MOVIE REVIEW: THE CROODS

A prehistoric family are forced to flee their cave after it's destroyed by a disaster that threatens to change their lives forever in this animated adventure featuring the voices of Nicolas Cage and Emma Stone. As a protective caveman father leads his family out of harm's way, the clan crosses paths with a resourceful teen named Guy (voice of Ryan Reynolds), who offers to help them reach a distant land where they'll be safe from an impending catastrophe that will soon alter the entire world. Catherine Keener, Clark Duke, and Cloris Leachman round out the cast of vocal performers. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Kirk De Micco

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, Catherine Keener, Cloris Leachman

Release Date: Mar 22, 2013

Rated PG for some scary action

Runtime: 1 hr. 31 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Animated, Family

Review:

The Croods is the type of animated family film that made for everyone to enjoy. Working from a simplistic and tried and true formula its script brims with enough energy to every keep it from being tedious. It’s funny and touching throughout. Kirk De Micco’s direction is deft; he keeps our attention with a lush virtual cornucopia while ably handling the family dynamics at play. De Micco has a strong track record going for him, (Lilo and Stich, How To Train Your Dragon) so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that his film has some tangible heart in between all the action set pieces and gags. The voice work by the assembled talent is all great with Cage, Stone and Reynolds deserving specific praise. Cage and Reynolds really seem comfortable doing voice work as both have distinctive voices and personalities that lend itself to this kind of film. Throw in some wonderful character designs and fun 3D and you have a family film that enjoyable for everyone.

B

MOVIE REVIEW: DEAD MAN DOWN

Director Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) makes his eagerly anticipated English-language-feature debut with this action thriller about a tough New York City enforcer and an alluring blackmailer who both put their lives on the line to seek vengeance against one of the city's most powerful crime bosses. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Niels Arden Oplev

Cast: Colin Farrell, Noomi Rapace, Terrence Howard, Dominic Cooper, Isabelle Huppert

Release Date: Mar 08, 2013

Rated R Violence, Language Throughout and A Scene of Sexuality

Runtime: 1 hr. 58 min.

Genres: Suspense/Thriller

Review:

By Cindy Prascik


Dearest Blog, yesterday I escaped my miserable workday existence for a couple blissful hours at the cinema. On my agenda was the Colin Farrell thriller Dead Man Down, which I just couldn't squeeze in on its opening weekend. (Hindsight: "Oz? Really??")
Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailer.

Colin Farrell is a man on a mission, but will his agenda be derailed by a mysterious woman (Noomi Rapace) with her own plan?
Dead Man Down is a double-barrel crime thriller, two stories running side by side, connected by a single character's involvement in both.

The bullets fly early and often, but quieter scenes between the two damaged leads are awkwardly perfect. Colin Farrell is as magnetic a leading man as Hollywood has to offer, and though the movie has a well-known and decorated supporting cast, it's his to carry, and he does so with his usual brilliance. Noomi Rapace is perfect as a broken woman who would add her burden to his. Terrence Howard's crime lord is cool, brutal, and defiant, even under siege, and Dominic Cooper is great as a young thug looking to work his way up the criminal ladder.

This might normally be the part, dear Blog, where I complain that not enough stuff blows up, but...well...lots of stuff blows up. And lots of folks get killed. And even when those things aren't going on, this film has so much to recommend it that I don't even mind...ummm...I don't even mind much!

Dead Man Down clocks in at a well-paced two hours, and is rated R for "violence, language throughout, and a scene of sexuality."
Feels a little hokey to throw down such a high rating so early in the 2013 game, but of a possible nine Weasleys, it wouldn't be fair to give Dead Man Down less than eight.

Until next time...

It wasn't easy, but we got the Black Friday deals at Wal-Mart!

[Trailer] Kick Ass 2

Red Band trailer for the sequel to one of my favorite movies from the last few years is out and it look like it’ll more than live up to the original!

The only thing that makes me a bit worries is the new director’s previous films which don’t inspire a ton of confidence. Either way, I’ll be checking it out for sure.

MOVIE REVIEW: DREDD

A feared urban cop takes on a vicious city drug dealer in a futuristic metropolis as director Pete Travis (Vantage Point) and screenwriter Alex Garland (28 Days Later, Sunshine) team to bring iconic 2000A.D. lawman Judge Dredd to the big screen. In the future, much of North America has been poisoned by radiation. The sprawling urban jungle Mega City One stretches from Boston to Washington D.C., and in order to keep the growing criminal element in check, police enforcers called "Judges" have been given the power of judge, jury, and executioner. Judge Dredd (Karl Urban) is the most feared of them all, delivering death sentences with impunity as he fights to rid the streets of "Slo-Mo" -- a powerful new drug that alters its user's perception of time. In the process of training psychic rookie Cassandra Anderson (Olivia Thirlby), Dredd receives a report of an incident in a sprawling criminal stronghold ruled by fearsome drug lord Ma-Ma (Lena Headey), and ventures in to investigate. Upon learning that one of her top men has been captured by Dredd shortly thereafter, an enraged Ma-Ma seizes control of her massive 200-story complex, launching an all-out war against the Judges as Dredd and Cassandra find themselves trapped in the belly of the beast. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Pete Travis

Cast: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey, Wood Harris, Langley Kirkwood

Release Date: Sep 21, 2012

Rated R for strong bloody violence, language, drug use and some sexual content

Runtime: 1 hr. 36 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Review:

Taking another shot at a character that’s best remembered for a laughably bad Sylvester Stallone film takes some guts. Dredd isn’t necessarily a film that anybody asked for or wanted and the fact that it was mostly ignored by the movie going audience kind of rams that point home. It’s a bit of a shame because Pete Travis’s version is actually a solid piece of R rated action fun. He fully embraces the splatter factor delivering a series of visual punches in the face. Along the way he delivers some of the best looking use of slow mo to visually represent the effects of the drug in question. The plot is incredibly thin and you could probably watch it while doing something else and you’d miss absolutely nothing and still enjoy the gory spectacle. Character development is sparse and we don’t know much about the titular Dredd. Karl Urban, helmet on for the duration, gives a gravelly chin driven performance that’s impressive but your left wondering what’d he done if he’d been given a little more meat. Olivia Thirlby is equally one note with a slightly more fleshed out character. Lena Headley, as the lead baddie, isn’t asked to do much outside of having constant bitch face; thankfully she was born with that talent. While it sounds like the film is flimsy, which it is, it’s also a lot of fun for all the action thrown at you.

B-

MOVIE REVIEW OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL & PHANTOM

Cindy Prascik's reviews of OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL & PHANTOM

OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL



A mischievous magician gains the wisdom to become a powerful ruler after being swept away to a land of magic and mystery as director Sam Raimi and screenwriters Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole) explore the genesis of author L. Frank Baum's enduring tales of Oz. Shady illusionist Oscar Diggs (James Franco) enchants curious audiences at a Kansas circus. A self-professed con man, he's a fast-talking performer who aspires to follow in the footsteps of inventors like Thomas Edison. Oscar is being chased across the circus grounds by the rampaging Strongman when a tornado blows in and everyone runs for cover. Seeing a hot-air balloon as his only chance for escape, the illusionist jumps in and cuts himself free. Magically transported to the wondrous world of Oz, he soon encounters Theodora (Mila Kunis), a temperamental witch who surmises that he is the wizard named after their land (Oscar's nickname is Oz), foretold to fall from the sky, defeat a nasty witch, and ascend to the throne. Theodora takes Oscar to the Emerald City to meet her sister Evanora (Rachel Weisz), a powerful witch who reveals that he cannot become the rightful ruler of Oz until he's accomplished his mission. Later, as Oscar and his new flying-monkey companion Finley (voice of Zach Braff) prepare to face their fearsome enemy, they're joined by the fragile but fearless China Girl (voice of Joey King) and benevolent witch Glinda the Good (Michelle Williams), who helps them prepare for the arduous battle ahead. Together with the brave people of Oz, Oscar draws up a plan to rid the land of evil once and for all, and become the great and powerful king who will rule from his throne in the Emerald City. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Release Date: Mar 08, 2013

Rated PG for sequences of action and scary images, and brief mild language

Runtime: 2 hr. 10 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Director: Sam Raimi

Cast: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff.


Review by Cindy Prascik

Dearest Blog, today I braved the infamous late-winter cinema crowd, plus everyone with a sentimental attachment to the Land of Oz, to spend my Saturday at Marquee.

First on my agenda, and everyone else's, was Oz: The Great and Powerful.

Neither a remake nor a reboot, Oz looks at a familiar world from an unfamiliar vantage point. The Witch of the West has Wicked, now the Wizard has Oz.

Spoiler level here will be mild-ish.

Oz' primary selling feature is that it's a work of art, absolutely stunning from start to finish. Sets, scenery, costumes, makeup...I would run out of superlatives long before I could come close to adequately describing them. My cinema oooh-ed and ahhh-ed aloud throughout.

The cast is fine, neither good nor bad enough to be worth mentioning. Mila Kunis, the only one of the main cast who hasn't at least been nominated for an Oscar, is easily the best of the lot.

Annnnnnnnnnnd...that's about all the nice things I have to say about Oz. Clocking in at an extremely bloated two hours and ten minutes, at times it bored me so much I wished I wanted popcorn or needed to use the bathroom. Fans who see this hoping for even a shred of what makes The Wizard of Oz so very special will leave sorely disappointed. It's missing some of the good nature and innocence of its predecessor, to be sure, but I don't even fault it there; I suspect perhaps that's impossible to duplicate in this day and age. More importantly, it's just bad storytelling: Disney throwing money at the screen--all style, no substance--much like it's theatre counterpart, Wicked.
Like Avatar before it, Oz: The Great and Powerful is about as gorgeous a film as ever you're likely to see, with little else to recommend it. I've struggled mightily these last several hours debating a fair rating; clearly it deserves full marks for appearance (and, make no mistake, it's absolutely worth seeing on a big screen for that alone), but little or no credit for anything else, so, of a possible nine Weasleys, we'll set it right in the middle at four and a half.


PHANTOM


The fate of humanity rests in the hands of a Soviet submarine captain whose tragic past casts a dark shadow over the present, and whose underwater craft might be host to an otherworldly entity in this apocalyptic thriller starring David Duchovny, Ed Harris, and William Fichtner. The Cold War has enveloped the entire globe, and when a Soviet submarine targets the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet for nuclear attack, it appears that the final battle has begun. But Capt. Dmitri Zubov (Harris) has a choice -- one that could pull the world back from the brink of annihilation. Meanwhile, it seems as if other forces are at work on Zubov's submarine. Now, in the depths of the South Pacific, Capt. Zubov will fight to ensure that there will be a future for every man, woman, and child on the planet. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Cast: Ed Harris, David Duchovny, William Fichtner, Lance Henriksen, Johnathon Schaech

Release Date: Mar 01, 2013

Rated R for violence

Runtime: 1 hr. 37 min.

Genres: Suspense/ThrillerDirector:Todd Robinson

Review by Cindy Prascik


Next on my agenda was the Cold War thriller Phantom.


The crew of a Soviet submarine must thwart those who would to use it for a nefarious purpose.
Dear Reader(s), I gotta tell you a little story about Phantom. Two weeks ago I saw this trailer before Snitch. Last week it opened at my cinema. This week it's down to one show a day; it's not gonna see another weekend. I am not sure how a movie like this, with this cast, sails so far under the radar (see what I did there?), but this one's all but invisible.
The most noticeable thing about Phantom is that the Soviet crew is played by a thoroughly American cast, speaking unaccented American English. While committing to the choice 100% works much better than, say, 2011's Three Musketeers--where the "French" people all spoke English with a random mix of American, English, and German accents--it's an unfortunate distraction in what's actually a pretty solid little thriller.

Ed Harris is magnificent in the lead, and the always reliable William Fichtner is solid as his right-hand man. David Duchovny is effective as the film's mysterious antagonist...is his mission just secret, or is it secretly evil?? The excellent supporting cast is fleshed out by familiar faces, including Lance Henriksen, Sean Patrick Flanery, Jonathan Schaech, Jason Beghe, Derek Magyar, and Jordan Bridges.

Plenty of twists and turns, coupled with the mission's high stakes and the sub's cramped quarters, make for a tense, exciting 98 minutes; I was on the edge of my seat for the duration. The contrived ending will likely deprive the film of any love from Serious Critics, but I enjoyed even that, despite its being overly obvious.

Odds are you're gonna miss Phantom at the cinema, so don't make that mistake when it comes to DVD.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Phantom gets seven.

Until next time...



I know some people without brains who make an awful lot of movies!

MOVIE REVIEW: OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFUL 3D

A mischievous magician gains the wisdom to become a powerful ruler after being swept away to a land of magic and mystery as director Sam Raimi and screenwriters Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole) explore the genesis of author L. Frank Baum's enduring tales of Oz. Shady illusionist Oscar Diggs (James Franco) enchants curious audiences at a Kansas circus. When he is inexplicably transported to the wondrous world of Oz, he encounters three witches named Theodora (Mila Kunis), Evanora (Rachel Weisz), and Glinda (Michelle Williams), who pose him an awesome challenge: root out a ruinous force of evil that threatens to destroy the entire kingdom, and become the great leader that the population has been waiting for. Should Oscar succeed in summoning the necessary sorcery and creativity to deliver the land from darkness, he will forever be known as the Wizard of Oz. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Director: Sam Raimi

Cast: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff, Joey King

Release Date: Mar 08, 2013

Rated PG for sequences of action and scary images, and brief mild language

Runtime: 2 hr. 10 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Review:

Let me start of by saying I’ve never been a Wizard of Oz fan. I’ve watched the film various times and it just never connected with me. I got it but the connection just never occurred. I went into this prequel expecting something akin to Tim Burton’s mess of an Alice in Wonderland prequel from a few years back. Strangely Raimi’s prequel worked so much better for me. It’s got some obvious issues but for a film that’s 2 hours long, I found myself entertained for the better part of it. Raimi’s general template is borrowed from the original film with plenty of callback to the classic film. Enough to keep any diehard fan happy. Raimi delivers a candy colored assault on the senses, especially if viewed in 3D, from the moment we enter Oz. It’s a rather rousing experience especially as the film’s quasi-fantasy epic story begins to unfold. James Franco at the lead left me feeling fairly conflicted. At times during the film I thought he was terribly miscast and at others I thought he was perfectly suited. In the end, I really couldn’t decide so it’s a mix bag at best. Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz do good work in limited and underdeveloped roles. Kunis is solid but tends to oversell her performance especially later in the film where it feels increasingly off. Weisz on the other hand is having a ball in her role, chewing up scenery with a wicked sort of determination appropriate for the character. Michelle Williams as Glinda is an angelic sight to behold; she fits the character very well. Zach Braff and Joey King voice a pair of CGI creations with impressive ease. The CGI on both of them, especially China Girl, are really impressive creations. The visual effects as a whole are wonderfully done, occasionally recreating the look from original film in some of the backgrounds. As mentioned this isn’t a perfect film. Its evil characters are underdeveloped and the crux of a certain important conflict seemed half baked at best. While I did enjoy the experience I can’t say there are plenty of spots, especially before the final act, that could have been trimmed a tad. Honesty, there no reason for this film to be over 2 hours long; still I found it thoroughly enjoyable warts and all.

B-