This psychological horror film is about two adult siblings reunited with a possessed mirror that they believe made their parents try to kill them a decade earlier. The movie is good when it blurs the lines between reality and hallucination, and has several truly creepy moments, but the climax is cheapened by frenetic flip-flopping between […]
Easily one of, if not THE best movie of 2014, this is the jaw-dropping and heartbreaking true story of British mathematician Alan Turing, whose invention (a precursor to the modern day computer) broke the code of the infamous Nazi German “Enigma” message encryption device, changing the outcome of World War II, saving millions of lives […]
This is a terrific coming of age story about an introverted teenage boy’s quest to find his identity while spending the summer with his mother (Toni Collette) and her rotten boyfriend (Steve Carell) at the boyfriend’s beach house. The story and cast are superb and Allison Janney’s outstandingly hilarious portrayal of the loony next door […]
This good-but-not-great biopic is about Margaret and Walter Keane, the creators of the kitschy, commercially popular paintings of waifs with big eyes in the early 1960s – and how Margaret allowed her sociopath husband to take credit for her work for a decade before exposing him as a talentless fraud. Amy Adams perfectly captures Margaret’s […]
A smartly-done Australian creeper about an emotionally disconnected widow who seems to lose her grip on reality after her emotionally disturbed son introduces her to a spooky storybook character that he is convinced has come to life in their home. Is it really happening or is she losing her mind? An overriding sense of dread […]
This movie is to jazz what Black Swan was to ballet – stylish, well-acted and chillingly intense. Miles Teller plays an aspiring drummer at a New York conservatory, obsessed with winning the approval of his sadistic conductor, brilliantly portrayed by J.K. Simmons. (He WILL win the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.) Any story that can […]
Magnificent! Angelina Jolie is absolutely captivating as the title character, the story is entertaining with a surprisingly sweet message and the visual effects are stunning. (This is one to see in 3D.) Although you see the ending coming a mile away, you’ll still have a big smile when it happens, and even so, there are […]
A surprisingly strong, emotion-inducing story and outstanding special effects turns what could have been just another rehash of the classic post apocalyptic humans vs. apes story into something pretty spectacular in its own right. The only weakness – a hackneyed ending. Even so, the summer’s strongest blockbuster will almost certainly clean up in the technical […]
Disney delivers again in this sweet, animated action-adventure about a young robotics protégé, his schoolmate friends and a ridiculously cute robot that unite to fight the magnate that steals his robotic creation. While it’s similar to, but not quite on par with The Incredibles, it still has lots of heart and is a very good […]
Not since Fatal Attraction has a movie so adeptly captured the dread (and craziness!) of a relationship gone horribly wrong. Ben Affleck is a husband suspected of murder when wife Rosamund Pike, in a career-defining performance, goes missing, and their façade of the picture-perfect marriage crumbles amidst the media frenzy. A few small missteps – […]