Considering the vastness and intricacies of David Mitchell’s novel, turning “Cloud Atlas” into a movie took considerable work and strategy to make it connect with the audience and required top-notch actors. In short, “Cloud Atlas” is a combination of six stories spanning from the South Pacific to the far future of Neo-Seoul to the post-apocalyptic future.
...
Chasing Mavericks by directors Michael Apted and Curtis Hanson was released Oct. 26. The sports drama is based on a true story set in 1994 about Jay Moriarty, a fifteen-year-old boy who seeks the help of local surfing legend, Frosty Hesson, after discovering the mythic Maverick surf break off the California coast. The film features Gerard Butler as Frosty,...
What the filmmakers forgot to tell the public about “Paranormal Activity 4” is that it’s really a moral story about how taking a phone call while your six-year-old is sitting in a bubble bath is a bad idea. Okay, it’s not exactly a moral story, but it’s just as stale as one. Whereas Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (“Catfish,”...
Blumhouse Productions is making quite a name for itself for delivering horror hits such as “Paranormal Activity” and the well-received “Insidious.” The studio’s latest endeavor, “Sinister,” is a welcomed relief this Halloween season—a departure away from the usual gory slasher-flick that dominates the American horror genre. One of the greatest pleasures (or terrors) of watching “Sinister” is the overwhelming...
After watching this movie, it’s a fair assumption that either director/screenwriter Martin McDonagh (“In Bruges”) or his marketing has some issues with basic arithmetic and vocabulary. The trailer released for “Seven Psychopaths” promised us exactly that—seven psychopaths. To specify: No.1 the seemingly normal one (Colin Farrell), No.2 his best friend (Sam Rockwell), No.3 the one with issues (Woody Harrelson),...
It’s not common that you see a movie that combines comedy with Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). You usually get a sports comedy film that focuses on basketball, football or baseball, but never mixed martial arts. Frank Coraci (director of “The Wedding Singer” and “The Waterboy”) comes together with Adam Sandler’s production company, Happy Madison, in order to create this...
Through most of film history, audiences have been attracted to films based on true stories. They want to see something that really happened and feel like they were there. Though these films often exaggerate or change certain parts of events for drama, the point is usually to dramatize the plot while sticking loosely to details for better cinematic effect....
Stepping up to the box office four years after “Taken,” “Taken 2” had the potential to improve upon the foundation laid down by its predecessor. At least it did until Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen co-authored what, as film critic Kenneth Turan notes, appears as more of a remake of the 2008 blockbuster than its sequel. Whereas “Taken”...
Director Genndy Tartakovsky (creator of Dexter's Laboratory and Samurai Jack) introduces audiences to the latest and rather unfortunate spin on the classic exemplar of vampire legends, Dracula. Instead of stalking the night for warm-blooded victims and beautiful young women, this modern-day Count Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) is presented in a kid friendly package along with a menagerie of...
The undeniably talented Ira Glass, known for his work on “This American Life,” a radio show about real people and their real lives, has taken his work to the big screen with his film, “Sleepwalk With Me.” The film follows comedian Mike Birbiglia, fictionalized as Matt Pandamiglio, as he attempts to make a career as a comedian. However, the...