The Way Way Bank isn't going for American Pie-style raunch to prove its comedy. It would rather charm you with heart. That's what makes it great.
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BLIND SPOT REVIEW #1: Rosemary's Baby
Going back and seeing the movies I should have seen or always wanted to see, but missed.
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The latest giddy summer spectacle, Pacific Rim, will be the torch bearer of guilty pleasure for the decade of the 2010's. Mark my words on that. Plenty will love it now and, don't get me wrong, there is plenty here to love. Still, an equal plenty will regret it later and increasingly roll their eyes with every repeat viewing as the movie gets overshadowed by the next shiny object birthed by Hollywood hit factories.
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As a movie nerd at heart, the visuals of the city and its skyline that have shown up in popular movies have become my go-to landmarks and conversation starters. I point to a spot, mention the movie, and it all clicks. Since it's been quite a while since I've written a good editorial "10 Best" list, I've decided to make Chicago the subject. Here, with a couple of shameless ties, are my picks for the ten best movies filmed and set in Chicago.
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When it works, it's fun, but The Heat could have been better.
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As always, the end of every year in cinema is backloaded with the Oscar hopefuls, and this year is no different with more movies than I can list (but can partially preview here). Once again, with this being the halfway point, I will cut the traditional "10 Best" list in half with a first half five.
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This Is the End goes all out with reckless abandon to shock and entertain and makes zero apologies to the audience. I will admit and stand equal with the other movie critics out there giving This Is the End positive reviews on the observation that, jokes aside, it's all a stinging commentary to the celebrity scene and a cleverly deliberate mocking of blockbuster movies. It has those things going for it.
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All of the creativity and humor of Monsters University is going to go blazing over their heads. In crowded auditorium of families and kids, us adults laughed way more than the kids. That shouldn't happen.
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World War Z isn't perfect, far from it, but the movie is very enjoyable escapism. It does enough to put butts in seats and, for two hours, probably makes you as mindlessly entertained as the movie's zombies are mindlessly wired for human consumption.
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The Kings of Summer, while solid summer counter-programming against the big ticket blockbusters, just isn't on the level of last year's outstanding pair of summer coming-of-age movies.
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Man of Steel delivers on its massive hype, promise, and, most importantly, potential in every possible way. For as challenging and different of directions the creators has taken this iconic character, their choices worked while still retaining every bit of this hero's essence. The unified goal to change the way we are presented Superman and give us something we've never seen before was a phenomenal success. They've done that and then some. This version of Superman is going to be talked about, dissected, and remembered for a long time.
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Here with Before Midnight, Linklater's greater vision to show this couple's realistic flaws matches the greater responsibility the characters now have as parents in their forties. The world they all occupy has gotten heavier with the years, just as our own would. One must wonder if these three artists have something up their sleeve for their fifties and beyond.
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