Category: Theaters

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Disney Keeps The Streak Alive With Doctor Strange!

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It has been a while since Marvel/Disney has released a bad film, and with Iron Man Doctor Strange, Disney continues its hot streak.  I don’t think Doctor Strange will be remembered as one of Marvel’s best, but it is a fun film that adds some visual flare to the standard Marvel superhero origin story.

Like with many other superheroes, Doctor Strange starts with a rich white guy (Benedict Cumberbatch) who looses his ability to make himself rich.  In this case he is a star surgeon who after a car crash can no longer keep his hands steady.  He tries everything to fix them, to no avail, so as a last ditch effort he decides to try Eastern Spiritual Medicine, but he gets more than he bargained for, and instead becomes a superhero sorcerer.  Not a bad trade.

The overall plot is not Doctor Strange’s strong suit.  I mean if you close your eyes you may think you are watching Iron Man again.  Jerky rich guys are born to be superheroes I guess, and Marvel still needs to find an interesting movie villain.  We can’t hope for Loki to show up in every movie.  Not that the plot or the script are bad.  It is just that we have seen them before from Marvel.

Luckily to cover up the lack of originality director Scott Derrickson amps up the visual craziness.  Doctor Strange still has Marvel’s signature look, but it has been smashed together with a neon version of Inception.  The movie looks great, always showing you something new and interesting.  If you can’t tell the movies apart based on their plot at least you will know what you are watching based off the special effects.

Benedict Cumberbatch was born to be a Marvel superhero.  He delivers the witty dialog with aplomb.  He will be a great addition to their lineup.  I can’t wait to see him stand up with the rest of the gang.  Though it is time for Marvel to try and diversify the makeup of their heroic cast.

Despite having seen this story before, at least it is a good story, and one that they were able to amp up visually.  Doctor Strange may not be the new direction Marvel needs to find to stay relevant, but at least it is an entertaining flick, and one that I can recommend to people who like Marvel’s formula.  If you are looking for something different, you may have to wait a bit longer.

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The New Wonder Woman Trailer Is Here!

We keep waiting for the first truly good DCEU movie, and looks like Wonder Woman may be it!  It looks great.  Though Warner Brothers is pretty good at making epic trailers.  Still I can’t wait to see Diana engage in some fisticuffs!

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Shmee Gets Lost With The Girl On The Train!

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After the success of Gone Girl movie studios all started looking for next thrilling novel to turn in to the new sexy slow burn thriller/blockbuster.  The problem is of course that if the movie lacks the ‘burn’ then they are just slow.  The Girl on the Train just lacked the intensity that a good thriller needs to be successful, so it ended up being forgettable.

The Girl on the Train follows Rachel Watson (Emily Blunt) an alcoholic struggling to overcome the loss of her marriage.  She rides around on the train all day wondering what the people in the houses she passes are up to.  She even makes one couple in particular out to be perfect in her dreams, so when she sees the wife (Haley Bennett) cheat on her husband (Luke Evans) she gets angry and black out drunk.  In her drunken stupor she may have done something horrible, but she cannot remember.

The problem with all of this is that we are never sure why we should care.  Yes you do feel sorry for Blunt’s character, but not enough, and the rest of the characters aren’t worth rooting for either.  The Girl on the Train is never as sexy, tense, or as clever as it thinks it is.  It is really just a lot of mad terrible people talking in to the camera slowly.  Luckily for us, all those people are really talented, so the movie is not a complete loss.

Emily Blunt gives an amazing performance and elevates this film.  She has proven time and time again that she is a fabulous talent, but props have to be given to the rest of the cast as well.  They pull off the enormous amount dialog with aplomb.  It is a shame their efforts were wasted on this dull flick.

Without The Girl on a Train’s great cast it would have been a terrible movie.  As it stands now it is just okay.  Something to watch on a rainy day on Netflix.  The Thanksgiving movie season is almost upon us, and there are some exciting movies on the horizon, so you should save your full price movie ticket money for something else.