Hollywood loves making movies about movies, especially ones that mock the film industry. Make one that’s a movie about a fake movie and a period piece to boot, and you have a winner. That winner is “Argo,” which tells the story of how the CIA teamed up with Hollywood and the Canadian government to rescue six Americans who managed to avoid being captured as part of the Iranian hostage crisis.
Time travel is hard to handle well in fiction: it leads to paradox, weird philosophical discussions, and massive plot holes as often as not. Thankfully, “Looper” wisely gives us a firm footing to anchor our suspension of disbelief, tips its hat politely at the inevitable issues, and gets on with the business of telling an intense, thrilling science-fiction story.
There’s a new Resident Evil movie out. This one is “Resident Evil: Retribution,” the fifth film in the franchise. It has everything we’ve come to expect: Milla Jovovich, zombies, mutants, and an evil corporation. Like all good sequels, it’s more of the same but turned up a notch.
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.
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.
“The Raven” is one of those movies that never quite seems to figure out what it wants to be. Is it a gothic thriller, all period costumes and hushed terror? Is it a splatter movie, like so many modern horror films? Is it a black comedy? A silly, over-the-top piece of camp? Sure, plenty of movies manage to be more than one thing at a time, but “The Raven” tries to be things that are incompatible, and winds up being nothing at all, just a jumbled mess of a film. I suspect the reason can be found in one simple fact: it was directed by James McTeigue, whose last film was the trainwreck “Ninja Assassin” — a flick with the same problems.
Some movies lend themselves to reviewing, and some don’t. Last week’s “Lockout” was a straightforward flick to write up. “The Cabin in the Woods” is anything but — it has a very specific, narrow audience and you’re either in it or you’re not. If you are, you probably know it already and saw the flick the day it opened. If you aren’t, then you don’t really need me to tell you to avoid it.
There’s a certain pleasure in seeing a familiar job done well with a slightly new mix of tools, and that’s just what “Safe House” is. There’s not much new about this CIA double-cross story, but the setting, actors, cinematography, and story details are a new combination, and it’s enjoyable watching familiar gears mesh and turn in the new setup.
There’s a lot to like in Steven Soderbergh’s new film, “Haywire,” but there’s a lot that doesn’t quite come together. The director is reportedly planning to take a sabbatical once his currently in-progress films are wrapped, to get a fresh start, and it’s easy to interpret the uneven pacing and cinematography in “Haywire” as him reaching for something fresh. The film is still enjoyable, particularly during the fight scenes.
“Carnage” is being billed as “a comedy of no manners,” and that’s it in a nutshell. When one boy hits another in the face with a stick, knocking out two of his teeth, the boys’ parents meet to discuss the situation. The victim’s parents, community-building Penelope (Jodie Foster) and blue-collar Michael (John C. Reilly), invite the stick-weilder’s parents, brittle Nancy (Kate Winslet) and boorish Alan (Christoph Waltz) over for what should be an awkward but straightforward conversation. Before long, it devolves into a four-way screaming match.