First ‘Mockingjay’ Only Partly Satisfies Hunger
Film ReviewsReviews By James Dawson|November 20, 2014 |0
‘Big Hero 6’ Delivers Delightful Mix of Heart and Action
Film ReviewsReviews By Lynn Barker|November 6, 2014 |0
By LYNN BARKER Front Row Features Film Critic “Big Hero 6” is an animated, fast-moving comedy/adventure film centering on 14-year-old science nerd/robotics whiz Hiro Hamada (Ryan Potter). He seeks revenge for a family tragedy with the help of fellow eggheads—the super fast-thinking an [...]
Scant Extras Make ‘Maleficent’ on Home Video Just Short of Magnificent
Blu-Ray / DVD ReviewsReviews By Lynn Barker|October 28, 2014 |0
By LYNN BARKER Front Row Features Film Critic The “Maleficent” Blu-ray/DVD/Digital package is available for gifting and collecting on Tuesday, Nov. 4, and it’s worth buying. The home entertainment offering looks and sounds amazing and the short extras are either informative or quite fun, although [...]
Tiresome ‘Interstellar’ Reaches for Stars, Misses
Film ReviewsReviews By Angela Dawson|October 27, 2014 |0
By JAMES DAWSON Front Row Features Film Critic Bloated with self-importance, slathered with sappy sentimentality and saddled with an eye-rollingly unsatisfying ending, “Interstellar” is a tiresomely tedious trek that reaches for the stars but misses by light years. Clocking in at near [...]
Dazzling ‘Birdman’ Reveals Madness Behind Mask
Film ReviewsReviews By Angela Dawson|October 17, 2014 |0
By JAMES DAWSON Front Row Features Film Critic Directed and edited to look as if the entire movie is a single extended shot, the technically dazzling “Birdman” is a bitter black comedy that soars when it’s satirical but sinks when it’s soapy. Cleverly scripted barbs about [...]
Schwartzman Makes Obnoxiousness Appealing as ‘Philip’
Film ReviewsReviews By Angela Dawson|October 13, 2014 |0
By JAMES DAWSON Front Row Features Film Critic Jason Schwartzman makes obnoxiousness strangely appealing as the prickly title character of “Listen Up Philip,” an intelligently literate dramedy written and directed by Alex Ross Perry. The casually dismissive Philip Lewis Friedman is a dissatisfied [...]
‘Dracula Untold’ More Superhero than Supernatural
Film ReviewsReviews By Angela Dawson|October 8, 2014 |0
By LYNN BARKER Front Row Features Film Critic “Dracula Untold” presents a newer take on the age-old vampire tale. Based loosely on the true exploits of Transylvanian prince Vlad the Impaler, the film serves as an origin story for what Universal hopes will be a monsterpalooza reincarnating the stu [...]
All Things Being Equal, Denzel Washington Holds Together Revenge Action Movie
Film ReviewsReviews By Angela Dawson|September 25, 2014 |0
By LYNN BARKER Front Row Features Film Critic Amid the staple-gunning, eye-gouging, neck-drilling action that is “The Equalizer,” lies a little character development; the kind that still allows 59-year-old superstar Denzel Washington to rule the cinema when it comes to everyman heroes. A predicta [...]
‘This is Where I Leave You’ Leaves Mixed Moviegoing Experience
Film ReviewsReviews By Angela Dawson|September 16, 2014 |0
By LYNN BARKER Front Row Features Film Critic “This is Where I Leave You,” a dramedy based on the best-selling Jonathan Tropper novel and directed by Shawn Levy (“Night at the Museum,” “Real Steel”) focuses upon a lightly-practicing Jewish family brought together by the matriarch (Jane Fonda) whe [...]
Gilliam Revisits Meaning of Life With ‘Zero Theorem’
Film ReviewsReviews By Angela Dawson|September 14, 2014 |0
By JAMES DAWSON Front Row Features Film Critic Director Terry Gilliam’s bombastically bizarre “The Zero Theorem” is a mash-up of themes, stylistic touches and character types from many of his past works, but fails to add up to the sum of those parts. Although this extended exist [...]