Star Trek: Into Darkness

The second in the line of new Star Trek movies proved to once again be cinematic and thrilling, and while it may not provide Trekkies with the scientific and humanitarian soul they are looking for, for half-assed Trek fans like myself, it feels enough like Star Trek to make us happy. It also happens to […]

Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas is six stories melded into one. The main idea is that these stories take place in different time periods but involve the same souls of the people involved. We have one story set in the present, three in the past, and two in the future. The problem with a concept like this is […]

Iron Man 3

I’m going to make this a relatively short review. Iron Man 3 is a much more cohesive film than Iron Man 2 but doesn’t quite have the exuberance of Iron Man 1. I will say that it does have better action scenes than both of those previous movies combined. There is a plane sequence which […]

Oblivion

Oblivion is Tom Cruise’s latest sci-fi film which seems him as Jack, a man left behind on a scorched earth to mine for resources for the new home of the humans on Titan. He is stationed with Victoria who are the last humans left on Earth protecting their machines from what is left over from […]

Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook is essentially a romantic comedy involving people with mental health issues. But the question is, is that enough to set it apart from that most trite of genres? The answer, surprisingly, is yes. The characters and their unique problems are just enough to make this a watchable and enjoyable film, despite how […]

K2: Reaching Thematic Heights

When K2 was released in 2010, it didn’t cause much of an uproar, more of a small trickle than an avalanche. However, it deserves far more attention than it has been given. It is a wonderful race game which is heaped in its mountain-climbing theme. If you like thematic games, pay attention. K2 is rich […]

Red Dawn

Red Dawn is a remake of the 80s film in which the Russians invade the US and a high school football team becomes an insurgent force fighting back.  This time around, replace the USSR with North Korea, and you get the newest standard of remaking/rebooting unoriginality.  This movie was brutal. The pacing was downright awful. […]

Puerto Rico: The Ultimate Eurogame

The board game boom in the last decade was ushered in by the rise of eurogames: games designed for deep strategy with interesting mechanics, a de-emphasis on the role of luck, and tighter gameplay. Settlers of Catan kicked off the trend, and ever since games have been released which have tried to master the elegance […]

Life of Pi

If you want a visual feast, watch Life of Pi. If you want an interesting and unique story, watch Life of Pi. If you are looking for deeper themes being explored, you may also watch Life of Pi. Or maybe you aren’t looking for anything more specific than a great movie. Well, Life of Pi […]

The Master

The Master is the latest film to reach the heights of pretentious film-making. It’s the story of two men who come together; one is a traumatized war vet, the other the leader of a new-found cult movement. It’s a story about the relationship between these men. It’s a story about a man’s search for meaning […]

Wreck It Ralph

Wreck It Ralph was the most celebrated animated film of 2012, though likely most of that praise comes from the simple fact that its about video games. Otherwise its a pretty regular family movie, nothing that will compete with the recent animated greats like Up or the Toy Story films. The arcade underworld works very […]

Life in a Day

The premise of this documentary is both unique and ingenious. An open invitation was sent out for people from all over the world to film their lies on July 24, 2010. Thousands of people from all parts of the world sent in videos. The finished result is an incredible celebration of human life. Life in […]

A Good Day to Die Hard

A Good Day to Die Hard works fine as a run-of-the-mill action flick. The story is easy to follow, the action is frequent, and there are a lot of cool smash-em up visuals. Though I must admit I felt bad for the innocent civilian drivers who got decimated during the big car chase scene. The […]

Midnight in Paris

I know I’m a little late to the party, since this movie came out over a year ago, but I finally managed to catch up with it.  What a great little movie.  Owen Wilson plays a writer who finds his inspiration in Paris as he appears to travel back to the 1920′s every night and […]

Django Unchained

Django Unchained is probably Quentin Tarantino’s most straight forward film, yet it is also perhaps his most indulgent. This story of a slave who is freed, becomes a bounty hunter, and tries to rescue his wife has a clear-cut arc. But within that arc we get a lot of Tarantino’s stylized direction. The strongest aspect […]