Directed by: David Koepp Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Dania Ramirez, Wole Parks, Michael Shannon, Aasif Mandvi Rated: PG-13 for some violence, intense action sequences and language
First, in the interests of full disclosure: I am a huge Mike Birbiglia fan, and have been for years. His blend of self-deprecating humor and spot-on social (and occasionally political) commentary make him one of my favorite stand-up comedians working today. I’ve been looking forward to this movie since I first heard about it. I have the album it’s based on (like his other albums) virtually memorized. That’s always a risk — it’s easy for big fans to be disappointed.
I was not disappointed.
Directed by: Chris Butler, Sam Fell Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, John Goodman Rated: PG for scary action and images, thematic elements, some rude humor and language Laika, the studio behind stop-motion hit “Coraline,” have done it again with “ParaNorman,” another tale of a child who doesn’t fit in. This time, the protagonist must use his unique abilities to save his town and end a centuries-old curse.
Jason Bourne is familiar to folks who love movies about international intrigue, spies, and highly-trained assassins. Matt Damon brought us the amnesiac operative in three films, tracing Bourne’s journey as he recovered from near-drowning, got some of his memory back, and confronted his creators at the CIA. “The Bourne Legacy” brings us a new hero in the same world, a subject in a program similar to Bourne’s, whose life is torn apart as a result of Bourne’s actions.
Let’s get a few observations out of the way up front: no, there was no reason to remake the classic nineties cheesefest “Total Recall.” Yes, the new film is technically a remake even though the entire setting and big-picture conflict are different. No, the new film isn’t as terrible as I was expecting. Yes, it’s still pretty bad.
Christopher Nolan’s epic Batman trilogy launched seven years ago with “Batman Begins,” and now it wraps up with “The Dark Knight Rises.” This is a solid conclusion for a film franchise that has been nominated for over 100 awards and earned the love of millions of fans. The final film doesn’t reach the mind-blowing heights of “The Dark Knight,” but it provides a satisfying conclusion to Nolan’s trilogy.
If all you know about “Magic Mike” is that it’s a movie about male strippers, you are in for a surprise. Firstly, the film is loosely based on star Channing Tatum’s life as an exotic dancer before he became a model and then an actor. Secondly, at heart it’s a story about a man who has to choose between living an easy life following the path his mentor has laid out for him, or growing up and striking out on his own.
Once again, the Spider-Man story has been rebooted. Toby Maguire and the rest of the previous cast are gone, replaced by Andrew Garfield (aka the other guy from the Facebook movie) and a new crop of actors. It’s easy to approach this film with resentment — after all, why retell the Spider-Man origin story yet again, only ten years after the last time?
Thankfully, the team behind “The Amazing Spider-Man” seems to have gone all the way back to the drawing board, and started fresh.
It seems like just about every movie whose protagonist is a young woman has to have a love interest for her. In some cases (Disney, I’m looking at you), the young woman’s entire adventure revolves entirely around getting her man. Not exactly inspiring for young girls who are more interested in adventures than in boys.
If the measure of great art is how much thought and discussion it inspires, “Prometheus” is very great art indeed. It asks so many questions, and leaves so many of them unanswered, that it is producing interesting, thoughtful discussions far and wide. It’s more of a meditation on the eternal questions of philosophy than a story — which is both a great strength and a major weakness.