MOVIE REVIEWS: TAKEN

Most critics are clearly not taken with Taken 2. Some, in fact, are downright derisive. “There’s no need to wait for the “Mad” magazine parody of Taken 2, writes Peter Howell in the Toronto Globe and Mail. “It’s already hilariously up there on the screen.” Wesley Morris in the Boston Globe is a little kinder, […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: THE EXPENDABLES 2

Given the surprising success of the original The Expendables, Lionsgate quickly ordered a sequel, and voilá, just two years later, here it is — and it’s nabbing more favorable reviews than its predecessor. Mind you, most of those reviews appear to be written reluctantly. Neil Genzlinger in the New York Times, for example, remarks that […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: SAFE HOUSE

Several critics are drubbing the script for Safe House, starring Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds, but they’re missing the point, other critics argue. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times suggests that the “business-as-usual” script is offset by “expert direction” by Daniel Espinosa. The Swedish director, says Turan, has given Safe House “an unmistakably stylish […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: THE WOMAN IN BLACK

The reviews for Daniel Radcliffe’s first post-Harry Potter film are decidedly mixed. The Woman in Black is a period piece, a ghost story and a stage for Radcliffe to prove that he can transform himself into a far different character than Harry. Manohla Dargis in the New York Times suggests that he has only partially […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: TERRI

The Sundance 2011 Film Festival hit Terri turns out to be a hit with film critics as well, at least in New York and Los Angeles, where the film opens this weekend. In particular, the performance of the film’s 21-year-old star, Jacob Wysocki (making his film debut), is particularly admired by all of them. “Wysocki […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: THE MECHANIC

CBS Films simply can’t win for trying. The wannabe contender has produced a string of flops since it was launched early last year, and its latest release, The Mechanic, starring Jason Statham, seems destined to join them. Liam Lacey in the Toronto Globe and Mail compares it to “a jalopy with dirt in the fuel […]

MOVIE REVIEWS: “INCEPTION”

Few movies in recent years — if any at all — have received the sort of adulatory reception from key critics as Christopher Nolan’s Inception. Except for a handful of critics, many of whom display their own cinema erudition by faulting it for borrowing from other prestigious movies of the past, most reviewers are vying […]