JOHN WICK: Dog’s Best Friend

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AUmvWm5ZDQ John Wick. 2014.  Directed by Chad Stahelski & David Leitch.  Starring Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, and Ian McShane.  Thunder Road Pictures.  Rated 14A.  101 minutes.  Action/Thriller ★★ I, for one, have been a Keanu Reeves fan for a long while now.  When he played Bill for the second time I …

Continue reading JOHN WICK: Dog’s Best Friend

AMERICAN SNIPER: Making a Murderer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MItGoIxoVGk American Sniper. 2014. Directed by Clint Eastwood. Starring Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, and Kyle Gallner. Warner Brothers. Rated 14A. 132 minutes. Action/Biography/Drama 1/2 First of all, I have a family member who served in the Canadian Armed Forces. Second, I know others who've gone over to Iraq, et cetera, several people I knew well …

Continue reading AMERICAN SNIPER: Making a Murderer

Not Everyone’s Cut Out for POKER NIGHT

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhaqpgsN-lY Poker Night. 2014. Dir. Greg Francis. Screenplay by Dough Buchanan & Francis. Starring Beau Mirchoff, Ron Perlman, Titus Welliver, Halston Sage, Ron Eldard, Corey Large, Giancarlo Esposito, and Michael Eklund. XLrator Media. Not Rated. 104 minutes. Action/Crime/Thriller ★★★★ I'd anticipated this movie just because of the trailer. Now, sometimes this can come back to …

Continue reading Not Everyone’s Cut Out for POKER NIGHT

The Interview Suffers from Hype-itis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP8O-MOqmcw The Interview. 2014. Dir. Evan Goldberg & Seth Rogen. Screenplay by Dan Sterling; story by Rogen, Goldberg & Sterling. Starring James Franco, Seth Rogen, Lizzy Caplan, Randall Park, and Diana Bang. Columbia Pictures. Rated 14A. 112 minutes. Action/Comedy ★★1/2 This film will no doubt divide people. There are a lot of people who want …

Continue reading The Interview Suffers from Hype-itis

Fury: The Festering Reality of War

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKu5lGfRBxc Fury. 2014.  Directed & Written by David Ayer. Starring Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peňa, Jon Bernthal, and Jim Parrack. Columbia Pictures. 134 min. Rated R. Action/Drama/War ★★★★★ David Ayer’s new thriller Fury is by far one of the most brutal and honest films set during the Second World War ever made. Not only …

Continue reading Fury: The Festering Reality of War

The Raid 2: Because Somehow It Gets Better

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MuXrN8L9ro The Raid 2: Berandal. 2014. Directed & Written by Gareth Evans. Starring Iko Uwais, Arifin Putra, Yayan Ruhian, Oka Antara, Tio Pakusodewo, Alex Abbad, Julie Estelle, Ryuhei Matsuda, Kenichi Endo, and Kazuki Kitamura. Entertainment One Films Canada. Rated 18A. 150 minutes. Action/Crime/Thriller ★★★★★ (Film) ★★★★★ (Blu ray release) Even the trailer just absolutely melts …

Continue reading The Raid 2: Because Somehow It Gets Better

The Guest is like a Young Terminator in Post-Blackwater Era

The Guest. 2014. Directed by Adam Wingard. Written by Simon Barrett. Starring Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Sheila Kelley, Leland Orser, and Lance Reddick. Picturehouse. Rated 14A. 99 minutes. Action/Mystery/Thriller ★★★★★ To begin, I've been a fan of Adam Wingard a long while. I think the first time I actually saw one of his …

Continue reading The Guest is like a Young Terminator in Post-Blackwater Era

Stretch Tries But Stretches Too Thin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StLOfuVjCQE Stretch. 2014.  Dir. Joe Carnahan. Screenplay by Carnahan from a story by himself, Jerry Corley & Rob Rose. Starring Patrick Wilson, Chris Pine, Brooklyn Decker, Ed Helms, Jessica Alba, and James Badge Dale. Universal Pictures. Rated R. 94 minutes. Action/Comedy/Thriller ★★★ When Stretch opens up, you see Patrick Wilson, playing the titular character Stretch (get it? …

Continue reading Stretch Tries But Stretches Too Thin