VioletEyedDragon (Level 20)

Always believable while tackling major issues, riveting without being showy, and deeply moving without being dull to watch, Mud is one of those rare films that is truly great.EllisEllis is a boy living in the swampy, bayou-y part of Arkansas that most people call the Louisiana Bayou (though technically, he ...

Baz Luhrman does the near-impossible task of taking a tragedy for the modern age and elevating it into a big-budget, continuously engrossing spectacle that retains all of its source material’s depth and craftsmanship.Nick Carraway, the protagonist of both the film and the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic novel it is based ...

Director Fede Alvarez smashes onto the scene with a wildly entertaining picture that has pretty much everything you would want from a modern day horror film. He knows when the picture should be scary, when it should be funny, and--most importantly--he knows the importance of telling an actual story.David, Eric, ...

This is one of the dumbest films I’ve seen. There is no logic, sense, or coherency to anything the characters do, both morally and practically. That also applies to the filmmakers.In the near future, the Earth has been conquered by aliens that take control of people’s minds. Melanie Stryder was ...

Antoine Fuqua brings his fantastic skills as a director of gritty crime dramas to make a high-profile action blockbuster that retains the intense, R-rated, realistic, and believable vibe of his earlier movies. The result is a film that is tremendously entertaining while not being so far-fetched as to prevent audiences ...

Right up until the last fifteen minutes or so, The Call is a cool, plausible thriller with a Hitchcock-esque tone. It isn’t amazing or profound or even particularly original, but it was entertaining, engrossing, and believable. This makes it particularly frustrating that the filmmakers throw it all away with a ...

The trailers for Dead Man Down suggest is is a stylish revenge tale with Taken-esque action scenes. I think the rather underwhelming reaction to the picture has to do with the inaccurate genre the marketing placed this film in. Dead Man Down is a slow, suspenseful thriller that is firmly ...

It has gaping plot holes, no depth, dozens of cliches, a far-too-short runtime, and numerous other flaws, but I’d be lying if I said this family-oriented action adventure wasn’t entertaining.Jack the Giant-Slayer is a retelling of the classic story--A young peasant in medieval Europe travels up a beanstalk and battles ...

Another election year has come to a close, and if there is one thing the year-long battle has reminded us of, it’s that we really hate politics. Democracy has an enormous amount of benefits, but it’s crucial flaw is that it requires the people to come together and debate, compromise, ...

With the pretty visuals, surprisingly funny moments, and so many characters you barely notice that nothing happens in the whole movie. Nothing can excuse that anti-climactic ending, though.When we last saw the Twilight Universe, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) had chosen the vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) over the werewolf Jacob ...

Despite its considerable flaws, Red Dawn is an incredibly entertaining, satisfyingly patriotic action flick that perfectly captures the spirit of the original.Red Dawn (2012) is a remake of Red Dawn (1984). The 1984 version told the story of a group of high schoolers and college kids who form a band ...

The ability of End of Watch to take what is essentially a simple story and make it such an emotional tribute to the police force lies with the engaging, genuine relationship between its central characters.David Ayer writes two kind of movies: fast-paced action-comedies like The Fast and the Furious (the ...

FYI: This is an absurdly long movie review. Whether you are reading this on my blog or on Screened, please know that my other reviews are shorter.Crafting a comedy is a very difficult thing to do. If the filmmakers truly go for every joke and try to make every moment ...

A dark, powerful, and ultimately uplifting drama, Being Flynn is one of those truly great pictures.Writer/director Paul Weitz’s last work was Little Fockers, which would make you think he is a bad filmmaker. This is not true—he wrote Antz and was both writer and director on the excellent About a ...

It is shallow even by action blockbuster standards, but The Expendables 2 is well executed schlock and contagiously fun.Except for Mickey Rourke, all of the original Expendables—Sylvester Stallone (who also wrote the movie), Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Terry Crews, and Randy Couture—return (along with Liam Hemsworth), opening the ...