Movie Reviews

Last I heard, I watched the movie Last I Heard at the Seattle International Film Festival, a drama about a former mob boss who, after being released from prison, tries to reconnect with his daughter. Never mind that she’s a lesbian, and mob bosses love lesbians.

Read our full Last I Heard movie review.

What does $325 million buy you these days? A groundbreaking prequel to The Wizard of Oz, or an unimaginative orgy of cartoonish special effects starring James Franco playing James Franco? Oz the Great and Powerful is more the latter than the former.

Read FilmJabber’s full Oz, the Great and Powerful movie review.

Sometimes you just wish the witch had won. After surviving the candy house and the evil witch within, Hansel and Gretel have grown up to be two attractive witch hunters who like to swear, kill witches and repeatedly get the shit beaten out of them. Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton star in the wannabe franchise starter Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, a movie that suffers from painfully clunky dialogue and, amazingly, too much action.

Read FilmJabber’s full Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters movie review.

In my review of Man of Steel, I am going to nitpick, because that’s all I can do. For all of you who have forgotten that the one-off Superman Returns wasn’t that bad, Man of Steel offers no such room for criticism: featuring a strong origin story and a second half packed with visceral action, Man of Steel is the first truly great blockbuster of the year.

Read FilmJabber’s full Man of Steel movie review.

Magic meets Ocean’s Eleven is Now You See Me, but there is nothing magical in this curious but poorly written and directed crime thriller that only makes sense in the filmmakers’ heads. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, Dave Franco, Melanie Laurent, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine, Now You See Me does not lack star power, just intelligence.

Read FilmJabber’s full Now You See Me movie review.

Aliens are in your head, at least according to the latest alien abduction flick Dark Skies, which promotes itself as being from the producer of Paranormal Activity and Insidious in a desperate attempt to hide the fact the movie is actually from the director of Priest and Legion. Despite feeling all too familiar at times, Dark Skies holds its own – at least until its terribly abrupt and unsatisfying ending.

Read FilmJabber’s full Dark Skies movie review.

Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn reunite for the first time in eight years, seeking to rekindle the magic of Wedding Crashers, but instead they’ve simply made a less funny version of Old School. However, despite its inconsistencies and several stretches that fall completely flat, The Internship has just enough laughs to keep things alive, even if, in the end, the movie is simply one long commercial for Bing.

Read FilmJabber’s full The Internship movie review.

You want to kill your neighbor. Or your boss. Or that annoying kid at the end of the street. The United States has now sanctioned such actions, for one night each year. It is The Purge, a blissful time where otherwise ordinary citizens can unleash the rage that has built up inside them, a great stress reliever and tension killer. It is also a way to eliminate the poorest of the poor, because they can’t afford to defend themselves.

Read FilmJabber’s full The Purge movie review.

It was not a good day to die hard. John McClane has returned, but the yip and the ki-yay and everything that follows has been bludgeoned from the aging character. The latest Die Hard movie lacks the energy, the fun and the cleverness of the previous entries, a disappointing addition to the typically entertaining franchise.

Read FilmJabber’s full A Good Day to Die Hard movie review.

She stole his identity, Identity Thief stole my happiness. Like a sponge where water is joy, like a Dementor at a soul buffet, like a prism that only bends darkness, Identity Thief pairs two comedic naturals and proceeds to stalk your laughter, lashing out with brutality every time you think you may want to laugh. Which isn’t often.

Read FilmJabber’s full Identity Thief movie review.

An active member of the IRA is recruited by MI5 to spy on her own family in the drama-thriller Shadow Dancer. Well acted and mildly alluring, the movie ends with a bang but otherwise remains too subtle for its own good.

Read FilmJabber’s full Shadow Dancer movie review.

Some children are blessed with great parents. Some… are not. What Maisie Knew is a compelling but often depressing tale about a young girl who suffers the fate of having two successful but awful parents. Julianne Moore and Steve Coogan play the parents, while Alexander Skarsgaard and Joanna Vanderham play their respective love interests. Onata Aprile rounds out the cast as the title character.

Read FilmJabber’s full What Maisie Knew movie review.