Feb 19

Feb 19 Luc Besson's LUCY

Still, the movie is worth a watch especially for the first half or so. But eventually the silliness overwhelms the acting, editing, and wonderful production values. Lucy at the end reaches for spectacular profundity but lands with the thud. We’ve seen it all before.

Jan 9

Jan 9 Peter Jackson's “THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES”

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Fantasy, Monsters, Peter Jackson, War, Dragons

Peter Jackson and crew should be proud of what they and WETA have created.

Jan 7

Jan 7 Stuart Beattie’s I, FRANKENSTEIN

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Monsters, Popcorn, Ridiculous, Thriller

If you want to put your mind in “park” for 90 minutes this is the film for you!

Dec 11

Dec 11 Steven Knight's REDEMPTION

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Drama, Emotional, One of a Kind

This is not your typical Stathan action movie. I enjoyed it along with the excellent direction and beautiful nighttime photography. The thick English accents are a bit tough to follow at times but if you just follow the movement and the eyes you’ll be fine.

Oct 29
Oct 29 Todd Robinson's PHANTOM

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Cold War, Drama, Submarines, Thriller

Jul 27

Jul 27 José Padilha's ROBOCOP

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Cops, Drama, Robots, Science Fiction, Thriller

This new version, thankfully, is not quite so brutal and the plentiful action sequences don’t glory in gore and bloodsplatter the way, say, an EXPENDABLES film does.

Jul 17

Jul 17 Matt Reeves' DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Science Fiction

DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THEAPES effectively portrays a clash of civilizations and uses drama and technology to make this clash real.

Jul 9

Jul 9 Bong Joon Ho's "SNOWPIERCER"

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Korean, One of a Kind, Science Fiction, Thriller, War, Class Warfare

As a high concept sci-fi epic SNOWPIERCER takes the cake.

Jul 2

Jul 2 Doug Liman's EDGE OF TOMORROW

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Cruise, Fantasy, Science Fiction, Time Travel, War

I was unprepared for how really good this movie is.

Apr 24

Apr 24 John Ford's “THEY WERE EXPENDABLE”

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Another Time & Place, Classic, Drama, History, War, Pacific War

Compared with too many other World War II movies that came out of Hollywood during World War II THEY WERE EXPENDABLE is exceptional.

Apr 6

Apr 6 Keanu Reeves' MAN OF TAI CHI

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Chinese, Martial Arts

Keanu Reeves deserves praise for directing this film. The blend of serious action and engrossing story work extremely well here and raises this film way above the many run-of-the-mill fight films out there. Highly recommended.

Apr 2

Apr 2 Gavin Hood's ENDER'S GAME

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Disappointing, Monsters, Science Fiction, Space Travel

The first half of ENDER’S GAME plays like every “raw recruit boot camp” movie you’ve ever seen, punctuated by sequences about paintball in zero gravity.

Mar 21

Mar 21 David Twohy's RIDDICK

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Monsters, Science Fiction, Thriller, Riddick

If you want to see a tough guy with glowing eyes kick ass from dawn to dusk, this is the movie to see.

Mar 18

Mar 18 Christopher McQuarrie's JACK REACHER

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Cruise

Jack Reacher is another solid action film from Tom Cruise. It is well-written, tightly paced, and it has excellent photography and editing. Night-time photography is extremely well done with bright colors and clarity throughout.

Feb 10

Feb 10 Alexa Gajic's “TECHNOTISE: EDIT & I”

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Animated, Crime, Fantasy, Quirky, Robots, Science Fiction

Edit herself is an interesting mix of naïveté, intelligence, raw energy, and stubbornness. Why she hangs out with the losers she does is never fully explained but, taken together, they make up a very entertaining ride that has some of the most interesting technology animation this side of WALL•E.

Jan 24

Jan 24 Jon Wright's GRABBERS

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Comedy, Horror, Monsters

Jon Write’s GRABBERS is a very entertaining monster movie comedy. The story elements are fairly standard: meteor plunges into sea, creature crawls ashore and terrorizes small town, townspeople gather to fight the menace. The way these elements are assembled is original, fun, and occasionally, quite charming.

Jan 11

Jan 11 Tommy Wirkola's HANSEL & GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Horror, Monsters

Hansel and Gretel The Witch Hunters is a train wreck of a movie. You know something awful is happening but it’s hard to look away.

Dec 20

Dec 20 James Mangold's THE WOLVERINE

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Fantasy, Martial Arts, Marvel, Science Fiction

While I’ve enjoyed the X-Men movies they haven’t significantly resonated with me as I was never really invested in the Marvel universe. The Wolverine is an exception.

Oct 4

Oct 4 David Twohy's PITCH BLACK

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Horror, Monsters, Popcorn, Science Fiction, Riddick

I recently re-watched this scifi-horror film from 2000 and boy was I impressed.

Sep 11

Sep 11 Hark Tsui's “FLYING SWORDS OF DRAGON GATE”

Dennis D. McDonald

Action, Chinese, Martial Arts, Popcorn, Swordplay

Hark Tsui’s FLYING SWORDS OF DRAGON GATE at times reminded me of a Saturday morning cartoon. It’s almost Tom-and-Jerry-like in its portrayal of action and violence. Yet it’s immensely entertaining if only for its exotic locations, diverse costumes, visual splendor, and fascinating facial tattoos.