ShowbizJunkies

Reviewed by Kevin Finnerty “You want a player who doesn’t have the guts to fight back?,” asks Jackie Robinson (Chadwick Boseman) to Brooklyn Dodgers owner Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford) “No. I want a player with the guts NOT to fight back,” replies Rickey in the dramatic film 42. 42 tells the life story of Jackie [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, Sobering Conclusion With a track record like Trainspotting, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, Slumdog Millionaire, and 127 Hours, director Danny Boyle is someone for whom I keep my eye out. Seeing that he had Trance releasing in April, I was hopeful there’d be a bright light in the movie tunnel in the [...]

Reviewed by Kevin Finnerty “Mia, what are you doing? Put down the gun!,” says David (Shiloh Fernandez) to his sister who should be passed out in her room after being given sedatives to help her sleep. “You’re all going to die tonight,” replies Mia (Jane Levy) in a disturbing voice because she has been possessed [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, Sobering Conclusion Much like with director/co-writer Derek Cianfrance’s last and much-lauded effort, Blue Valentine, my own estimation of the end result for his latest, The Place Beyond the Pines, is a mixed bag.   He’s once again teamed up with Ryan Gosling but as the story is broken into an epic [...]

Reviewed by Kevin Finnerty “Her name is Melanie Stryder, she was born in Louisiana. Her family escaped the colonization…NO!” That’s Wanderer (Saoirse Ronan), an alien life form, being interrupted by Melanie (also Saoirse Ronan), the human she’s taken over to try to find what’s left of the resistance, in the science fiction adventure/romance film The [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, Sobering Conclusion Those familiar with the G.I. Joe cartoon know their famous rallying cry of “Yo Joe!” and those who suffer through the newly released G.I. Joe: Retaliation might want to change that to “No Joe!” instead. Hmmm … that’s kinda weak.   Wait, wait, I have another one. So it’s [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, Sobering Conclusion Those handling the release of Ginger & Rosa made sure it qualified for last year’s awards’ season even though the wide release wouldn’t happen until now. Whether they figured 2012 was such a flat year it was their best change or simply couldn’t secure wider distribution, I never bothered [...]

Reviewed by Ian Forbes, Sobering Conclusion Parents with small children likely to be emotionally scarred by the vicious flying monkeys of Oz the Great and Powerful now have a much more appropriate film to share with the family: The Croods. Also, unlike director Sam Raimi’s lackluster prequel, this movie’s actually fun.   The premise is [...]

Reviewed by Kevin Finnerty “I’m Guy, this is Belt. We need to leave immediately, the world is ending. Everything we’re standing on right here will be gone…I’m calling it the End,” says Guy (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) to Eep Crood (voiced by Emma Stone) in the prehistoric animated/adventure film The Croods.   Her whole life [...]

Reviewed by Kevin Finnerty “Your ticket sales suck,” says Doug Munny (James Gandolfini) to Burt Wonderstone (Steve Carell) and his partner in magic for 30 years Anton Marvelton (Steve Buscemi), explaining why he’s considering canceling their contract and hiring flavor of the month street and cable television magician Steve Gray (Jim Carrey) in the comedy [...]