeing the sequel, but just to be complete here's a recap. Three friends and a nephew that are disillusioned with the state of their lives travel to their old stomping grounds at a ski-lodge to relive their glory days. Finding it sadly in a slow state of ruin, they ultimately get blackout drunk in a hot tub and inadvertently travel through time to 1986 after spilling some Macguffin device called 'chernobly' onto the controls accidentally.

HTTM2 picks up shortly after the present day events of the first movie, although Lou (Rob Corddry) has stayed behind in the past. Despite all the characters more or less changing their lives for the better through the first time travel adventure, Lou capitalizes on his knowledge of the future to make himself exceedingly wealthy, founding 'Lougle' instead of Google, and by being the lead singer of Motley Crue.

When Lou is shot and killed at one of his parties by an unknown murderer, Nick (Craig Robinson) and Jacob (Clark Duke) must make use of the hot tub time machine again to try and save Lou's life by again traveling to the past to right wrongs. Since their method of time travel is precarious at best and requires heavy drinking (we assume), they accidentally travel 10 years into the future. Basically they are left with trying to solve Lou's murder while at the same time exploring the ridiculousness of the not-to-distant future.

Notably missing from the film is John Cusack who played Adam in the first film, though Nick, Lou (who is in limbo) and Jacob run across Adam's son Adam Jr. (Adam Scott). Chevy Chase also briefly reprises his role as the mystical lodge maintenance man from the first movie who may or may not hold the secret of time travel.

Like the majority of modern comedies, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 exists solely to capitalize on the success of the first movie. Its reminiscent of the Hangover movies, Horrible Bosses, etc. A lot of the jokes are rehashed, there are a lot of callbacks to the first movie, pop culture references - you know, the usual in this type of raunchy comedy. It's basically the same as the first movie, albeit slightly less funny and with a more convoluted time travel premise.

Shamelessly I laughed quite a bit in this movie as I did with the first one. Probably not a comedy for grandma, but there are a lot of solid laughs evenly spread through the movie. There's some vulgarity, some scenes you probably will wish you could forget, and of course lots of shenanigans.

If you liked the first movie, you'll almost certainly like the sequel as it has all the same comedic chemistry felt in the first one. Corddry and Robinson never miss a beat and the addition of Adam Scott (in place of Cusack) is not obtrusive. There are some forced laughs and it's not quite up to par with the first one, but you should still at least enjoy it.

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I love me a slow, dull movie where the characters are more concerned with just standing around talking about things rather than having big action sequences. No I'm being completely serious, I love my sci-fi long and drawn out with a haunting indie score. Just look at Solaris or Stalker.

Not a movie meant for your average movie-goer though

The Phoenix Project is a modern day homage to Frankenstein and one that would make Mary Shelley proud. It's exactly what I needed to in a low budget sci-fi and one that will leave you feeling a little hollow but encapsulated by its bleakness.

When four scientists move into a home to begin a project of raising the dead via their ingenious machine, tensions flare as the project becomes more about personal ambitions, career obsessions and underlying motivations rather than simply breathing new life into a dead mouse. Directed by Tyler Pavey, this film as previously mentioned isn't flashy. You'll get no scenes akin to Dr. Frankenstein screaming 'IT'S ALIVE! IT'S ALIVE! MY GOD IT'S ALIVEEEEEEEEEE!'. You'll get no monster terrorizing the countryside.You'll get four dudes doing science in a garage and you'll like it consarnit!

This movie is concerned with the relationships between the scientists as they deal with the frustrations of scientific advancement, the tensions associated with limited grant money and getting their tests exactly right, and most importantly the flair of temperaments from living in such close proximity to each other throughout the project.

I believe the alternative title is something like 'Technology with unexpected consequences' and that's basically the best way to summarize the film. It's a film that questions morality in scientific advancement and reveals the unintended ramifications of trying to blaze new trails.

Decently acted, the four main characters show extreme levels of chemistry on screen as the story waxes and wanes through collusion, comradery, and eventually collapse. The story is character development at its finest as we see a spectrum of emotions from all four scientists as they each have to confront their personal demons and are pushed to the brink in order to achieve immortality both in terms of their scientific contributions and more literally with the success of their reanimation project.

If you like minimalist science fiction you'll love this film. If you adored the story of Frankenstein for reasons other than the monster you'll love this film. It's a character driven plot with masterful levels of human drama and it all takes place in a 2,500 sqft home. I encourage you to watch the credits in their entirety and just let that level of creepiness sink in if you still wish it were more like Frankenstein.

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'The Well' was the opening film at the inaugural Other World's Austin Sci-Fi festival this year. Directed by Tom Hammock, the film is set in a post-apocalyptic Oregon where we are informed that 'the rains' have simply stopped some ten years ago (from the not too distant future) and the last remnants of a once fertile valley struggle to survive as their most precious resource - water - systematically becomes more and more scarce. Teen Kendal is one of such survivors that hides out in an abandoned farmhouse with a character whose name I forget. Meanwhile we learn that there is villainous figure surrounded by his many zealots that scour the valley, hunting for survivors who he claims are using his water without his permission (as he has claimed the remaining water in the valley and thus the land). As one of these few remaining holdout survivors, Kendal scrounges for water and supplies why searching fruitlessly for a distributor cap to aide in the repairs of an old airplane (that her group dreams of escaping in). The film itself started off fairly slow though it kept my attention with an intriguing plot and a fairly convincing performance by Haley Lu Richardson. She grows to be a bad-ass through the film battling her foes with her trusty shotgun and eventually a katana. It isn't outrageous or over the top like you'd see in a Tarantino or Rodriguez style film but it still has that 'this is still a low budget sci-fi' charm to it. She gives a decent performance that is not only mildly genuine, but also just felt right for this type of survival flick. The cinematography is decent and gritty at the same time and really lends itself to feeling the sparseness of the wasteland. Other than Kendall and maybe the villain played by Jon Gries, the characters and their development aren't too memorable, but it isn't glaringly sub- par. It's a solid little movie with some fairly decent suspense and action sequences as well as the much needed creepy-factor from both the landscape and the gas-mask wearing henchman.At any rate, I enjoyed The Well for what it was and what it was not. It's clearly not a big budget film, but yet it still manages to capture the magic and intrigue of films like The Hills have Eyes, Mad Max, The Road, as well as a host of other post-apocalyptic films. Like I said – the dialogue isn't all that great and some of the supporting characters are occasionally painful in their deliveries and screen presence, but overall it was still a fun little movie to watch. If you're like me, you'll probably get annoyed by some of the hiccups in the 'attention to detail' category as well as the fact that in a completely barren wasteland, the main character has inexplicably fantastic hiding skills. Seriously, she just runs across the desert and no one spots her or thinks to check behind the door-frame when she's hiding out in a house.

In the not too distant future we find a crew of menial labor astronauts that crew a giant garbage space-station that is designed to clear debris from the orbital lanes of Earth. Soon after they recover a mysterious dimensional device, the crew discovers all life on Earth has ceased to exist and that they face an even greater crisis when a genetically mutated rubber duck terrorizes the station.

Starring Amanda Tapping, Billy Boyd, Kristin Kreuk and Robin Dunne, Space Milkshake was the perfect ending to an already perfect day of science fiction at the inaugural Other Worlds Austin Sci-Fi festival. George Takei voices the rubber duck named Gary.

I absolutely loved this film and loved that there is still such a thing as a lighthearted sci-fi comedy. It's refreshing to see space humor at the hands of smaller name actors and TV stars too. Sure George Takei is a household name and Billy Boyd was a hobbit, but trust me when I say that it does not cast one shadow on the chemistry between these actors.

Boyd is comically eccentric as the Station's captain and fuels the blue-collar humor with his various quirks and idiosyncrasies. The fact that the film is set on a garbage space station only adds to the humor as the close proximity of the crew results in hilarious and often ridiculous scenarios. Ridiculous is actually the perfect word to describe this film but it's also just plain fun. It reminded me a lot of something like the Red Dwarf series only with more sci- fi references and shenanigans.

George Takei is giant mutated rubber duck, what more could you possibly need to make you want to watch this movie? Its delightful fun for just less than 90 minutes, but it still retains an authentic feel to a futurist space story. The audience (*of sci-fi fans) was absolutely rolling in their seats at the various crew interactions and Billy Boyd's performance. I feel the need to add that asterisk in there just for good measure as your average movie-goer probably isn't going to find a hodgepodge of comedic science fiction very funny.

The humor is probably on the same level as something as Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy or the before mentioned Red Dwarf series, but whether you're a dedicated fan of those works or not, you're sure to at least crack a smile in Space Milkshake. Billy Boyd plays the Michael Scott of space albeit with more scenes of him barking orders in his underpants and squaring off with a giant mutated rubber duck.

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Directed by Bradley King, Time Lapse is the story of jealousy, time travel and the degradation of relationships through power and greed.

The story centers on an apartment complex where roommates Callie, Finn and Jasper (played by Danielle Panabaker, Matt O'Leary and George Finn respectively) discover that their neighbor has died. The twist and central conflict that arises from this discovery is that the neighbor was a scientist that invented a camera that is able to take a picture 24 hours into the future – and it's conveniently and frighteningly pointed at their living room.

How will they react to such a life-changing discovery? What possible negatives could come from being able to see the future? These are the conflicts Time Lapse deals with and just how the outcomes ultimately test the loyalty and relationships between our three main characters.

The film examines their motivations for using the camera, the slavery they build for themselves through it, and the ultimately we find that the real villain of the story is simply Time. Time as a weapon, paradoxes as the consequences, who could ask for anything more?

I was so encapsulated by this film that I'm sure I looked ridiculous to my fellow theater patrons. I love time-travel movies simply because they, like all good sci-fi, are just vehicles to examine human drama. What if you could use time to your advantage, say…to make a whole lot of money? Biff did it in Back to the Future II. They did it in Primer. Looper even made use of time travel as a means to an end and JGL even made his weight in gold and silver in the process.

The thing that really stood out for me in this film was the fact that it manages to keep track of its internal logic, which as most of you know is no easy task for a time-travel movie. If you've seen Primer, which this movie reminded me a lot of, I'm pretty sure you need a freaking diagram to keep track of how that all works. In Time Lapse we at least have physical representations in the form of Polaroid pictures that the machine spits out to keep developing the plot and creating the increased paranoia and tension between the roommates.

This film like all the other ones at the festival has that indie film vibe to it, but I can definitely see why it was the Festival Centerpiece at Other World's Austin this year. It's disturbing, suspenseful and exactly what you'd expect from a Hitchcockian sci-fi thriller. The performances are great, the minimalist sci-fi is great, and it's refreshing to have a good time-travel movie since it's been a long wait for a train don't come the past few years (Excluding Looper of course).

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Seriously though, unless you have been living under a rock like Patrick the starfish for the last few decades, you should at least have formed an opinion about the Spongebob series. It has a talking sponge that lives in a pineapple, flips burgers, and goes on nonsensical adventures with his slow-witted friend and neighbor. You either find it whimsical and funny or you don't.

This holds true for the second feature film Sponge Out of Water as we find our beloved residents of Bikini Bottom forced to enter our three dimensional world for the first time. After a flamboyant pirate (Antonio Banderas) manages to steal the much sought after secret Krabby Patty recipe using a magic book, Spongebob and co. have their world plunged into anarchy with the sudden loss of the greasy burgers.

As expected (if you watched the show as a kid), our heroes have to go on a series of misadventures to recover the secret recipe and stop the mischievous pirate after he commits industrial theft.

The thing your probably not expecting (if you've seen the trailer), is only a very small portion of this short film is actually 3D. It's not glaringly awful, and actually seems to work fairly well in a movie about abstract craziness that features time-traveling dolphins.

It's fun, plain and simple. The children in the audience we're giggling with delight, the adults found humor enough to laugh, and all in all I appreciated the blatant references to movies like Mad Max, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and The Shining. It's a movie that is directed at children, but is enriched with plenty of adult humor in the form of puns and famous movies references.

Just enjoy it for what it is and you won't be disappointed. The animation is surreal and enjoyable as always, the voice-acting is tried and true, and everyone in the theater seemed to enjoy it thoroughly.

Mild drug use is recommended for optimal viewing and humor extraction.

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Bill Murray plays a cantankerous old man named Vincent that forms an endearing friendship with his new preteen neighbor Oliver (played by Jaeden Lieberher). Vincent is a chain-smoking, alcoholic Vietnam veteran that gambles at the racetrack, frequently is delinquent financially, and who also enjoys the company of a pregnant Russian prostitute/stripper named Daka (played by Naomi Watts). When Oliver's mother, Maggie (Melissa McCarthy), is forced to work late hours to make ends meet, Vincent offers to babysit Oliver for a modest fee (in order to pay his various debts).

During their time spent together, Vincent attempts to teach the mild-mannered and polite Oliver a thing or two about the real world while Oliver, through his childhood innocence, starts to break down some of the crotchetiness of Vincent. It's a shaky relationship developed by the same plot devices you've probably seen dozens of times yet can justify because 'hey, it's a feel-good movie'.

St. Vincent is directed by Theodore Melfi, though that doesn't really mean much to anyone since this is Melfi's directorial debut. That being said, he does an adequate job with a rehashed story and some pretty strong actors. Bill Murray obviously steals the show and further demonstrates his incredible range of acting, but not without a few supporting one-liners from McCarthy and Watts. Chris O'Dowd also delivers a good supporting role as Brother Geraghty complete with a bit of Catholic humor for the audience. Perhaps the most surprising addition however, was with Mr. Lieberher as Oliver. The young actor delivers a fine performance and demonstrates real chemistry with Murray on screen.

Upon analysis, I wish that Murray and Lieberher had a bit more screen time together, since it probably would have strengthened the story more, but overall it was an adequate movie. It had a few good laughs and the level of performances I would have expected for something in the feel-good genre. It's nothing to write home about though.

It was a fun little film that got the audience laughing from time to time and occasionally would pull on the their heartstrings. All the actors are spot on in their comedic timing, but I wouldn't describe St. Vincent as 'laugh out loud funny' or anything like that. It will bring a smile to your face and you'll probably get annoyed with Naomi Watts Russian accent real quick.

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I was initially really worried about going to see this movie. The trailer looked like the type of movie I would immediately be turned off of (despite loving action movies). All I can say now is wow, I had fun in this movie, like 'edge of my seat shooting at the screen with my fingers' fun. If the hearting thumping adrenaline pumping electronica/metal soundtrack doesn't get you in the mood for mayhem, then you can just delight in the now 50 yr old Keanu Reeves ascending to the highest level of action star. Seriously, the movie is just him running around 2 hours shooting people in the face.

Now a lot of people will be turned off by the sound of that, but that's basically all a revenge movie is. The plot synopsis is literally just 'Russians mess with a retired hit-man and he has to kill them all'. Don't hate it. Indulge in the gratuitous action. Eat popcorn to your hearts content (or until it leads to heart disease). I ain't afraid of no John Wick!

Similar to The Equalizer a few weeks back, John Wick's strength as an action movie is that it excels in all things visual and technical. This movie is sleek, sexy and downright fun. The visuals are perfect for a high energy, high octane shoot-em-up and are complemented by a score that gets you pumped up for violence.

On screen Reeves is supported by tremendous actors like Michael Nyqvist, Willem Dafoe, Ian McShane, and Lance Reddick. Even the "Mayhem" guy makes an appearance. They all embrace that the fact that its just an action movie and the strength of the film is that it doesn't try and pander to the audience with some god awful message about morality or over-complicate the story.

Visually I thought there were some pretty fun elements like the way the Russian subtitles were presented, and that all the stunts and special effects are meticulously crafted and choreographed. It looks and feels like a movie should where everyone knows the main character is a force to be reckoned with. Seriously, Wick just head- shots everything. Expect lots of violence and expect to be entertained. That's all you can truly hope for in a good action flick and yet John Wick adds that little extra bit of humor and style that set the standard for the genre in years to come.

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I thought this movie was surprisingly refreshing as Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader both deliver outstanding performances as Maggie and Milo respectively.

When the twins Milo and Maggie both survive their suicide attempts experiences on the same day, they are reunited after a ten year estrangement and begin to rekindle their sibling bond in the face of the paralyzing dramas that have overtaken their lives.

This film was the perfect blend of comedy and drama that affirms Wiig and Hader as more than just sketch-comedy actors. They're both phenomenal in this movie and have an unparalleled on-screen chemistry. Luke Wilson also does a superb job as Lance.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film and how it can seamlessly blend very depressing topics like parental abandonment, sexual abuse, suicide, and adultery with just the right amount of comedic relief. It reminded me a lot of something like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind which I also found extremely refreshing, though this movie obviously isn't a sci-fi.

The Skeleton Twins is a superb contribution by director Craig Johnson, and is a definite must-see in my opinion. Hader and Wiig's performances are not to be missed!

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I would try my best not to write a scathing review, but this movie was simply awful. There is absolutely nothing redeemable about it save for a few CGI moments and eye-candy if you love bats. There's a lot of them.

The story, if it can so be called, is basically that Vlad the Impaler was a political prisoner of the neighboring Turks when he was a child. He was conditioned to be a soldier in their vast empire and to fight in their wars. Eventually he went back home and restored peace to his kingdom.

Then the Turks need more boy-soldiers, including Vlad's son, but are provoked by Vlad to war when he refuses to give them up. Naturally the Sultan just happens to have hundreds of thousands of soldiers nearby and Vlad has to seek out a Vampire in hopes of saving his kingdom.

Like I said, the story sounds like it was written by a 12 year old that wants to see Dracula in Dragon armor and surrounded by epic fights and lot of cleavage. There is an extremely small amount of historical basis for the story, and its just 90 minutes or so of painful dialogue and lackluster action sequences.

It looks and feels like the movie Van Helsing, only spiced up a bit with 300-style action visuals and Game of Thrones cinematography. In fact, I think that's what the producers were hoping to capitalize on as there are at least 3 Game of Thrones actors cast in Dracula Untold - including Charles Dance. The acting is all around terrible, the vampire lore is just a jumbled mess, and if this indeed was meant as a launching point for a shared universe of classic monsters, the next several years will just be painful.

Pay particular attention to the sense of time in this movie as it is quite hysterical. Halfway through the movie the director just gives up and suddenly people magically scale mountains in a matter of seconds. Also prepare to be upset if you happen to know anything about vampire lore, it pretty much all gets thrown out the window.

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Mary Daisy Dinkle (Bethany Whitmore/ Toni Collette) is an unfortunate 8-year old living in Mount Waverly Australia in 1976. Her mother is an alcoholic, chain-smoking kleptomaniac and her father is a reclusive blue collar worker who attaches the strings to tea packets. Mary has no friends. Despite having an unfortunate birthmark on her forehead and generally being teased and bullied by the other children at school, Mary is an incredibly curious child that is keen on learning everything she can about the world.

One day while her mother is out 'borrowing' supplies from the local post-office, Mary hits upon the idea of writing someone on the other side of the world to ask whether or not babies come from the same place as they do in Australia. According to her grandfather, who has recently passed away at the start of the film, babies come from the bottom of beer glasses, a fact that Mary is utterly intrigued by and one she is compelled to explore further.

After randomly selecting a prospective pen-pal in New York City, she sends her crudely scribbled inquiries to a Mr. Max Jerry Horowitz (Phillip Seymour Hoffman), as well as a bar of chocolate. Max is a morbidly obese, middle-aged Jew-turned-Athiest that lives alone at the top of a decaying domicile. He attends Overeaters Anonymous meetings and is prone to severe anxiety attacks. Plagued by his eccentricities and his inability to form meaningful relationships with anyone, Max is gripped by a sudden uncontrollable panic attack after reading Mary's letter. Eventually he responds to his new pen-pal and the two begin a correspondent friendship that last several decades.

I believe Mary and Max to be one of those rare treasures you stumble upon accidentally and never quite forget. Its an absolutely beautiful story rich in both the mastery and detail of the animation and also memorable character development. Elliot does a superb job of crafting characters that are ultimately shaped by their idiosyncrasies. Also the atmospheres he create for both Mary and Max make you fully appreciate the respective isolation felt by each title character. In one realm you have Max's noirish New York that represents his inherent pessimism and distrust. With Mary you have a muted Sepia feeling that represents parental neglect and abandonment.

It's a clever black comedy that left me incredibly refreshed and pleased with my Saturday Night.

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We enter on a city filled with cheese-loving aristocrats and the easily-frenzied proletariat, both of whom are gripped in terror by a fiendish subterranean race simply known as the boxtrolls. They come out at night to steal your things and cause general mischief. These foul creatures know no decency and have gone so far as to steal and supposedly devour an innocent child! Or at least that's what the town exterminator voiced by Ben Kingsley wants you to think. In fact the boxtrolls (simply trolls that wear boxes like clothing) are actually highly intelligent and timid creatures that want nothing more than to take your garbage and create fun and elaborate devices underground.

Being a peaceful race, they in fact did not eat the child, but rather raised him as one of their own for whatever reason. The child is named Eggs - because of the picture on his box – and is voiced by Isaac Hempstead Wright, whom most of you will recognize as Bran from Game of Thrones. Jared Harris lends his voice as the cheese sniffing aristocrat Lord Portley-Rind. His daughter Winnie (Elle Fanning) discovers the boy-turned-boxtroll and subsequently (and annoyingly) has to investigate. Tracy Morgan voices an mentally deficient henchman with a lust for violence. And finally Nick Frost and Richard Ayoade complete the henchmen trio as Mr. Trout and Mr. Pickles respectively. Frost and Ayoade are actually the only characters I thoroughly enjoyed as they just offer self-questioning philosophical and metaphysical commentary about the nature of good vs evil the whole movie.

So to summarize: A boy is raised by a race of peaceful subterranean trolls that steal garbage to build inventions. Meanwhile the town's exterminator wants to transcend his social barrier and ascend to the coveted rank of wearing a bourgeoisie white hat as opposed to his proletariat red hat. To accomplish this he rally's the townsfolk through hate-mongering and sensationalism so as to universally hate the boxtrolls and call for their systematic extermination. The idea being that if he's the one to exterminate them all, then he'll be viewed as a hero and he will graciously be offered anything he wants, including a white hat.

Pretty intense huh? There's also uncomfortable sexual themes, parental detachment, implied murder, and unnecessarily brutal acts of violence. This film actually really bothered me for a number of reasons. Naturally the animations are a masterful product of Laika Studios and take stop-motion pictures to a new level, but the graphics themselves are certainly an acquired taste. Everything and everyone in this film is just grotesque looking as if its meant to be endearing.

Speaking of endearing, the story does not lend itself to any sympathy towards any of the characters. The Boxtrolls themselves are never developed beyond gibberish speaking, indistinguishable creatures. Eggs isn't the least bit interesting and Winnie is just annoying and bothersome. Honestly the most interesting character is the Exterminator and if I'm not mistaken he actually has more screen time than the boxtrolls.

I actually got in an argument with a fellow theater patron when she overheard me say 'Was that supposed to be a comedy?' after the film. She proceeded to praise the stinky cheese puns and toilet humor in this film as being 'A shining star for the genre' and that the Pixar films paled in comparison. Even the worst Pixar film is leagues ahead of the Boxtrolls, MADAM, both in terms of creating endearing characters and a creating a narrative that offers a family friendly atmosphere while at the same time exploring more adult themes.

This film lacks humor, lacks substance, and overall just left me feeling somewhat at a loss at how anyone could call this a family film. I'll admit the boxtrolls were whimsical and kind of cute, but the entire film just felt like an Adam Sandler take on Despicable Me.

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Magic in the Moonlight is the latest romantic-comedy from celebrated director Woody Allen and stars the likes of Colin Firth and the ever enchanting Emma Stone. Firth plays an egotistical pessimist that is also a world-renowned magician and master illusionist under the stage name of Wei Ling Soo. When he is not sawing his assistants in half or making elephants disappear, Stanley (Firth) is the type of well-bred intellectual that prefers practicing card tricks alone in his room to world travels with his fiancée Olivia (Catherine McCormack).

When Stanley's childhood friend and fellow illusionist Howard Burkan (Simon McBurney) enlists his help to discredit a suspected charlatan that has taken up residence in a friend's estate, Stanley jumps at the bit as the only thing he enjoys more than solitary card tricks is debunking mystics and self-proclaimed soothsayers.

Our accused mystic and swindler of the wealthy is none other than the ever-radiant Sophie (Emma Stone) who has taken the countryside by storm with her unusual gift of predicting the future, channeling the spirits, and reading minds. Stanley is quite intent on dispelling the whole charade and returning to his card tricks…err fiancée…but quickly has his personal and professional beliefs challenged when Sophie turns out to be the real deal as she reveals intimate details about his friends and family through her 'psychic vibrations'.

Secretly the inner romantic in me wants to like Magic in the Moonlight, but I can say with some assurance that this movie simply falls flat in terms of what it set out to do. Sure it has a charming story of a 'pompous stick in the mud' (Stanley) that has his world turned upside down by a beautiful woman and in the process discovers the true nature of love and magic, but that's about it.

I will say that this film has the elegance and grace that Woody Allen is capable of delivering. The costumes and set design are flawless, the story goofy but charming, and musical score is fitting and suited for a period romance. For a character driven romance however,there is little, if any, chemistry between Firth and Stone. The fault does not lie with Ms. Stone I might add, as this movie proves that I'm falling more and more in love with her with each passing film. She is a vision of loveliness and delivers her lines with the humorous charm and wit she has become synonymous with. Instead I place blame with the casting of Colin Firth as Stanley and the almost painful delivery of the dialogue by him and the supporting actors. I'm not faulting him as an actor, in fact I believe is capable of delivering a very powerful performance, namely in The King's Speech, but he is simply not a convincing interest for Stone. He's very well-spoken in the film and I found myself chuckling at a few of his cynical witticisms, but I would have much rather like to see someone like Ben Whishaw (Cloud Atlas, Skyfall) play the lead. The dialogue was so disingenuous that it was distracting.

Despite it having a charming story, it felt plagued by unauthentic dialogue and a tempo that does not lend itself to character development. The scene breaks were jarring and without warning. In short I'd almost say it played out like an episode of Scooby Doo. I can't say it was terrible, or that it was a waste of money, but I can say that it simply could have been better. A LOT better. Chemistry goes a long way in developing an on screen romance, and its no ILLUSION that this one left much to be desired.

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Going into this film, I had heard a lot of excitement from folks simply because it was a prequel to The Conjuring, and James Wan was producing and John Leonetti directing. Having not yet see The Conjuring, I can only remark on Annabelle as a generic 'horror' film - knowing very little about the actual events on which the story is based or how it fits into this grand lineage of recent horror films.

I should have known I was setting myself up for disappointment when the girl at the box-office said The Box Trolls was a scarier film, and sadly after watching, I whole-heartily agree with her. Annabelle was bad, not in that Paranormal Activity way, but it was about as boring and uninteresting. Being a seasoned fan of the horror genre, I'll admit I had reasonable expectations coming into this movie. Going off the trailer you have a creepy porcelain doll, some apparent possession angle with demons,and a well established producer/director in James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring, Dead Silence). What followed for the next 98 minutes was just a pitiful attempt to mash so many elements from other, more famous horror films together with something that resembled a story.

The story, or lack thereof, is basically that Mia and John are the clichéd horror characters of a late 60's possession film that have all of their hopes and dreams set out before them. Mia is about to have a baby and John is about to start his residency to become a full- fledged doctor. John then gets Mia a creepy doll and the horror shenanigans ensue. (Supposedly)

Specifically Mia and John's neighbors are brutally murdered by satanic cultists and Mia is subsequently stabbed in her pregnant belly by one of the attackers. Although the baby is fine, the neighbor's daughter (one of the attackers) ritualistically kills herself and her tormented soul is somehow swept into none other than the creepy doll John gave Mia as a gift.

I'm really at a loss after reading some of the other reviews that are praising this movie for things like character development, a suspenseful story, 'genuine' scares, and being the perfect movie to start the Halloween season. This movie has none of that. The story is horribly clichéd and just tries to reinvent movies like Poltergeist, Rosemary's Baby, The Exorcist, and Paranormal Activity into one. As for character development, you need actually need characters that you grow to care about that aren't simply a bad caricature of someone that'd likely be in a horror film i.e. the doubting husband, the occult-friendly neighbor, etc. I was just hoping that someone would have a gruesome death to distract me from twiddling my thumbs .

Also if you're looking for a 'scary' movie you've come to the wrong place. There are a handful of 'jump' scenes that are few and far between, and none of them are anything more than gradual silence followed by a jolt of unnecessarily loud audio. It was quite an annoyance to a few of the folks in the theatre that had fallen asleep out of sheer boredom.

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The Drop (2014) is the latest screen adaptation of Dennis Lehane's writings (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone, Shutter Island), and is directed by the relatively unknown (though hopefully not for long) Michaël R. Roskam. Knowing very little about this movie beforehand, the one thing I was gambling on was its cast; a gamble that thoroughly paid off I might add. Tom Hardy (Inception, The Dark Knight Rises), Noomi Rapace (Prometheus, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), and everybody's favorite soprano James Gandolfini star in this gritty crime-drama that reminds us all that you don't mess with people's bars.

We the audience find ourselves in the chilly streets of Brooklyn once again and in that most sacred of places - the local bar. Tended by the mild mannered, possibly slow witted bartender Bob Something- or- other (Hardy), this bar, like all good bars, has its frequent patrons that pile in night after night, raising a glass to a dead friend's anniversary or simply watching the game. The bar itself, named for Gandolfini's character "Cousin Marv", just happens to be the setting for an elaborate money drop off system (hence the title) and is frequented by the Chechen Mobster owners that cousin Marv is constantly trying to appease (having apparently lost ownership of his namesake in the not too distant past).

Naturally the conflict arises that, since the bar is occasionally home to large sums of money, some folks inevitably want to hold up the joint. Eventually things go south as the Chechens aren't too happy to have their money stolen and what follows is an incredibly intricate, but unassuming narrative. Noomi Rapace plays the fragile love interest and Tony Soprano plays…well…the small time crook that pines for the respect he had in the glory days.

While I don't want to cheapen the roles of Gandolfini or Rapace in this film (as they both are extremely important in driving the film to its crescendo), Hardy stands out for his performance as the unassuming Bob the Bartender. One thing that I love about the actor in his films is that he easily adapts and manifests himself into his characters - seamlessly adopting accents, quirks, etc. (I'm thinking Bronson not Bane). It was disarming to me to follow his story, ever-waiting for a massive plot twist to signal his call to action, only to have it continue on at its pre-established rate of reveal.

Therein lies the beauty of this movie, as it never departs from its inconspicuous tone until, much like the ambiguous quote at the end, you never see it coming. Like putting a puzzle together without looking at the box, you gradually see characters, conflicts, and resolutions weave together and develop over time. Having seen Lehane's other work Gone baby Gone (2007) not too long ago, I found The Drop to be just as refreshing albeit with a much simpler, linear buildup.

One device the director uses particularly well in this film is slightly off focus scenes with relevant characters or items of interest often pushed in the background. These shots work nicely with the eerie accompanying score to really drive home the apprehension that at any moment someone is just going to get shot in the face or worse.

It goes without saying that I'm always going to recommend a movie like this simply because it has so many things that work in its favor. It has a quality cast including an exceptional performance from Hardy as Bob the Bartender, a rewarding narrative, and if nothing else – an adorable puppy named Rocco. The romance subplot initially seems distracting, but ultimately ties in nicely as does the religious underpinnings on morality. The Drop is definitely worth it to see it in theatres and it's not terribly violent or profane for a rated R movie.

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Liam Neeson is back in his gruff everyman-turned-action-hero role as former cop Matt Scudder. He's supposedly something akin to a private eye, though you'd never know if you knew anything about the detective genre. He's hired by some guy, whose character I completely forgot because it didn't seem at all important, to find the kidnappers that murdered his wife and to extract revenge upon them. Now you're probably thinking, 'Hey, you said FORMER cop'. That must mean something happened to him to make him leave the force! Correct you are as always dear reader, as PI Scudder happened to be in a bar one day when a group of men came in and shot the bartender. Scudder chased them, killed most of them, and accidentally killed a little girl with a ricocheted bullet in the process. (This is where the clichés begin) We're naturally expected to perceive him as the hard-boiled hero of noir who drinks heavily in the middle of the day and shoots people in the face without regard to procedure or apparent danger, but there are no wise-cracking detectives in this film I'm afraid. The story then starts to pander as he apparently has blamed his 'rampant' alcoholism for the mistake, subsequently becoming a devout follower of the 12 step AA process and staying sober for going on 8 years.

This is the part that bothers me because there is an implied theme of addiction throughout the film, though we never actually see him challenged with the presence of a bottle or in any way revert to his previous 'uncontrolled' self. We see a junkie that can't seem to stay clean, and it's implied that the murderers derive some sick pleasure from kidnap and torture, but that's the end of the whole 'confronting your demons' thing.

Anyways, that's basically the story. Liam Neeson does his Mickey Mouse investigating and tries to catch the bad guys. At one point he teams up with a homeless kid that fancies himself the next Phillip Marlowe or Sam Spade (as the kid is an apparent fan of crime fiction), and the mystery is afoot! The mystery in this case is why on Earth the kid and his fascination with detectives and comic artistry are even brought up in the first place. They have no bearing on the story other than to cut to the chase at the ending and get to the final confrontation. Remind you of another Liam Neeson movie where he has to accompany an annoying kid to solve a mystery? If not I suggest you watch the Red Letter Media review of The Phantom Menace.

Also congratulations to Scott Frank on getting the point across that the movie was set in 1999. I wasn't sure what with all the Y2K references, the Twin Towers having attention drawn to them, or the Backstreet Boys Millennium poster on the wall. At first I thought this was meant as some gimmick to create a retro-crime thriller, but no, it serves absolutely no purpose and just becomes distracting as the film goes on.

I honestly think Liam Neeson is capable of decent performances. I think he's a pretty cool guy that started out working as forklift driver for the Guinness brewery and who was also an amateur boxer. That being said, I also believe that he stars in terrible movies far too frequently and that the attempts to copy Taken need to stop. Anyone seen Darkman lately? How about the more recent Wrath of the Titans? I'll save you the trouble, they're painful to watch. I cannot in good conscious ever recommend something as dull as this movie, nor do I think it'd even be worth the time in a Netflix binge.

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