ANT-MAN (2015)

Nothing awful about this entry in the Marvel franchise featuring a hero who, via an incredible super-suit, can shrink to the size of a bug to fight crime, his strength, stamina and speed increasing proportionately when he shrinks.  The film moves well, has some nice special effects, comedy and action sequences, and benefits from a dramatic Michael Douglas as the man who invented the technology, who gets ex-con Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) to wear the suit so he can steal his own tech back from the very company that ousted him, before a new hot-shot can adapt it for evil.  The problem is, the film is just sort of ... bland.  You don't dislike Lang, but he's not that likable, either.  The story and effects are really nothing we haven't seen versions of before.  And well-done as it is, the film only truly glows whenever the hilarious Michael Pena is on-screen; he steals every scene he's in.  Otherwise, again, not a bad film; just ... another notch on Marvel's belt that simply feels too rote.  Or maybe I'm getting burnt out on superhero films. (rated PG-13)  B-

L.A. SLASHER (2015)

After seeing the repulsive Kevin Smith film Tusk (the worst film I've ever seen, in all these decades of watching movies) last year, I was thinking I might escape 2015 without seeing something so bad, it made me nearly angry watching it.  Then along came L.A. Slasher.  Marketed as a dark comedy-horror-crime film, the movie is about a mysteriously-masked killer in a white suit and shaggy dark hair, who snaps and starts kidnapping and/or offing reality-TV "celebrities" - to the delight of his social media fans, who spur him on to do more/worse.  The film seems tongue-in-cheek at first, but right away degrades into weird torture horror, made all the more ridiculous by its over-the-top lack of - no pun intended - reality (seriously, no one dislikes reality-TV more than me, but the public's reaction to the killer's actions are just nuts).  Struggling to get through the last twenty minutes, it's no Tusk ... but definitely my least favorite piece-of-crap film for 2015. (rated R)  F

L.A. SLASHER trailer

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993)

Just one of many - many -revered animated films I'd not previously seen, The Nightmare Before Christmas is about what happens when the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, Jack Skellington, seeks to alleviate the boredom of doing the same thing every year - and stumbles into Christmas Town, where the bright colors, happy children, and "Sandy Claws" show him a whole new way of life.  Back home, he's determined to find out the secrets behind Christmas, and turns Halloween Town into a mash-up of the two holidays - a plan that involves kidnapping Sandy Claws and taking his place to deliver presents around the world.  Love the music, the stop-motion animation is brilliant to look at, a budding romance doesn't intrude on the story, the film is very funny, and I have to admit I got hooked on a certain trio of really rotten siblings, alone.  Great film, very sorry it took so long to see it; one of my favorites seen in 2015. (rated PG)  A

UNNATURAL (2015)

When I was about 14 I caught the film Grizzly in a theater, and have been sort of hooked on killer wildlife movies since.  Unnatural (aka Maneater) offers nothing new via story: snotty photographer and his put-upon assistant and two models arrive at an isolated Alaskan lodge for a three-day photo shoot - just in time for a nearby research center, owned by an Evil Corporation that claims to be eco-friendly, to be torn apart by a very big, very genetically-altered polar bear that's very thirsty for blood.  Even with the stock plot I really enjoyed this film; it's a fun "monster flick" that builds up good suspense and action with limited gore, at the same time giving viewers one really awesome-looking, bad-ass polar bear that doesn't look all CGI or like some dude in a suit!  For that reason alone, this was just plain fun (if these are your type of movies), with an ending that at least tries to step away from the cliche a bit. (rated R)  B

UNNATURAL trailer

SECRETLY, GREATLY (2013)

Dong-gu (Kim Soo-hyun, in a stellar performance) is sort of the village idiot in his shantytown neighborhood in Seoul.  He wears the same green track suit every day, falls down a lot, gets picked on by neighborhood kids, and is always grinning like a doofus, laughing at nothing in particular.  He lives above a small store run by an elderly lady who's sort of taken him in - but what she (in fact no one) knows is that Dong-gu is actually Captain Won Ryu-hwan, a highly-trained, very deadly North Korean spy who has been undercover for two years now, in the simpleton character his government set up for him, awaiting orders.  When two other young guys, secret agents from the north, show up in town as well, Won is sure their missions are about to be realized ... but when the notice comes, it not what any of them expects.  The first half of this film plays like a comedy - and it is both funny and touching - but then the film flips and you're watching a full-fledged spy thriller; one that, in the end, left me crying so hard. the tears were still flowing when I went to bed later that night.  One amazing movie, with a dynamite cast.  Just have tissues.  Lots of them. (not rated)  A

SECRETLY, GREATLY trailer

CUPCAKES (2013)

Six friends/neighbors in Tel Aviv - Ofer, a gay male who runs a daycare for kids, and his five best lady friends - get together every week to watch the UniverSong competitions on TV.  Bemoaning the lack of great tunes on the show (and to cheer up Anat, whose husband has just left her), the group comes up with an impromptu, upbeat song, which one of them records on her phone.  As a joke, Ofer sends the song into UniverSong, the group shocked beyond belief when it's chosen to represent Israel in the following year's competition!  Can they form a polished singing group, despite their jobs and the objections of family and friends, in time to ... maybe even win?  Cupcakes is so much fun, positive, life-affirming and colorful, full of characters that grow deeply on you and a life philosophy/theme running through the film it's too bad more people don't embrace.  A wonderful, funny film that will also tug at your heartstrings. (not rated)  A-

CUPCAKES trailer

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (2015)

Directed by Guy Ritchie (who tends to make films that go fairly bonkers on-screen), the film version of the 1960's hit TV series stars Henry Cavill as ex-thief/current top CIA agent Napoleon Solo, who is sent into East Berlin to extract a young female mechanic (Alicia Vikander) whose scientist father may be helping an enemy organization build an atomic bomb.  Solo is greatly hindered in the escape by Russian KGB agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer), though he makes it out with the girl - only to learn he must now team with Kuryakin (who has over-the-top anger issues) on a top-secret mission to rescue the doctor and retrieve all information on the bomb.  The film totally evokes 1963, from fashion to politics, and while Cavill still comes off a bit like a block of wood on-screen, Hammer is terrific as the conflicted Russian agent.  A top-notch spy film with touches of humor and chutzpah (a Guy Ritchie trademark), while not perfect it's a wonderful homage to both the era and the spy thriller, all done tongue very much in cheek - and more than worthy of a sequel. (rated PG-13)  B+

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015)

There is a lot going on in Avengers: Age of Ultron.  A LOT.  Director/writer Joss Whedon seems to throw everything but the kitchen sink into this one, starting with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.)'s ambition to use Loki's recovered scepter (retrieved via an opening action sequence so saturated in CGI, it'll make you dizzy) to revive a peacekeeping program so the Avengers are no longer needed.  Things go belly up, of course, creating the evil Ultron and putting the world - and it's greatest superheroes - in more ka-ka than ever before.  Though not as good as the first (certainly not as brilliant as Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Whedon pushes all the right buttons here in regards the superhero flick - tons of action, bad guys who might be good guys, and CGI up the wazoo - and it's fun while it last, but in the end you're left with the sense of "seen it all before."  A must-see for any superhero film junkie, definitely; maybe not so much for those of us who seek something more beyond the visuals. (rated PG-13)  B

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON trailer

THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI (1920)

One of silent film era's most iconic masterpieces, to finally see The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari in a restored version on Netflix (see the 71-minute version, if you can!) was a genuine treat.  The film opens with the handsome young Francis, sitting on a bench recounting to a friend the story behind the odd, near-ethereal behavior of his fiancee Jane; back to the annual fair in Holstenwall, when Francis and his friend Alan attended the sideshow-like attraction of Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist patient Cesare, who has been sleeping all his 20+ years in a cabinet, only awakening by Caligari long enough to predict the future.  That day, Cesare predicts Alan will die by morning - and when Alan is, in fact, murdered overnight, Francis is sure the madman Caligari and Cesare are behind it.  A dark, brooding "photo-play" filmed on exaggerated theatrical sets - giving it an extra sense of madness - make this German production an engrossing must-see, ... nearly a hundred years after it was made! (unrated)  A-

MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO (1988)

Forever on my to-be-watched list was My Neighbor Totoro.  Beautifully, simply animated, the film is the story of two young girls, Satsuki and her little sister Mei, who've just relocated to a small but cozy home in the country with their father, to be closer to their ailing mother (currently receiving care in a nearby hospital).  The father/daughters bond in the film is sweet and genuine, the girls happy and eager to explore their new surroundings - and it's when Mei discovers that the nearby forest is the home of mystical creatures who resemble the "Totoros" in one of her picture books do the girls discover a world full of wonder and adventure.  The film is short on plot - there are no "villains" to defeat, or violence or ticking clocks of doom - which makes this terrific, touching, and funny story so much more brilliant; none of that is needed in light of characters you care about, and the smile that wraps itself around your heart as you watch, whether child or adult. (rated G)  A

THE GREAT MAGICIAN (2011)

Set in the years after the 1911 revolution that deposed the Qing Dynasty, China is now divided among a group of bickering warlords constantly fighting with each other.  One of them, Bully Lei, has a second-in-command using magic to force convicts and the poor to joining their army ... even as he secretly plots to help bring back the Empire, himself.  Enter the mysterious stranger Chang Hsien (Tony Leung Chiu Wai, the "Clark Gable of China" and one of the finest actors in film ever), a master of magic somehow connected to Bully Lei's seventh (and most uncooperative) wife - a young, beautiful woman Bully originally kidnapped, whose icy veneer will only melt when Bully finds her missing father.  Great touches of comedy here, especially in the end, and the magic tricks/effects are superb.  A great cast makes things fun as well, and while I think the film runs a little long (could have been edited down just a bit), it's such fun to watch ... and Tony Leung Chiu Wai, as always, fascinates whenever he's on-screen. (not rated)  B-

THE RAVEN (1935)

Boris Karloff.  Bela Lugosi.  No other review really needed; even in their hokiest of B-movies, either of these horror icons is worth watching.  Here much more so - in a creepy, very atmospheric (even by today's standards), at times melodramatic film about a brilliant and famous surgeon obsessed with Edgar Allan  Poe, Dr. Richard Vollin (Lugosi), who is the only hope for a beautiful dancer (Irene Ware) who lies in a coma after a bad car accident.  Saving the girl, Vollin finds himself growing obsessed with her - regardless of the woman's finance and disapproving father - and when escaped killer Edmond Bateman (Karloff) shows up at his door seeking a new face to replace his ugly one, Vollin sees the man as his shot at getting the girl - and torturing and killing anyone who gets in his way.  The Raven was controversial in its day for its frank discussion of torture and death, and even now still has its elements of creepiness right up through the still-pulse-pounding last ten minutes.  Great film. (unrated)  B+

THE RAVEN trailer

SPOOKS: THE GREATER GOOD/MI-5 (2015)

Not having seen the series, I went into this one totally green (and mostly out of my fanboy love of Kit Harington).  So this review is strictly for the stand-alone film - a terrific spy thriller about the betrayals and machinations going on behind-the-scenes at London's MI-5, after known terrorist Qasim (the brilliant Elyes Gabel) escapes during a routine transport in the city.  The escape is seen as a huge goof to the American CIA, who were most after Qasim and want to oversee MI-5 as it is, and disgraced MI-5 head of counter-intelligence Harry Pearce (Peter Firth) even commits suicide over the gaffe.  Or does he?  Young, decommissioned (by Pearce) former agent Will Holloway (Harington), the only known connection to the now-in-hiding Pearce, is brought back in and talked into finding his former boss - at which time Holloway also learns that nothing, or no one, may be what it seems ... even Harry.  A first-rate, heart-racing spy movie with a great cast, made especially emotional for me as I saw it the day after the terrorist attacks in Paris.  Awesome, complex film. (rated R)  A-

THE ARISTOCATS (1970)

A rich French widow and former singer, totally enamored of her cat Duchess and Duchess's three kittens, rewrites her will so her beloved cats will always be cared for, her estate otherwise going to faithful butler Edgar when they're gone.  Problems arise when Edgar gets wind of his potential windfall and spirits the cats out of the house, taking them way into the countryside and dropping them off in a basket as they sleep.  There, Duchess and her children are discovered by worldly tomcat Thomas O'Malley, who along with a slew of other animals they meet along the way helps the cats return home, even as Edgar plots to cover his tracks.  Funny, sweet, and with some truly lovable characters (voiced by equally lovable character actors), along with some great jazz tunes and a quite funny final "chase" scene, The Aristocats is a great addition to Disney's classic animation (so cool, seeing hand-drawn animation again for first time in awhile!) - one I'm sorry it took this long for me to see. (rated G)  A-

HOWL (2015)

An indie British thriller hearkening back to the Hammer horror hey-days, Howl stars Ed Speleers as Joe, a good-guy train conductor just passed over for another promotion, who finds himself working a double shift when someone doesn't show for the midnight train heading out.  Oh well, at least the pretty female co-worker who sells the commuters food and drink on the train is working, too; a good thing, as the passengers are kind of surly.  But they're nothing compared to when the train hits something and is forced to a stop in the middle of some woods - the driver disappears - and Joe and the others soon realize there is something out there, something prowling under the light of a full moon and trying to find its way in.  Low budget and a bit schlocky in places, with some stereotypical horror film characters, Howl is still a crazy, quite fun ride through werewolf country, with decent performances and good effects and some truly nail-biting moments.  If nothing else, it will certainly make you think twice before taking another late-night commuter train home. (unrated)  B

HOWL trailer

FANTASTIC FOUR (2015)

So much hate against this film - the story of Reed Richards (Miles Teller), who as a child developed a prototype for a teleporter.  Now in high school and still working the dream with long-term buddy Ben Grimm (Jamie Bell), Reed is recruited by Dr. Franklin Storm (Reg E. Cathey) and his daughter Sue (Kate Mara) for their school, where Reed furthers his research with fellow trailblazing student Victor Von Doom (Toby Kebbell), creating a teleporter large enough for human trials.  But an experiment that sends the gang (including Sue's brother Johnny, played by Michael B. Jordan) to another dimension ends in disaster, the friends infused with incredible mutations the government soon sees as assets to their military.  At 100 minutes, the problem with FF is it plays like a pre-opening credits prologue; it's nearly all set-up, nothing really happening until the last fifteen minutes (not to mention the unforgivably cornball final scene).  Not awful, just more like ... Mediocre Four. (rated PG-13)  C

LET US PREY (2014)

Let Us Prey is set in a small, desolate Scottish town that seems to have virtually been deserted.  It's Rachel's first night on the local police force there, one that becomes eventful when the station is visited by a mysterious bearded man whose arrival sets in motion a night of mind games and violence as he seems to purposeful bring out the absolute worst demons in those who come into contact with him.  While not particularly scary, the film is violent and bloody in a joyously over-the-top way, while building up the deeper meaning behind what's going on ... but the ending is a mess (literally and figuratively), and overall the film - for me - was seriously ugly and dour, without a single character worth caring or rooting for.  Very mixed feelings on this one, but overall - nah. (unrated)  C-

LET US PREY trailer (RedBand - Adult Language/Scenes)