ReelViews for R movies

When considering the meaning of the title Good Time, I was reminded of Dickens: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” In the case of these characters, the former doesn’t apply. Good Time is an atmosphere-driven thrille...

In essence, Good Will Hunting is an ordinary story told well. Taken as a whole, there's little that's special about this tale -- it follows a traditional narrative path, leaves the audience with a warm, fuzzy feeling, and never really challenges o...

Almost every filmmaker in the history of cinema would be thrilled by the knowledge that a feature of his (or hers) is considered an undisputed classic - a benchmark by which other, similarly themed movies are judged. Director Martin Scorsese, cons...

Since its 2011 release, the film Goon has become something of a cult phenomenon, especially among Canadian hockey fans. (Is that term redundant?) This status likely explains the existence of a sequel. Called Goon: Last of the Enforcers, it con...

Though it has been said that "No one expects the Spanish Inquisition," the reality of the matter was that for centuries, life in Spain was lived on the edge of a knife, where one wrong word or action could bring an innocent victim before an ecclesi...

Gran Torino is an amazingly over-the-top anti-racism parable but, despite its obvious shortcomings, it is nevertheless effective and affecting. The storytelling style is old fashioned in what it does and unsubtle in the way it goes about doing it,...

From The Royal Tenenbaums to Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson's movies have always been quirky with exaggerated characters and surreal settings. The Grand Budapest Hotel is instantly recognizable as the director's output - it possesses all the quali...

For those who think reviewing films is easy and fun, I offer Grandma's Boy as my rebuttal. That's 96 minutes (plus travel time) and $6.00 (matinee price) that I'll never get back, no matter what I write here. Legal theft. This is one of those mov...

You have to give a film maker credit for exhibiting the necessary chutzpah to take one of the most beloved classics in the English language, Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, and transform it into a modern-day morality play/romance. Viewers...

The Great Raid seeks to be the kind of epic war film that was popular during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. And, unlike many recent entries in the genre, it does not seek to take a revisionist look at war. The central premise is promising: a factua...