Call me a wet noodle, a buzzkill, or a “namby-pamby” (a term I learned from this movie), but I did not fall under the romantic spell of Mr. Malcolm’s List. In fact, I thought Mr. Malcolm’s List was pretty cheesy. Then again, the love-struck emotions in Emma Holly Jones’ period piece are supposed to hit those levels of mushy sentimentality. It’s just a matter of reigning them in before they spill over to become just…
Dual is a nifty near-future sci-fi that starts with an interesting and obviously satirical premise and elevates it to make comments on the dire state of personal interactivity. It’s well-trodden territory for this genre, but writer/director Riley Stearns (The Art of Self-Defense) still finds original ways to keep his audience laughing, entertained, and on their toes.
Alexander Skarsgård (The Legend of Tarzan) and Michael Peña (Ant-Man) are two of New Mexico’s worst cops, yet they’re the kings of their castle in War on Everyone. Their delusion intimidates pedestrians and perps, and their shallowness makes their supervisor Lt. Gerry Stanton (Paul Reiser) confused and ultimately indifferent. However, their false royalty is disrupted when they’re overshadowed by a more diabolical threat, Lord James Mangan (Theo James of The Benefactor and the Divergent series).
The Benefactor features Richard Gere at his most animated playing a troubled philanthropist with a guilt complex.
The Divergent film series – based on the Young Adult trilogy by Veronica Roth – immediately felt like a cash-in on the success of The Hunger Games film franchise. Divergent is painful in its complexity: set in a typical YA post-apocalyptic future, Tris (Shailene Woodley) must navigate the walled city of Chicago, where factions are systemized by certain characteristics – Erudite is made up of the intelligentsia, Dauntless are warriors, etc. Initiates take a test…