New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

David Mumpower: I am one of those people who believes that Daniel Craig has been a disaster as James Bond in every way except financially. Keeping this in mind, I was quite impressed by Skyfall for the most part. The only aspect I didn't enjoy was the villain, who seemed like he was doing a lazy knockoff of Heath Ledger as The Joker. The end sequence at Skyfall may not have made a lot of sense, particularly with regards to the henchmen, but it provided several retrospective moments of the film industry's greatest franchise character.

A pleasant surprise I stumbled upon recently is Elvis and Anabelle, which stars Blake Lively. It is basically the same concept as Pushing Daisies, which I loved, and actually preceded the show by six months. I fully understand why it got buried but I found it delightful. Joe Mantegna aka Fat Tony plays the hunchback father of the lead character, whose kiss brings Blake Lively back to life. This is a formula film but there are a lot of positives to it.

I could not believe how much I found myself enjoying Premium Rush. Yes, there is one character that hearkens back to the heinous Hop Sing days of Asian representation in Hollywood and yes, the ending is insipid. Other than that, this is a lively action film with several good ideas. I particularly enjoy the cinematic technique of revealing the future dangers of a particular bike path trajectory. This is a great example of how something can be as silly in concept as a bike movie yet still an action-packed story.

I am one of the naysayers with regards to Life of Pi. It's not that I disliked the movie. I simply do not like the central tenet that is revealed at the end. I have thought about it a great deal and while I love religious interpretations more than just about anybody I know, I feel that this one is diminished by the fact that it doesn't hold up well to any implementation of logic. Acknowledging all of that, this is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever watched. If you have a shiny new HDTV you want to show off to your friends, especially a 3D one, Life of Pi has some scenes that will make them Ooh! and Ahh! with jealousy.

The regrettable part of the last month is the endless onslaught of bad horror movies I have seen. The list of failed attempts to scare includes Chernobyl Diaries, House at the End of the Street, The Possession, The Apparition and What to Expect When You're Expecting. Okay, that last one technically wasn't a horror film but it was plenty scary to know that somebody thought that was a good idea. Out of the four slasher flicks, the BEST one was a C+. That was The Possession. The rest of them were all varying degrees of F-. What the Hell, Hollywood? Try harder. I generally like horror films, for God's sake. Even Jennifer Lawrence couldn't make one of these monstrosities watchable. Do better!

Continued:       1       2       3       4       5       6