The only thing worse than a found-footage movie is a sequel to a found-footage movie that strays from the formula that defined the others. It didn’t work with Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, and it certainly fails with Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones. For better or worse, the previous four films in this series […]
One of the worst three-day periods in the history of our country is recounted when a local hospital gets the unbelievable call to treat a mortally wounded president in Parkland. A part of our country died along with a fallen president in November of 1963. It left an indelible mark on our history and anyone […]
A protective father takes matters into his own hands when he comes to the realization that the police aren’t willing to do what’s necessary to help recover his missing daughter in Prisoners. Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman) and his wife Grace (Maria Bello) live a typical western Pennsylvania suburban lifestyle. They’re religious, conservative types who enjoy […]
About halfway through watching Insidious: Chapter 2, I realized exactly how to think about this subgenre of horror movies. This sequel, the original Insidious, the recent The Conjuring and so many others are really the film equivalent of a walkthrough haunted house that you might visit around Halloween in sites across the country, including transformed amusement […]
Two recently assigned London attorneys try to defend their client, accused of terrorism, and realize that all is not as it seems in the tense thriller Closed Circuit. An alleged terrorist is arrested and accused of being the mastermind behind a brutal bombing that killed more than 120 in the heart of London. Martin Rose […]
Eggs and soldiers is a British breakfast treat in which boiled eggs have the tops lopped off so that toast sticks (the “soldiers”) can be dipped in the runny yellow part. I never heard about this method of serving eggs until I saw it in a movie. Although it’s unusual to us Yanks, I would […]
Great horror films are rare these days, and ghost stories are even rarer. The most memorable ghost story in recent years is The Orphanage by director J.A. Bayona and writer Sergio G. Sánchez, who were also the director and writer of last year’s The Impossible. It’s hard to get chills just right in a movie, […]
A noted paranormal investigation couple come to the rescue of a family whose new home transforms from dream to nightmare in the new horror film The Conjuring. In 1971, the Perron family scraped together everything they had to buy their first home in a beautifully wooded area of Rhode Island. This family of seven, including five daughters, […]
The conflict between Jews and Arabs has been going on for so long that problems are just expected and dealt with on a daily basis in Israel and elsewhere in the Middle East. Such friction is made even worse when a trusted citizen becomes the target of hatred and prejudice after events that implicate him in […]
The new film Now You See Me starts off with a wonderful opening scene involving some great examples of the craft in a real-world setting. We meet four solo — but very talented — magicians who each use magic for their own personal gain until, one day, they’re compelled to come together for the biggest feat of […]
As a huge fan of magic, I couldn’t wait for Now You See Me after I saw the trailer. Here was an attempt to use magic in a heist film to pull off the robberies. If it worked, it would be brilliant. If it failed, it would fail brilliantly. Unfortunately, things are never quite as […]
James McAvoy stars as a cash-strapped art auctioneer who pulls off a stunning heist of a top painting only to forget where he stashed it in the new Danny Boyle film, Trance. McAvoy’s character, Simon, works at a high-end auction firm and knows the complexities involved in trying to make off with a priceless painting. […]