Released: March 7, 2014. Directed by: Noam Murro. Starring: Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey. Runtime: 102 min. 300: Rise of an Empire is a good sequel to Zack Snyder's 2007 film, 300. There are sequels, prequels, and the odd sort-of meanwhile adventures movie, and this happens to be all three. It's a prequel because [...]
Month: March 2014
Product review: Samsung 32″ Class LED Smart HDTV
This is my first product review, so I hope I get my thoughts across as well as I can. This is a review of a Samsung 32" Class LED Smart HDTV, which I got the other month on this cool site called Argos. Oh, and the direct link to their TVs page is this. It [...]
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
Released: August 21, 2013. Directed by: Harald Zwart. Starring: Lily Collins, Jamie Campbell Bower, Robert Sheehan. Runtime: 130 min. "The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones" is a bad, silly and largely unoriginal young adult adaptation. It takes components from many other young adult novels - classic love triangle, vampires, a bunch of mythical creatures, and [...]
The To Do List (2013)
Released: July 26, 2013. Directed by: Maggie Carey. Starring: Aubrey Plaza, Johnny Simmons, Bill Hader. Runtime: 104 min. "The To Do List" is an occasionally funny film but, when it's not that funny, it's intensely boring. And that's too often for it to tell a compelling story. The premise is reminiscent of "American Pie" with [...]
Son of God (2014)
Released: February 28, 2014. Directed by: Christopher Spencer. Starring: Diogo Morgado, Amber Rose Revah, Sebastian Knapp. Runtime: 138 min. "Son of God" is one of those films where one's personal enjoyment is determined by their faith. That's because this film depicts the life story of Jesus Christ, from his birth, to his teachings, to his [...]
Box Office Predictions: March 7-9
While "The Lego Movie" is still going strong, this weekend is seeing a release of some straight competition for it: "Mr. Peabody and Sherman." It's an animated time travel family comedy that looks like fun. Similar films open at $38.1 million, and I think this has potential to hit around there, probably not pass $40 [...]
The Lords of Salem (2013)
Released: April 19, 2013. Directed by: Rob Zombie. Starring: Sheri Moon Zombie, Meg Foster, Bruce Davison. Runtime: 101 min. "The Lords of Salem" reminds me of the pacing that "The Sixth Sense" had - slow pacing, but it intensely builds little by little. It also reminds me of it because both don't have a lack [...]
Non-Stop (2014)
Released: February 28, 2014. Directed by: Jaume Collet-Serra. Starring: Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy. Runtime: 106 min. As a film filled with enough red herrings to keep you guessing the whole way through, "Non-Stop" works as an effective mystery. It proposes the idea of what would happen if a trusted figure of authority turned [...]
The Book Thief (2013)
Released: November 27, 2013. Directed by: Brian Percival. Starring: Sophie Nélisse, Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson. Runtime: 131 min. "The Book Thief" follows a curious German twelve year-old named Liesel (Sophie Nélisse) during one of the most interesting time periods in history: the second World War, and a few years prior to it. Newly adopted by [...]
The Nut Job (2014)
Released: January 17, 2014. Directed by: Peter Lepeniotis. Starring: Will Arnett, Brendan Fraser, Liam Neeson. Runtime: 85 min. Apparently, it takes three writers, two to write the screenplay and one to think of the story, to write a really bad animated movie tailored mostly for the kids' enjoyment. There's three mildly amusing laughs, but that's [...]
