I enjoyed Rebel Ridge, and quite liked Green Room, so I figurd I would take a look at another one of Jeremy Saulnier’s works, Blue Ruin. What I found was a solid, revenge drama whose violence, when it happens, is shockingly real and bloody. Dwight (Macon Blair) has turned into a bit of a drifter,…
Tag: 2013
We’re the Millers (2013) – Rawson Marshall Thurber
It took me a while to finally get this one. I honestly didn’t think I would enjoy it. But I was wrong. It’s charming, has some laugh-out-loud moments and features Jason Sudekis surrounded by an incredibly strong, comedic cast. Sudekis plays David, a man who has spent his entire life dealing pot. He has no…
Now You See Me (2013) – Louis Leterrier
What happens when you take Ocean’s 11 heist vibe and throw some magic at it? Well, you could come back with something like Now You See Me. While it doesn’t have all the star power of the Soderbergh film, Now You See Me is fairly entertaining and has some solid casting. Mark Ruffalo plays FBI…
2 Guns (2013) – Baltasar Kormakur
Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg star in 2 Guns, based on the comic series of the same name, a fun little actioner where everyone seems intent on betraying every one else over forty-three million dollars. Posing as buyers, Bobby (Washington) is actually a DEA agent, Stig (Wahlberg) is in the Office of Naval Intelligence, and…
Olympus Has Fallen (2013) – Antoine Fuqua
Antoine Fuqua delivered another actioner with Olympus Has Fallen. Taking an obvious page from the Die Hard playbook of the lone hero taking on seemingly insurmountable odds, the story casts Gerard Butler in the role of Mike Banning, a secret service agent no longer on the President’s (Aaron Eckhart) protection detail after a horrific accident…
R.I.P.D. (2013) – Robert Schwentke
I wanted to see this movie when it first came out, but after it got a drubbing by the critics and the viewers I stayed away from it. Despite the casting of Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds, this one didn’t hit with the audiences. But I finally gave in, and checked it out. And honestly…
Final Prayer (2013) – Elliot Gardner
Found footage is either the bane of my horror experience or a delight, and Final Prayer is no exception to that idea. I really like the idea at work here, and I love the climax, though I wish it had been executed better, we don’t see enough, we don’t quite learn enough, though the fear…
Dark Skies (2013) – Scott Stewart
Keri Russell doesn’t often do genre films, and while I like the subject matter of Dark Skies, I wish she had chosen a slightly stronger film to be a part of. The last third of the film is just terrible and isn’t executed very well. And why are the Greys, which have been portrayed as…
Ancillary Justice (2013) – Ann Leckie
Ann Leckie delivers an interesting space opera read that uses the feminine pronoun she throughout, as a part of its language, not as a descriptor of the people themselves, who are predominantly genderless. It’s a great touch, and really plays nicely with the casting of characters in the mind’s eye. We are introduced to Breq,…
The Lone Ranger (2013) – Gore Verbinski
Gore Verbinski is a vibrant visual director, but the casting of Armie Hammer as John Reid aka The Lone Ranger, doesn’t do the film any good, and the whitewashing of Tonto with the casting of Johnny Depp makes things worse. There are some wonderful sequences, some great images, and some fun comedic moments, as the…
The Mind Reels 