The Final Take with Parker Mott

The Man of Steel (Henry Cavill) addresses the danger.

Man of Steel – in spite of its grand, overbearing self – understands the core of its robust superhero: the lofty pursuit to defeat evil through moral means, a model of heroism for the human race. Superman cuts to the truth of all Marvel and DC heroes: he embodies what humans cannot understand, or dare believe in, but nevertheless protects their world against evil and destruction. He does this mostly with a smug smirk. (continue reading…)

A consolidated group of car thieves are out for redemption (and pardons) in "Fast 6".

There is an unbreakable solidarity to the Fast & Furious gang that gives this franchise staying power. In fact, ever since Better Luck Tomorrow filmmaker Justin Lin took the director’s chair, the series has only gotten better (save Fast and Furious). Lin’s brought a goodnatured quality that allows us to enjoy the vehicular nonsense, and the company that keeps it. (continue reading…)

Khan emerges in "Star Trek Into Darkness".

A title like Star Trek Into Darkness should transport us into a galactic world that feels lurid, mysterious, and above all different – “Into New Territory” is the implication, and our hopes. Instead, the twelfth entry of the Star Trek franchise is a puerile blockbuster; essentially a Fan Expo TV movie, Into Darkness is unoriginally apropos the 2009 film, which in its flaws at least revitalized a down-and-out franchise with a clean modern vision. (continue reading…)

P.K. (Gage Munroe) locks and loads "I Declare War".

I Declare War is a no-holds-barred coming-of-age drama that is more than just dipped in the realm of fantasy. It exists, almost wholly, through the eyes and in the minds of several feral youngsters as they compete in a game of war in the woods (shot in Orange Valley, Scarborough over the course of 20 days). Yes, this is “Canadian” soil but directors Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson aren’t – ‘scuse the stereotype – making any apologies. (continue reading…)

Sidekicks: Robert Downey, Jr. and Don Cheadle face-off against the ruthless Mandarin in "Iron Man 3".

Iron Man 3 marks the first Marvel blockbuster of the summer (and, assumedly, a box office wonder), thus detonating the big bang of Hollywood spectacle and action-oriented narrative sure to disperse across the multiplexes these next coming months. The Marvel movies are typically theme-park rides, built on a grand scale and meant simply to thrill (Iron Man 2’s motif use of ACDC’s “Shoot to Thrill” was thereby apt). (continue reading…)

Peter Ustinov as Nero in Mervyn LeRoy's "Quo Vadis".

You could not get enough of Peter Ustinov. His full-bodied, full-toned presence often commanded the viewer’s eyes away from the action to solely on him. Ustinov also tended to be elusive in his acted films, particularly the sword-and-sandal ones, intermittently sashaying in and stealing the show. In them, he often played supporting roles, but diversity made it impossible to typecast him. (continue reading…)

A brat pack of attractive misfits in "Spring Breakers".

Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers is so lavishly absurd, irreverent – cruel even – and unapologetically self-indulgent that you’re almost compelled to think the director is getting at something. Almost. Korine, a notorious enfant terrible, uses the cinema as a prodding rod, too willingly that he often overlooks the medium’s ability to necessitate social critiques. Alas, Spring Breakers is mostly an empty provocation…but not entirely. (continue reading…)

Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty".

Sometimes the term suggested in times of hopeless frustration is “all you can do is laugh”. After two strenuous viewings of Zero Dark Thirty I’ve cackled hysterically at the egregious praise it has received for being “a prime example of virtuoso action filmmaking” (Christy Lemire, Associated Press”), “one of the most innovative and best made films of the past year” (Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle), and “the knockout punch of the year” (Peter Travers, Rolling Stone). (continue reading…)

Now, you have my attention: Django (Foxx) confronts Candie (DiCaprio) – the cigarette stands in as referee – in "Django Unchained".

Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained is full of dialogue, genre homage, eclectic tunes, and savage violence – typical ‘Tarantinoisms’ – but it’s stuck in a fake-epic deprived of any real forward drive or momentum. It’s even downright mechanical at times, for a lot of what Django Unchained offers early is a basic, personality-hungry inciting incident where its bland antihero and ex-slave, Django (a stoic-faced Jamie Foxx) colludes with German dentist/bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz, essentially recycling his Jew Hunter flippancy from Inglourious Basterds). (continue reading…)

I'm on a boat: A boy and tiger band together to survive out at sea in "Life of Pi".

Deemed nearly “unfilmable”, Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, in spite of its shortcomings, is a worthy, lustrous rebuke: an epic and visually resplendent 3D cinematic adventure out in the cosmic waters of the South Pacific. Intended as a reflective piece, Life of Pi dramatizes the survival of a young, determined, and idealistic Indian boy named Piscine “Pi” Patel (Suraj Sharma), named after a French swimming pool (as bad a name since Johnny Cash’s “Boy Named Sue”). (continue reading…)