Movie Review: AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON – underthought and full of generic action. Time for Whedon to exit the franchise.

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Age of Ultron

Opening weekend, Avengers: Age of Ultron. The theater was predictably packed, but me and my two fellow movie patrons got decent seats so my judgement of the movie wasn’t prejudiced by a shitty viewing experience.

Okay, so how was it? As I write, the movie is sitting at over $600M global box office, but is that ever a real judge of quality? In most cases, never. I’ll be completely honest, I didn’t love it it, never came close. Continue reading “Movie Review: AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON – underthought and full of generic action. Time for Whedon to exit the franchise.” →

Movie Review: EX MACHINA – terrific, thought provoking sci-fi. When does artificial intelligence become something more?

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Ex Machina

Caught Ex Machina earlier today – a film I wanted to see, but figured it wouldn’t go on wide release, and would only play in arthouse cinemas like the Uptown or The Lagoon here in the Twin Cities, but no, there it was at the AMC chain up in Roseville. When I read a brief description of the plot about six or seven months ago, I was immediately interested; the philosophical question of identity – what it is, how it can be changed, etc – is a favourite topic of mine. Not only that, what I read reminded me a lot of the very good British sci-fi anthology show Black Mirror (now streaming on Netflix), so when I got the chance to go to see it, I jumped. Continue reading “Movie Review: EX MACHINA – terrific, thought provoking sci-fi. When does artificial intelligence become something more?” →

Movie Review: THE IMITATION GAME – ultimately tragic story of one of the 20th Century’s greatest minds.

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Imitation

The Imitation Game is the ultimately tragic story of one of the greatest minds of the 20th Century, Alan Turing. For those who don’t know the name, he was the driving force behind cracking the Enigma code that many people believe directly led to the end of WW2, but who was then convicted of Gross Indecency after being discovered to have been gay. Continue reading “Movie Review: THE IMITATION GAME – ultimately tragic story of one of the 20th Century’s greatest minds.” →

Movie Review: THE EQUALIZER – Taxi Driver-lite. Washington’s presence elevates a too-familiar storyline.

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Equalizer

Denzel shoots … it’s 1-1!!

Searching for a movie to watch, Wifey picked The Equalizer last night, a movie I was mostly reluctant to watch, having seen it unfavourably compared to the similar John Wick, a movie I didn’t much care for. Continue reading “Movie Review: THE EQUALIZER – Taxi Driver-lite. Washington’s presence elevates a too-familiar storyline.” →

Movie Review: THE DROP – nice, gritty thriller with a retro feel and a great performance by Tom Hardy

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The Drop

Finally watched The Drop, based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River (arguably Clint Eastwood’s best directorial effort). I’m a fan of seedy crime dramas, the kind that used to be so prevalent in the 70s, like Serpico, The French Connection, you know – where the story revolves around a handful of people and mostly takes place in a small geographical region, usually in the five boroughs of New York City. The Drop doesn’t deserve to be up there with the best, but it definitely fits into that sub-genre, and is a pretty good example of it. Continue reading “Movie Review: THE DROP – nice, gritty thriller with a retro feel and a great performance by Tom Hardy” →