Arts and Culture (Movie Reviews)

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 5/16/13

Disconnect

Put your cell phone down now!

In a world where you can talk to someone on the other side of the planet with a few strokes on a computer, why is it so difficult to take time to speak to the person in front of you? That’s the question Disconnect poses in three intertwining stories about the distance created by technology. Conclusion: Lonely people would rather confess their secrets to strangers than form connections to the people in their lives. Teen boys Jason (Colin Ford) and...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 5/9/13

Iron Man 3

We examine the man behind the iron suit in this fun, nonsensical action flick

After saving the world from alien invaders with his Avenger pals, billionaire playboy/part-time super-suit inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.: The Avengers) is having trouble sleeping. It seems that a wormhole full of vicious invaders, a brush with death and the enormity of being Iron Man have caught up with the usually unflappable superhero. Stark treats his PTSD by refusing to discuss his trauma and spending long nights tinkering on new versions of the Iron Man suit....

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 5/2/13

The Big Wedding

I saw this movie, so you don’t have to

The Big Wedding is a special romantic comedy. It is a movie so vapid, so devoid of genuine emotion and so mind-numbingly dull that it is, in actuality, an achievement in bad filmmaking. After a few minutes of this dreck, you begin to wonder whether or not this movie is in fact some elaborate prank. It must be acknowledged that writer/director Justin Zackham (Going Greek) has accomplished the impossible: he’s found a way to fracture time, making this 90-minute film feel like it stretches...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 4/25/13

Mud

Two boys learn the ugly truth about life and love in this coming-of-age drama

What would you do if you found a boat in a tree? Fourteen-year-old Ellis (Tye Sheridan: The Tree of Life) and his best bud Neckbone (Jacob Lofland) claim it. A bag of groceries and boot prints hint that the boys might not be the only two who have discovered the boat on this remote river island in the Arkansas delta. Soon they stumble upon Mud (Matthew McConaughey: Killer Joe), an affable loner who tells the boys that he’s waiting in the boat for his girlfriend, Juniper...

Article - Movie Reviews; by - 4/18/13

42

A rousing tribute to a baseball hero

In 1940s’ America, Major League Baseball was a white man’s world. Talented black players were relegated to Negro League teams, where they endured smaller ballparks, poor equipment and shabby transportation. Brooklyn Dodgers executive Branch Rickey (Harrison Ford: Cowboys & Aliens) upsets the applecart by bringing an African American player to the big leagues. He is not acting out of the kindness of his heart. “Dollars aren’t black or white, they...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 4/11/13

The Sapphires

Aboriginal singers fight racial profiling with soul

In 1967, the Australian government classified the land’s native Aboriginal tribes as “Flora and Fauna.” To help the indigenous people, the government took to inspecting Aboriginal settlements, looking for fair-skinned children. Such children were taken from their tribe and families and sent to a special school, where they were taught to pass as white and to abandon their culture. Because of these laws, the Cummeraganja Songbirds, an aboriginal country act,...

Article - Movie Reviews; by - 4/4/13

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

The Joes’ greatest mission will be finding a decent screenwriter

Special Forces team the G.I. Joes are tasked with keeping America safe. Leader Duke (Channing Tatum: Side Effects) and his best bud Roadblock (Dwayne Johnson: Snitch) recover nukes, blow up baddies and look darn good doing it. They are the go-to team whenever anyone threatens truth, justice and the American way. While the Joes are out running missions, terrorist group Cobra devises a brilliant plan for world domination. Cobra agent Zartan infiltrates the government and uses...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 3/28/13

Olympus Has Fallen

Gerard Butler is an army of one in this problematic action flick

Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler: Movie 43) was a beloved guardian of President Asher’s (Aaron Eckhart: Erased) family. When danger struck, his snap decision lead to tragedy and exile from the personal protection detail. Now in a dead-end job with the Treasury, Banning gets his chance at redemption when a team of North Korean radicals infiltrate the White House — code named Olympus — and take the president hostage. The terrorists wipe out...

Article - Movie Reviews; by - 3/21/13

Stoker

The Addams Family has nothing on these people

In a palatial old home filled with dead birds and 1960s amenities, 18-year-old India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska: Lawless) is searching for her birthday present. This year the box is empty and her father is a no-show at dinner. India is devastated when she discovers that her father was killed in a car crash. An odd girl who can’t stand being touched and prefers silent observation to social interaction, India withdrawas even further and ignores her well-meaning but...

Article - Movie Reviews; by Diana Beechener - 3/14/13

Oz The Great and Powerful

Pay no attention to the misogyny behind the curtain

In drab Kansas, a two-bit magician named Oz (James Franco: Lovelace) bamboozles country folk with black powder flashes and cleverly hidden wires. He dreams of greatness but settles for life as a glorified flimflam man in a traveling circus, seducing gullible farmers’ daughters. When one cuckolded boyfriend turns out to be the circus strongman, Oz makes a dramatic escape via hot air balloon. If you’ve seen the 1939 film this movie draws from, you know what happens...