Teen angst is a major part of everyone’s life, but when it comes to Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), angst explodes into magical proportions. Such is the premise of this fifth film in the popular series. Indeed, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is a film about a young boy’s angst as much as it is about subversives in the face of a prevailing darkness.

Since Chris Columbus left with his shucks-darn style of directing, the Potter series has taken a darker turn, mirroring their literary counterparts. In Azkaban, the third film, Alfonso Cuarón introduced the lightning-fast storytelling that would be seen in following films, a technique that director David Yates has used masterfully. The leading actors have all grown up, and thankfully, the films have matured as well. Read more »

I’ve never been so angry after seeing a movie. I really, really wanted to hate Transformers. I was ready to pan it with every negative word I could muster. After all, it’s a Michael Bay film. Pearl Harbor was bad beyond imagination. The Island was best left undiscovered. And Armageddon was well, a big mess.

With that, you can imagine how I was ready to unload with both barrels on Bay’s latest film. Imagine my complete and utter frustration when I came to realize that I actually liked the movie.

Transformers is a summer action film which is clearly aimed at a testosterone-driven audience. I don’t know, maybe it’s the fact that I screened the film in a theatre filled with local soldier boys, geeks, dweebs, and their pals who came to see lots of explosions and hear bad dialogue. Indeed, they got their money’s worth. Read more »

Steve Carrell picks up his role from this film’s predecessor, Bruce Almighty. Evan has the misfortune of retaining Bruce’s director (Tom Shadyac) as well, which is unfortunate. Shadyac’s claim to fame is to provide Jim Carrey with his best-known vehicle, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. However, without Carry’s rubber-faced antics, his direction, and the movie as a whole, seems a bit lackluster.

Enter Industrial Light and Magic with their jaw-dropping flood sequence. Oh, yikes. I’m getting ahead of myself, aren’t I? Silly me. Read more »

With Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, director Tim Story attempts to step up the story a few notches by actually providing a real threat that our heroes have to thwart. This film is clearly light years ahead of its predecessor, which really isn’t saying that much. The original Fantastic Four was just plain boring. Where the battle scene of the climax of that film was an exercise in the senseless, Rise of the Silver Surfer has the fate of the planet hanging in the balance. Beware, this review contains some spoilers.

At less than 90 minutes, Surfer is short on time-time that could have been used for actually developing something better than the “Reed and Sue are getting married, so nothing else matters” subplot. Jessica Alba’s portrayal of Sue Storm is actually even more bland than before, which is quite an accomplishment. Read more »

When the original Die Hard was released back in 1988, I was seventeen, and thanks to Tennessee’s antiquated obscenity law, I had to sneak into the theatre to see it. I was already weary of these action heroes who were invulnerable and one-liners which were peppered amidst the frequent explosions that were common in Reagan-era films of that genre.

Willis’ John McClane was a refreshing twist of the action hero who was as vulnerable as he was heroic. The one-liners weren’t bad puns, and “the” classic line from that film (Yippe-ki-yay, motherf***er), became an instant addition to the vocabulary of teenagers and adults everywhere.

Now, 19 years and three movies later, Willis again dons the NYPD badge that made him a hero. Of course, during that time, Die Hard became the epitome of action films. It would be used in pitch after pitch for movies ever since. “Die Hard on a boat” became Stephen Segal’s Under Siege. “Die Hard on a plane” became Air Force One for Harrison Ford. Read more »