Archive | February 2014
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Thor: The Dark World
My Marvel “Avengers” scorecard is tilting firmly into the negative, and unless the upcoming “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” succeeds in partially righting it—it’s going to sink. I haven’t enjoyed either “Thor” film in the franchise, and both “Iron Man” sequels were pretty lousy too. And don’t get me started on 2008’s tepid “The Incredible […]
Flashback: on 1996’s When We Were Kings
It’s become almost impossible for me to defend the sport of boxing. There’s poor judging, corruption and unquestionable long-term injury to most fighters’ brains. But I still maintain a great love for the sport and its brave and fascinating participants. And although I am only one of legion, my boyhood idol and hero was “The Greatest”, […]
R.I.P. Harold Ramis, 1944-2014
I guess it’s fair to say that he’ll have two legacies. Because for those of a certain age, he will always be a Ghostbuster. Three years before that, he first teamed on-screen with buddy Bill Murray, as the directionless English instructor in “Stripes”(“da do run run run, da do run run!“). That’s a relatively iconic […]
Despicable Me 2
Nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 86th Annual Academy Awards Nominated for Best Original Song(“Happy”)at the 86th Annual Academy Awards Apparently, familiarity does not breed contempt. Full disclosure: in preparation for my recent watch of the Oscar-nominated animated feature “Despicable Me 2”, I also made certain to “prep” with my first ever look at […]
The Nut Job
The things we endure for our children. It was certainly never my intention to make “The Nut Job” my first official review of a 2014 release, but that’s the way it’s worked out. You see, earlier this past week, my oldest boy celebrated his 9th birthday. Among the many fun things he got to enjoy […]
Machinal on Broadway
There is a haunting, rarely-produced, stylistic, Expressionist drama lighting up Broadway at the moment, but if you don’t act fast you are going to regret that it passed you by(“Machinal” ends its limited run at the American Airlines Theatre on March 2nd). Especially considering that the last time this show was on the Great White […]
Kick-Ass 2
So much could’ve gone wrong(and as it is, quite a few things did), that I suppose I should be somewhat relieved that it wasn’t worse. I can’t exactly label it good, but there are occasions where it almost reaches the top rung. But everything is just a little bit off in this 2013 sequel…and regular readers of […]
2014 has begun!
After a three-day weekend hiatus, regular reviews and stories return to the blog tomorrow. In addition to two 2013 sequel reviews(“Kick-Ass 2”, plus the Oscar-nominated “Despicable Me 2”), I’ve also gotten 2014 off to a cultured start with a visit to Broadway yesterday. So, find out what I have to say this week about “Machinal”, […]
Reviewed by Mark Leonard 