The Book of Eli (2010)

A lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.

Stylish and entertaining post-apocalyptic drama plays out like a spaghetti Western with Washington as the taciturn hero and Oldman as the sophisticated villain; big let-down when it's revealed what the "sacred book" is...

Maltin**1/2: "Washington does his best Clint Eastwood in this violent but entertaining postapocalyptic tale...Taking the "end of days" genre and wrapping it in the guise of a Sergio Leone spaghetti Western, the Hughes brothers create a lurid guilty pleasure, with a "message" thrown in for good measure."

Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis

Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)

A frustrated circus magician from Kansas is transported to a magical land called Oz, where he will have to fulfill a prophecy to become the king, and release the land from the Wicked Witches using his great (but fake) powers.

Likable and entertaining fantasy offers some nice moments, but doesn't have the magic one would expect considering all the credentials, and it's a bit too long.

Maltin**1/2: "Elaborate, eye-filling production...can't be compared to the 1939 THE WIZARD OF OZ, aside from some winks in its direction. Fairly entertaining on its own terms but overlong and, frankly unmemorable. Braff provides consistent laughs as a talking monkey."

Mila Kunis

Blood Ties (2013)

Two brothers, on either side of the law, face off over organized crime in Brooklyn during the 1970s.

A thriller with a stellar cast functions as study of a complex brotherly love/hate relationship; manages to keep one's attention, despite a large array of characters and subplots and being slightly too long.

Maltin**: "Convincingly performed all around, especially by Caan as their sickly dad, but the too-familiar setups deliver merely the expected."

Jupiter Ascending (2015)

A young woman discovers her destiny as an heiress of intergalactic nobility and must fight to protect the inhabitants of Earth from an ancient and destructive industry.

Visually overabundant sci-fi fantasy that is a complete and thorougly risible mess in all other departments.

New Stuff: Jupiter Ascending

I simply wanted to finally see it.

Mila Kunis

Mila Kunis

ph: Terry Richardson

Mila Kunis

Black Swan (2010)

A ballet dancer wins the lead in "Swan Lake" and is perfect for the role of the delicate White Swan - Princess Odette - but slowly loses her mind as she becomes more and more like Odile the Black Swan, daughter of an evil magician.

Visually beautiful with a great central performance, but with a very predictable plot.

On second view:  I still stick with my first review, the movie is clearly very much a show piece for its (brilliant) star.

Maltin **: "Vividly realized fever-dream of a movie - with an Oscar-winning performance by Portman - gives new meaning to the word "overwrought," though some people found it brilliant. Matthew Libatique's cinematography is definitely wothry of praise."

Max Payne (2008)

Coming together to solve a series of murders in New York City are a police detective whose family was slain as part of a conspiracy and an assassin out to avenge her sister's death.

I know nothing about the video game this movie is based on, but the plot is thoroughly predictable. The movie does have some visual style, though.