Movie Reviews

Starring: Malcolm McDowell, David Wood, Richard Warwick, Christine Noonan

If….

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In Brief: Lindsay Anderson's landmark film If.... shook up world cinema, made a star of fairly obscure TV actor Malcolm McDowell and set Anderson on the road to creating his famous trilogy (If...., O Lucky Man!, Britannia Hospital). That's a pretty impressive accomplishment, but his tale of the resentment at an English boys school —…
Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Sophie Okonedo, Zoë Kravitz

After Earth

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The Story: In the distant future, a father and son crash their spacecraft onto Earth, which has now become a dangerous, uninhabitable planet for humans. The Lowdown: Despite some ambition and a surprisingly grim tone, the film suffers from its simplistic nature, silly acting and too much goofy sci-fi nonsense.
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, Woody Harrelson, Mélanie Laurent

Now You See Me

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The Story: Four stage magicians perform an improbable heist live on a Vegas stage, and it’s up to a nay-saying detective and a professional debunker to thwart their next moves. The Lowdown: Convoluted and never as clever as it thinks it is. But as simple, pure entertainment, it’s none too shabby.
Starring: Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Bruce Dern, Sam Waterston, Karen Black

The Great Gatsby

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In Brief: Jack Clayton's 1974 film of The Great Gatsby is a good-looking, seriously miscast, painfully earnest attempt at capturing the novel. It's respectful of Fitzgerald's book to the point of calcification, but if you're looking for a film that gives you the story without disturbing anyone, this is it. It's not bad. It's just…
Starring: Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Ken Jeong, John Goodman

The Hangover Part III

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The Story: The boys of the Hangover movies return, as they’re forced to track down drug dealer Chow and return the money he’s stolen before their friend is murdered by a crime boss. The Lowdown: A surprisingly straightforward and unfortunately sentimental end to the franchise that feels limp and pointless.
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Luke Evans

Fast & Furious 6

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The Story: Vin Diesel and company get brought in to catch a criminal mastermind and rescue the surprisingly resurrected Michelle Rodriguez. The Lowdown: Lots of mayhem, lots of bulked-up stars, lots of fast cars, lots of fiery explosions — and barely a brain cell in sight.
Starring: Bette Davis, Pat O'Brien, Lewis Stone, Allen Jenkins, Hugh Herbert, Glenda Farrell, Ruth Donnelly

Bureau of Missing Persons

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In Brief: An overlooked gem from the pre-code era, Bureau of Missing Persons (1933) is a rich "ripped from the headlines" melodrama that's played mostly for comedy by a cast that only Warner Bros. could assemble (while borrowing Lewis Stone from MGM). Pat O'Brien is his usual machine-gun talking self as a Bureau detective who…
Starring: Kerry Fox, Alexia Keogh, Karen Fergusson, Iris Churn, Kevin J. Wilson

An Angel at My Table

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In Brief: A long, fairly leisurely paced biographical drama is drawn from the autobiography of New Zealand writer Janet Frame — a woman whose withdrawn shyness caused her to be misdiagnosed with schizophrenia and confined in a mental hospital. Told in three parts, the film examines her story with the kind of insight and humanity…
Starring: (Voices) Colin Farrell, Amanda Seyfried, Josh Hutcherson, Christoph Waltz, Beyoncé Knowles

Epic

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The Story: A shrunken teenage girl joins in to save a woodland society of tiny people — and assorted creatures — from destruction. The Lowdown: Nice to look at and skillfully executed with good voice acting, but overall average in the story department.
Starring: Basil Rathbone, Broderick Crawford, Hugh Herbert, Bela Lugosi, Anne Gwynne

The Black Cat

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In Brief: No, it's not the 1934 classic, nor does it have anything to do with Edgar Allan Poe (though it claims otherwise). The 1941 film called The Black Cat is an old dark-house comedy thriller that's a very obvious attempt by Universal to cash in on Paramount's Bob Hope comedy thrillers. OK, so Broderick…
Starring: Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Michael Esper, Adam Driver, Charlotte D'Amboise

Frances Ha

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The Story: The life and times of a 27-year-old dancer as she navigates an uncharted course through New York, life and relationships. The Lowdown: A sparkling, sweet, sad, funny film that might restore your faith in indie film — all built around a winning performance from Greta Gerwig (who also co-wrote the film).
Starring: Cary Grant, Samantha Eggar, Jim Hutton, John Standing, Miiko Taka

Walk Don’t Run

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In Brief: Pack Memorial Library concludes its Cary Grant series with — appropriately enough — Grant's last film, Walk Don't Run. It's an agreeable enough remake of George Stevens' 1943 comedy The More the Merrier — moved from crowded wartime Washington to crowded Tokyo during the 1964 summer Olympics. The problem with it — from…
Starring: Rachel Marie Lewis, Christian Oliver, Marietta March, Jordan Rhodes

House of Good and Evil

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In Brief: This year's feature film winner of the Twin Rivers Media Festival marks the first time a horror movie has taken the prize. But David Mun's House of Good and Evil isn't your typical horror film. Rather, this is psychological horror about a couple trying to get their lives — and marriage — back…
Starring: Hiroshi Koizumi, Setsuko Wakayama, Minoru Chiaki, Takashi Shimura

Godzilla Raids Again

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In Brief: It's the first Godzilla sequel and, despite the fact that it was rushed to cash in on the original film so that it was in theaters within four months of Godzilla, it's still a reasonably good entry. It's also the last of the series that can be taken seriously — at least sort…
Starring: Tom Hanks, Irma P. Hall, J.K. Simmons, Marlon Wayans, Tzi Ma

The Ladykillers

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b>In Brief: The Coen Brothers' much misunderstood reimagining of the 1955 Ealing Studios Comedy of the same name finds Tom Hanks taking on the role originated by Alec Guinness — and making it his own. That's much the same thing the Coens did with the film — adhering to the basics of the story about…
Starring: Fred Astaire, Bing Crosby, Gene Kelly, Liza Minnelli, Debbie Reynolds

That’s Entertainment

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In Brief: Riding in on the last of the late 1960s/early 1970s nostalgia wave, That's Entertainment positioned itself as a documentary about the Hollywood musical. In truth, it was a two-hour commercial for MGM that presented one seriously skewed version of film history. That's not to say the film doesn't include some pretty impressive (and…
Starring: Kellan Lutz, Mickey Rourke, Ario Bayu, Frans Tumbuan

Java Heat

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The Story: A young American of dubious truth joins forces with a Muslim police detective to take down a crime lord and the terrorists he's helping. The Lowdown: An impossibly convoluted story, a pair of likable leads, a nasty villain and some solid action scenes make this OK, but ultimately not terrific. On its own…
Starring: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg

Star Trek Into Darkness

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The Story: Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew of the are sent on a mission to deal with a terrorist out to destroy Starfleet. The Lowdown: The plotting gets clunky and the action could be handled more effectively, but the characters — improved from the first film — keep this Star Trek entry…
Starring: Cary Grant, Grace Kelly, Jessie Royce Landis, John Williams

To Catch a Thief

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In Brief: Alfred Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief (1955) stars Cary Grant and Grace Kelly (yes, this is where the famous fireworks kissing scene comes from) in one of the master's lighter and most pleasant 1950s films. The film is nothing more than a romantic suspenser soufflé of the kind that Hitchcock was rightly famous…
Starring: Kellan Lutz, Mickey Rourke, Ario Bayu. Frans Tumbuan

Java Heat

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In Brief: The second ActionFest monthly screening is the same setup as last time with all proceeds going to Homeward Bound of Asheville, and the $10 admission includes free Ninja Porter (from Asheville Pizza) and soft drinks and popcorn from Carolina Cinemas. This time, viewers get the chance to see the film Java Heat starring…
Starring: Lon Chaney, Jr., Evelyn Ankers, Milburn Stone / Bela Lugosi, Wallace Ford, Arline Judge

The Frozen Ghost / Mysterious Mr. Wong

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In Brief: It's finally the makeup showing of the canceled The Frozen Ghost (1945) starring Lon Chaney, Jr. in one of his better Inner Sanctum mysteries. This time it's paired with the full-tilt nonsense of the delightfully silly Mysterious Mr. Wong starring Bela Lugosi in the title role, Mr. Wong — a criminal mastermind matching…