|
| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
24749 |
| Total Ratings: |
242636 |
| Total Reviews: |
25842 |
![[116277088 Hits]](/cgi-bin/gd.cgi?116277088)
|
|
|
| FAST AND FURIOUS 6 |
"Not quite 'Fast Five,' but close enough."
Rob Gonsalves says... "It’s easy to see why the "Fast and Furious" series — which started rather modestly twelve years and five films ago — has developed into a major going concern and reliable ATM for Universal." (more)
|
|
| FAST AND FURIOUS 6 |
"Tank ain't empty, cuz."
Brett Gallman says... "Somehow, “The Fast and The Furious” has spawned the most inexplicable franchise of our time—and I mean that in the most complimentary fashion imaginable. What started as a pretty decent Nos-infused riff on “Point Break” mutated into a globe-hopping, “Oceans 11” inspired heist film with 2011’s “Fast Five,” which also took the series to new, glorious heights (something rarely said about the 4th sequel in any franchise, much less one that revolves around a bunch of gearheads living by a “ride or die” philosophy). If that film earned the franchise a lifetime pass, then “Furious 6” has me hoping that there’s an endless stretch of quarter-miles unfolding before us into eternity." (more)
|
|
| FAST AND FURIOUS 6 |
"Getting Better. Also Dumber. Good Luck, James Wan"
Erik Childress says... "There is a sliding scale when it comes to evaluating the latest in the Fast & Furious franchise. For starters that is a word no one ever figured would be associative with a dumber-than-dumb B-movie that ripped off the plot to Point Break nearly wholesale. Secondly, are we meant to judge each new chapter as a single entity or how it fits into a series that is clearly making some effort to connect its interchangable parts? For the most part the James Bond, Indiana Jones or Mission: Impossible were never too worried about the past as long as there was a consistency in its action-packed objective and remained true to its character. The Fast & Furious films have never exactly been rich in character or personality. Just put those blank slates in a car and floor the pedal and the dialogue in-between will serve all the exposition needed to make them seem like actual movies. To the credit of director Justin Lin who has been on board for now four of the six films (including its best & worst efforts) he has upped the level of in-the-moment set pieces over the past two films to somewhat forgive a few of its many notable flaws. But enough crazy ideas does not exactly add up to a successful film if the execution remains inconsistent." (more)
|
|
| WHAT MAISIE KNEW |
"Custody battles stink. This movie doesn't."
Jay Seaver says... "This modern-day adaptation of Henry James's "What Maisie Knew" appears to have been somewhat freely adapted from the novel, although not necessarily in the ways one might expect. Divorces and custody battles may have become more common since the book's publication in 1897, but the underlying issues remain all too similar. Capturing perspective in a film means doing things a bit differently, but it's something that this adaptation does very well." (more)
|
|
| FAST AND FURIOUS 6 |
"With Six, You Get Incalculabe Vehicular Mayhem"
Peter Sobczynski says... "Imagine a group of young boys on the edge of adolescence who are still young enough to be playing with model cars and dreaming up elaborate scenarios involving them but old enough to start appreciating certain attributes of the opposite sex, though the scenarios in this regard may not be quite as elaborate. Now imagine giving those kids millions of dollars to capture all their gearhead fantasies on the big screen, no matter how lunatic, in one loud and lurid package. That, in essence, is what "Fast & Furious 6" is presenting to viewers--an action extravaganza so wildly over-the-top that Luc Besson might be inspired to remark "Oh come on. . ." at more than one point. And yet, it reaches those extremes in such a cheerfully ridiculous manner that only a complete churl would object to it too strenuously and lets face it, if you are a complete churl and are watching this movie in the first place, you pretty much deserve everything that is in store for you." (more)
|
|
| HANGOVER PART III, THE |
"Trilogy Of Terrible"
Peter Sobczynski says... "I found "The Hangover" to be a loathsome example of bully-boy comedy that was crude, sexist, stupid and filled with unlikable people either doing unpleasant things or having them done to them, though my objection was not so much that it was all of those things as it was that it failed to figure out a way of making them even slightly funny in the process. Seeing as how the film grossed nearly a half-billion dollars worldwide, it is safe to say that most of you a.) probably saw the film and b.) probably felt somewhat differently towards it than I did." (more)
|
|
| ICEMAN, THE |
"Definitely Not An X-Men Spinoff"
Eric Lefenfeld says... "While his roles have been more diverse than his reputation might suggest, Michael Shannon has become a poster child for playing emotionally closed-off men that are trying (and mostly failing) to keep the lid on an ever-festering mass of sociopathy. "The Iceman," based on the true story of Richard Kuklinksi, a seemingly mild-mannered family man who lead a decades-long double life as one of the mob’s most notorious hitmen, continues this trend of bug-eyed lunacy, and the always reliable Shannon gives it his all. It's too bad that his more-than-game performance is in service of an aimless and underwhelming script that, if anything, is proof positive that an effective crime drama needs to be rooted in something more than smatterings of violence and period-appropriate facial hair." (more)
|
|
| STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS |
"A step down, but not enough of a mess to incur my Wrath."
Jay Seaver says... "The opening of "Star Trek Into Darkness" is everything I want from this new incarnation of the franchise: An adventure on a faraway planet that could happily be dropped into the original series except for the big, movie-scale stunts and effects. And while the filmmakers eventually pile on too much of what the series doesn't need, it remains fairly exciting for a good while." (more)
|
|
CRITICWATCH - PETE HAMMOND: HELLO KETTLE, YOU'RE BLACK
by Erik Childress |
| "On May 5, The Wrap's Alonso Duralde wrote a negative review of Baz Luhrmann's The Great Gatsby. Was it so scathing as to draw attention to it as some sort of belabored takedown? Hardly. Duralde may regret the word "flop" being part of his headline, but we are still a way from labeling its financial status as an outright success. What is worthy of attention was brought to ours by The Fishbowl's Richard Horgan. According to Deadline's coverage of the Cannes Film Festival, their reporter called out Duralde as one of a group of "pseudo-critics who like to try and take down a movie." Said reporter also accused Duralde as having never read the book despite his review referring to it as an "immortal American tragedy." That is quite a list of accusations based on pure speculation. Not that you can find the section anymore in the Deadline piece. It has been deleted. What hasn't been is the by-line of who wrote those words - Pete Hammond." (more) |
 |
|
'IN TWENTY YEARS, IF YOU'RE STILL LIVIN' HERE, COMIN' OVER TO MY HOUSE TO WATCH THE PATRIOTS GAMES, STILL WORKIN' CONSTRUCTION, I'LL FUCKIN' KILL YOU.'
- Chuckie, Good Will Hunting
|
| |
|
Articles 
