Feb 28 2014

Non-Stop

Alcoholic, depressed, and caught in a self imposed tailspin, air marshal Bill Marks (Liam Neeson) is a target for airline terrorist/hijackers. While crossing the Atlantic Bill is called to action as a series of mysterious text messages indicates certain death to passengers aboard his flight; that is unless Bill is able to transfer $150 million into an off-shore account. Relying on his own pure resourcefulness, and the good nature of one passenger (Julianne Moore) and a flight attendant (Michelle Dockery), Bill might just be able to stop a major catastrophe, then again, hey may already be too late. nonstop This is a bit of a curiosity, while the story itself isn’t exactly the sharpest and the overall dialogue has the tendency to induce eye rolls, the acting strength of Neeson and Moore alone is just enough to pull up on the yoke and keep this popcorn chomper from turning into a total nosedive. Meanwhile, hopes of a mind bending psychological thriller hang in the air like a fog (thinking Fight Club here), sadly as we near the final act these hopes dissipate as cheap thrills are what keep this no brainer aloft. Bottom line, great cinema, no, entertaining for what it is, yes; just don’t think too hard on the plot and be prepared to fist pump U-S-A! U-S-A! Non-Stop is rated PG-13.


Feb 21 2014

3 Days to Kill

Seasoned CIA spook/cleaner Ethan Renner (Kevin Costner) is a highly skilled badass for the U.S.; but, with the recent diagnosis of a fatal cancer, his outlook on life is shifted amd a desire to connect to his wife and daughter is now a priority. Alas top agent Vivi Delay (Amber Heard) has other plans for Ethan, she needs him to stop one more set of international terrorists, The Albino and The Wolf (Tomas Lemarquis, Richard Sammel). Balancing home life and work life has never been easy for Ethan, but perhaps this last job will pay off with big dividends?3daystokill Partially written by Luc Besson this latest spy/action thriller has all the bits we’ve come to expect from films such as Taken, Die Hard, The Transporter and so on; unfortunately, the actual dialogue and execution of all of these bits just comes across as stale, formulaic, derivative, and laugh worthy. Meanwhile the discord between plot lines and haphazard story structure makes things messier, by the final act eye rolls and question marks probably sum things up best. Questionable editing and production choices increase the cheap factor further. More of a rental or a pass all together. 3 Days to Kill is rated PG-13.


Feb 14 2014

Winter’s Tale

Orphaned at birth and raised by crooks, Peter Lake (Colin Farrell) is a mortal but talented criminal with little direction. Now hunted by his teacher who happens to be a demon, Pearly Soames (Russell Crowe), Peter is in a race for his life. But it’s the love of a redheaded girl, Beverly Penn (Jessica Brown Findlay), who put’s Peter’s world in a spin. Guided by guardian angels and his love for a quickly deceased Beverly, Peter’s quest and purpose to save a life is a journey that travels decades. It’s good versus evil with a string of love that pulls throughout, will Peter and Beverly every be re-united? winterstale At its core it’s a supernatural love story with angels, demons, and the god force told in a ridiculously porous nature with extra schmaltz slathered on everything. Giant plot holes give way to laughably bad scripting, and poor special effects add further insult to the end product. Most impressive though is the fact that despite the cast and crew who worked on this project, there isn’t a better film to show for it. Bring your butter knife for the Cheez Whiz, pass. Winter’s Tale is rated PG-13.