Sleeping Dogs is one of those murder mystery thrillers where motive construction and character placement is the whole kit and caboodle. Simply put, it’s one of those movies where every main and supporting character– and I mean everyone– looks guilty the majority of the time they are seen on-screen. To its credit, there’s a heightened mood created when there is such a deep pool of potential threats.
Read MoreLike other semi-casual Vietnam war movies that have come before it, the action comedy journey of Oscar winner Peter Farrelly’s The Greatest Beer Run Ever streaming on Apple TV+ reaches a momentum where it has to switch gears. Inevitably, the happy-go-lucky circumstances have dissolved away to the honest truths and horrors of war. That’s a hell of a shift to pull off. The success of the movie boils down to when and how it executes or fails that course correction.
Read MoreCynical critics and audiences will likely pontificate a headline of “Russell Crowe Goes Soft!” after watching his lead work in his new film “Fathers and Daughters” from “Pursuit of Happyness” director Gabriele Muccino. Watching the “Gladiator” Oscar winner play an ardent father of a heavy ensemble drama is a role that does not require the temperamental violence that normally fronts for the inner honor and heart we know resides inside many of the Australian tough guy’s most memorable roles. For once, he lets love do the talking instead of his fists.
Read More"The Nice Guys" unleashes an arsenal of off-beat traits and playful banter available to every character and situation large and small. Calling it a loose cannon is both a criticism and a complement. Though it can veer off of the rails to some scatterbrained wheel-spinning that pushes limits of tolerance and believability, the screenplay from Black and first-timer Anthony Bagarozzi delivers its muckraking mystery with a canny enough level of perpetual action and a clever humor.
Read More"The Water Diviner" arrives as the directorial debut of Oscar-winning Australian actor Russell Crowe. Released last year in his home country, Crowe's film was the highest grossing film in Australia for 2014 and netted three Australian Academy Awards last year including Best Film. In an industry where everyone is constantly being compared and measured against their peers, most will to prognosticate Crowe already. Does he have it in him to be the next Robert De Niro behind the director's chair, the next Kevin Costner, or the next Clint Eastwood? Let's vote for "none of the above" and give him some time. Fashioned better than most directorial debuts, "The Water Diviner" isn't perfect, but it's a solid start from Russell Crowe climbing into a new chair.
Read MoreOnce one awards season ends, another one begins! The winners from last night's 86th Academy Awards can bask in the glow of immortality for a while. Meanwhile, business in Hollywood will quickly shift and move on to the 87th Academy Awards that will happen in February or March of 2015. Here are 15 films to watch for the 2015 Oscars.
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