Starring: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, Werner Herzog, David Oyelowo, Robert Duvall, Jai Courtney & Michael Raymond-James
Written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie
An ex-military investigator is called in to uncover the truth behind a sniper shooting.
As the six-foot-five
brute of the books, Cruise comes up
(literally) short.
Grade: C
c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
Jack Reacher is now available on Blu-ray and DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790724/?ref_=sr_1
Starring: Barbra Streisand, Seth Rogen, Adam Scott, Colin Hanks & Yvonne Strahovski
Written by Dan Fogelman
Directed by Anne Fletcher
A son takes his over-attentive mother on a cross-country business trip to reunite her with a long-lost romantic interest.
Rogen makes a film
you can watch with your mom that
won’t mortify her.
Grade: B-
c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Guilt Trip is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/23/13.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1694020/?ref_=sr_1
Starring: Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, John Lithgow, Megan Fox, Albert Brooks & Melissa McCarthy
Written and directed by Judd Apatow
As they both turn 40, struggling married couple Pete and Debbie must figure out how to balance romance, careers, parents and children.
I’d have rather watched
two hours of Albert Brooks
in This Is 60.
Grade: B
c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
This Is 40 is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1758830/?ref_=sr_2
Written and directed by Sarah Burns & David McMahon & Ken Burns
This documentary tells the story of five black and Latino teenagers from Harlem who, in 1989, were wrongfully convicted of raping a white woman in New York City’s Central Park.
West Memphis Three got
four films. Did these guys get just
one ’cause they’re not white?
Grade: B+
c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
The Central Park Five is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 4/23/13.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2380247/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1
Starring: Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes, Paul Giamatti, Clancy Brown, Glynn Turman & Doug Jones
Written for the screen and directed by Don Coscarelli
A pair of college dropouts must stop an otherworldy invasion that is tied to a new street drug called Soy Sauce.
This gonzo genre
mash-up has “cult hit” written
all over John’s corpse.
Grade: B
c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
John Dies at the End is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1783732/?ref_=sr_1
Starring: Robert Pattinson, Juliette Binoche, Sarah Gadon, Mathieu Amalric, Jay Baruchel, Kevin Durand, Samantha Morton & Paul Giamatti
Written and directed by David Cronenberg
The life of a young billionaire begins to unravel during the course of a tumultuous trek across the city in his stretch limousine.
R-Patz proves he’s more
than a sparkley vamp – he’s
a total bore, too.
Grade: C-
c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
Cosmopolis is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1480656/?ref_=sr_1
Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, James Marsden, Kyle Bornheimer, Rebel Wilson & Adam Scott
Written and directed by Leslye Headland
After a bachelorette party goes awry, three women must rush to fix the bride’s dress before the wedding.
Setting out to prove
that women can be just as
unfunny as men.
Grade: C
c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
Bachelorette is available on Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1920849/?ref_=sr_1
Featuring: David Simon
Written and directed by Eugene Jarecki
A documentary about the War on Drugs, and the dramatic toll it has taken on the United States, its criminal justice system, and its economy.
The War on Drugs failed
long before you got your weed
card for swimmer’s ear.
Grade: A-
c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
The House I Live In is now playing in select cities and on VOD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2125653/
Starring: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Isla Fisher & Hugh Jackman
Screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire
Directed by Peter Ramsey
The Guardians of Childhood – Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, Sandman, and the Tooth Fairy – recruit Jack Frost to help them battle the boogeyman.
I thought that Jack Frost
was a snowman that sounded
like Michael Keaton.
Grade: C
c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
Rise of the Guardians is available on Blu-ray and DVD on 3/12/13.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446192/?ref_=sr_1
Starring: Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, Roberto Benigni, Penélope Cruz, Judy Davis, Jesse Eisenberg, Greta Gerwig, Ellen Page & Alison Pill
Written and directed by Woody Allen
A series of comedic and romantic vignettes set in the city of Rome.
As in his films, it
can be easy to fall out
of love with Woody.
Grade: C
c2013
By Daniel J. Hoag
To Rome with Love is available now on Blu-ray and DVD.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1859650/?ref_=sr_1
The Haiku Review 