ReelViews for R movies

Nearly 150 years after his assassination, Abraham Lincoln is getting his due from Hollywood. 2012 sees the release of three movies featuring the 16th President front-and-center. The biggest of these is Steven Spielberg's long-awaited bio-pic, due t...

In 1997 movies, the White House is under siege, although not as literally as in last year's Independence Day. No less than three major motion pictures released between New Year's Day and the twilight of the summer season have stories that postulat...

Understanding British humor can be a vexing experience for some American viewers. Although the two countries share a common language, comedy doesn’t necessarily translate across the ocean. Absolutely Fabulous, a hugely popular TV hit in England...

Liam Neeson has enjoyed two careers as an actor. For many years, he was regarded as a “highbrow” thespian – one who preferred serious, artistic productions. Then, beginning with 2009’s Taken, he opted for the higher paychecks that acco...

Expectations can be an unfortunate thing. Over the years, my fondness for Ben Affleck’s 2016 thriller, The Accountant, has not waned so, when I learned that the character was returning for another outing after a nine-year gap, I was hopeful. Ala...

The Accountant is a superhero movie. Despite not being based on an existing comic book (a welcome change), the film has all the beats and tropes we have come to expect from superhero movies, although the R-rating makes it more of an adult experience ...

Watching a movie like Act of Valor, it becomes clear how much synergy currently exists between film and video games. As the latter becomes increasingly more "cinematic" in the way action is depicted, there are times when the former adopts the style...

A few years ago, a screenwriter named Charlie Kaufman was given the job of adapting Susan Orlean's non-fiction book, "The Orchid Thief," into a motion picture script. Although Kaufman found the principal character of the book, John Laroche, to hav...

The Adjuster starts out with a relatively normal premise, but that's the only thing about this film that can be classified as "normal". Director Atom Egoyan is not a traditional director, and his aim is not to satisfy mainstream audiences. Unfortun...

More than 30 years ago, the template established by Animal House for college age comedies became a recognized standard. However, although the Animal House approach is a good way to get cheap laughs, it falls apart when anything more substantive is...