Review – The Magic Flute (2006)

Ever since the first time I watched Amadeus I’ve wanted to see a full production of this legendary Mozart opera. Though this production gives the story an odd World War One spin and occasional music-video-y treatment, the quality of the music and the performances shines through. A note of respect to director Kenneth Branagh for insisting on actual opera singers rather than famous actors mouthing songs performed by someone else. At the cost of distribution difficulties, he bought his movie a solid note of authenticity. Worth seeing

Review – The Evil Dead (2013)

This bootmake deftly avoids everything that made the original good. The small picture that launched Sam Raimi’s career had a certain indie earnestness, making it easier to enjoy the good parts and at least tolerate the weak spots. This studio tripe exploits all the worst qualities of the genre without making any excuse for itself. Imagine the fanciest, most delicious food you’ve ever eaten. Now imagine what it would taste like if McDonald’s added it to the Dollar Menu. Wish I’d skipped it

Review – Mama

Yep, it would definitely suck to suddenly have to derail your career as an indie band artist so you could help care for your boyfriend’s nieces. It would suck worse if the girls spent the previous five years being raised by a malevolent ghost in a cabin in the woods. And worse still if the ghost came along for the ride when they came to live with you. If spooky, half-hour TV shows like The Twilight Zone still existed, this could have been a good episode. At feature length, it’s more ice than Coke. Mildly amusing

Review – Texas Chainsaw

Let me ask you this: are you really reading a review about a movie with “Texas Chainsaw” in the name? What non-obvious observation could I possibly make about it? The only thing I’ll point out is that “3D” is missing from the title because the requisite gimmick was missing from the disc. What wasn’t missing, however, was the usual pile of witless youths, vicious hicks and noisy power tools. See if desperate

Review – Phanotm

Writer/director Todd Robinson comes down with a case of Tom Clancy envy and takes it out on the rest of us. A mid-budget submarine movie with a reasonably good cast should have been a natural for me, but this production got so bogged down in meandering intrigue that it forgot to have a plot. I’ll give it a little credit just because I like sub pictures. But if they aren’t your cup of tea, don’t pour out of this teapot. Mildly amusing

Review – The Lion King

This movie bugs me, and I can’t put my finger on the cause. Certainly it’s no more sexist or racist or classist than any other Disney animation. And heaven knows parent death isn’t a new innovation in the studio’s metier. I’d assume I was just in a bad mood when I watched it, but I’ve seen it three times now in the hope that either I could get over my unease or at least trace it to its source. Objectively, I recognize that it’s as good as most other children’s movies and better than many. Mildly amusing

Review – 6 Souls

Funny how a little care with the production can go such a long way toward making a movie not suck. The premise here – doctor treats mental patient who turns out to be possessed by the spirits of Satanic murder victims – isn’t exactly groundbreaking stuff. But they spent some money on it, getting a cast (Julianne Moore, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and several other familiar faces), good technical quality and – best of all – a few solid chills here and there. My only real gripe was about the ending, yet another sad case of a screenwriter painting himself into a corner with no satisfying way to conclude the tale. Mildly amusing