Director Michael Mann’s latest movie has come out, with promises that the former hand behind “Heat” would be able to spice up Hollywood with a new crime thriller (I tried very hard to avoid a pun using the word heat). With such a pedigree, I took my seat in the theater already shaking with excitement over the idea of...
I sat down to watch “Goosebumps” on the night of its premiere with no expectations whatsoever. Like many people whose childhoods spanned the mid-to-late ‘90s and early 2000s, I was familiar with the “Goosebumps” series of children’s horror books, but I had only completely read a few (though my brother owned nearly every entry in the series). The success...
As I stepped into the surprisingly spacious screening room of Downtown Riverside’s Culver Center, I expected “Martha Marcy May Marlene” to be a cookie-cutter psychological thriller. The independent film was released early 2011 at the Sundance Film Festival and only saw a limited release. What I saw instead was a film that is as much about questions of identity...
The “Rocky” film series has been around for a long time, with the first film released almost 40 years ago and its sequels spanning several decades following. After a nine year hiatus, “Creed” not only revitalized a franchise that was on a clear decline, but it evolved into something else entirely while still holding on to fond memories of...
“Ender’s Game” had a difficult journey getting to the big screen. The author of the original novel, Orson Scott Card, refused to give up the rights to the film for decades due to creative differences. But now that it was finally made, thousands of people vowed to boycott it due to Card’s homophobic views. Whatever his views might be,...
You know, if a real gangster decided to work for the cops, he would be killed in a gangland assassination if he didn’t enter witness protection. We all know that despite his claims about owning an AK-47 and boasting that he would “swarm on any motherfucker in a blue uniform,” Ice Cube isn’t a real gangster. He did appear...
Have you ever gone to a restaurant and enjoyed your food only to see your waiter licking all of the forks he lays down on the table, thus ruining your meal after you’ve already enjoyed it? Thankfully, “Chronicle” was nothing like that.
“Chronicle” is one of the year’s first anticipated sci-fi releases, directed by Josh Trank and written by Max...
Say what you want, but I am awfully grateful that we live in an age where countless young adult book series are transformed into insanely popular blockbuster hits — and no, that is not a sarcastic statement. Don't get me wrong, there have been many failed attempts at bringing these types of stories to life and there are always...
I have a confession to make: I like watching bad films. I take a sort of impish glee from seeing them, rolling my eyes and making snarky comments with my friends on the ride home. My ideal date is sitting at home, watching “Birdemic” or “Battlefield Earth.” I’ve seen “The Room” in theaters. My hobby has given me a...
As a young lass plopped in front of a VHS player and mini television combo, my third bowl of sugary cereal in hand, I discovered the wonder of violence and thrill that dinosaurs can instill in human beings. Star struck by the cunning velociraptors and, of course, Dr. Ian Malcolm’s sculpted chest (bless Spielberg for the fanservice), I never...