That would be bad, however, because Marvel has saved the best for last. It’s miles better than that Norse god with the magic hammer, and just a hair below the greatness of Robert Downey Jr.’s first go-round in his iron armor, both of whom will team with Cap in next summer’s guaranteed nerdgasm, “The Avengers.” […]
Battle: Los Angeles
Posted inArts & Culture
The Mechanic
Fresh from the all-star “The Expendables,” Statham takes over Charles Bronson’s role from the 1972 “Mechanic” as Arthur, the title’s hit man for hire who is ordered to off his wealthy mentor (Donald Sutherland, TV’s “The Pillars of the Earth”) and then, feeling guilty, takes the man’s destitute son, Steve (Ben Foster, “Pandorum”), under his […]
Posted inNews
‘Quit writing like a crank’
In regards to “Battle: Los Angeles,” there is a class of films that are violent fantasies, including such film masterpieces as “Battle: LA,” “300,” “Alien vs. Predator” and every film ever made by the governor of the state you love to hate. These movies do not enlighten us, instruct us on moral values, or generally […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Lincoln Lawyer
In “The Lincoln Lawyer,” Mick Haller (Matthew McConaughey, “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past”) skates along with one foot on the ethical side and the other, not so much. Haller has no office, but operates out of his car’s backseat, hence the title. His clients tend to be on the lowlife side: bikers, hookers, dealers. A few […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Battle: Los Angeles
If the alien-invasion flick often looks like a video game, that’s because it’s written like one (as in barely), as a loose string of missions for its gung-ho Marines: Rescue civilians from a police station; take them to safety; destroy the mother ship. That’s the simple-structured path for our cardboard, interchangeable heroes, led by a […]