Java Heat, 2013. Directed by Conor Allyn.Starring Kellan Lutz, Ario Bayu, Mickey Rourke, Frans Tambuan, Atiqah Hasiholan. SYNOPSIS: A Muslim detective works together with an American to track down the criminal responsible for a series of bombings on the Indonesian island of Java. According to the intro line of this mediocre cop-actioner, the archipelago of […]

Escape (Norway: Flukt), 2012. Directed by Roar Uthaug.Starring Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Kristian Espedel, Isabel Christine Andreasen and Milla Olin. SYNOPSIS: Ten years after the Black Plague ravaged their country, a poor family sets out on a journey for a new home.  On a remote mountain pass, they are attacked by a band of merciless killers […]

A Late Quartet, 2012. Directed by Yaron Zilberman.Starring Christopher Walken, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Catherine Keener, Mark Ivanir, Imogen Poots, Wallace Shawn and Liraz Charhi. SYNOPSIS: A well-established string quartet begins to suffer some setbacks after one member is diagnosed with Parkinson’s and the others get mixed up in love and affairs. Given the names on […]

Scenic Route, 2013. Directed by Kevin Goetz and Michael Goetz.Starring Josh Duhamel, Dan Fogler, Miracle Laurie, Christie Burson, Peter Michael Goetz, Jamie Donovan and Ethan Maher. SYNOPSIS: The relationship between two old friends is tested as they are stranded in the desert. I love the movies that come out of the festival circuit.  They’re at […]

Dial M for Murder, 1954. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Starring Ray Milland, Grace Kelly, Robert Cummings and John Williams. SYNOPSIS: An ex-tennis pro carries out a plot to murder his wife. When things go wrong, he improvises a brilliant plan B. Rarely does 3D demand your attention. Avatar broke the mold; Life of Pi brought heart […]

The Wolverine, 2013. Directed by James Mangold.Starring Hugh Jackman, Will Yun Lee, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Rila Rukushima, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tao Okamoto, Brian Tee, Hal Yamanouchi and Famke Janssen. SYNOPSIS: Summoned to Japan by an old acquaintance, Wolverine becomes embroiled in a conflict that forces him to confront his own demons. Warning – minor spoilers to follow… […]

Frances Ha, 2012. Directed by Noah Baumbach.Starring Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver, Michael Zegen, Charlotte d’Amboise and Grace Gummer. SYNOPSIS: A story that follows a New York woman (who doesn’t really have an apartment), apprentices for a dance company (though she’s not really a dancer), and throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as […]

Roman Holiday, 1953. Directed by William Wyler.Starring Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. SYNOPSIS: A bored and sheltered princess escapes her guardians and falls in love with an American newsman in Rome. So George is born. Mere days after his birth, he was thrust into the public eye. A celebrity before even uttering his first syllable. […]

Pacific Rim, 2013. Directed by Guillermo del Toro.Starring Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman and Ron Perlman. SYNOPSIS: It’s giant robots versus giant monsters. That’s about it. Much has been made of Pacific Rim’s need to be a financial success given that in a year of films that are either prequels, […]

The World’s End, 2013. Directed by Edgar Wright.Starring Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike, David Bradley, and Paddy Considine. SYNOPSIS: Five friends embark on a reunion to their home town to finish an epic pub crawl that they failed to accomplish in their teens. Discovering the town has “changed”, madness ensues […]