“I was not offended by the subject matter of Uncle Nick so much as I was depressed by the lazy, lameness of the gags. Basically, if you’re going to structure a movie around a middle-aged alcoholic trying to bone his barely legal niece, you should probably come up with better jokes than the ones in Mike Demski’s sorry screenplay.” – Movie Mezzanine, 12/04/2015
CREED * * * *
Starring Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Tony Bellew and Phylicia Rashad. Screenplay by Ryan Coogler and Aaron Covington. Directed by Ryan Coogler.
“Stylistically, the movie attempts to ape the screeching nocturnal momentum of Scrooged, but the screenplay feels like a rough draft. It’s a lot of half-baked conceits that don’t really fit together, though I’d be lying if I said I didn’t laugh. These are extremely familiar riffs for Rogen, but he happens to still be really good at them.” – Movie Mezzanine, 11/25/2015
SPOTLIGHT * * 1 / 2
Starring Michael Keaton, Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Liev Schreiber and Stanley Tucci. Screenplay by Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy. Directed by Tom McCarthy.
BY THE SEA * * 1 / 2
Starring Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie Pitt, Melanie Laurent, Melvil Poupaud and Niels Arestrup. Written and directed by Angelina Jolie Pitt.
“Competently directed by Scott Mann, Heist isn’t bad for a brazenly derivative, time-killing knock-off. But the impishly funny final shot of De Niro tossing aside the e-cig and savoring an actual smoke might just as well stand in for viewers craving something more genuine after ninety minutes of recycled tropes.” – Movie Mezzanine, 11/12/2015
“Banks’ screenplay keeps all the ugly parts the rest of those movies leave out. There’s a jagged energy and a rawness to it. Miss You Already jerks its tears honestly and I’m hard-pressed to think of a sadder, sweeter image than Barrymore and Collette cuddling in a hospice bed, middle fingers raised in each other’s faces.” – Movie Mezzanine, 11/12/2015
SPECTRE * 1 / 2
Starring Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Lea Seydoux, Monica Bellucci and Ralph Fiennes. Screenplay by John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and Jez Butterworth. Directed by Sam Mendes.
“A sci-fi horror cannibal exploitation picture by way of John Ford, it’s a deliberately paced, old-fashioned Western that occasionally morphs into a splatter movie. This should probably feel like a smart-alecky film geek exercise, but Zahler takes his characters seriously, presenting their plight with elegant restraint and fiercely committed performances.” – Movie Mezzanine, 10/26/2015
STEVE JOBS * *
Starring Michael Fassbender, Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Michael Stuhlbarg and Jeff Daniels. Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin. Directed by Danny Boyle.
