You Don't Know Jack

Brad Furman's (The Take) first major theatrical release appeared to be set up for failure. And Matthew McConaughey's (We Are Marshall, Tropic Thunder) career has been slowly fading, but this film just might be what he needed. Although this film wasn't a huge hit at the box office this weekend, the critics sure liked it. Which came as a surprise to most people who have followed McConaughey's career lately. It was a tough weekend with Paul and Limitless also hitting theaters and getting praise from critics. This film may not break any new ground, but I can't remember the last courtroom drama I actually enjoyed. McConaughey plays defense attorney Mick Haller. Haller is charming and slick, but he also defends the most ruthless people and enjoys it. Haller's ex-girlfriend Maggie (Marisa Tomei) is also a lawyer, and they have a child together. They usually get along great, and they both love their little girl more than anything else in the world. Mick's office j...

The first trailer for Battle: LA was quite atmospheric and was easy on the eyes. But as more and more trailers came out and word of mouth spread, I knew this film was going to be a disappointment. The cast is led by Aaron Eckhart (The Dark Knight, Meet Bill), Michelle Rodriguez (Avatar, The Fast and the Furious), Michael Pena (Crash, Shooter) and Bridget Moynahan (I, Robot, Lord of War). The rest of the cast is fairly inexperienced, and it shows because the acting is laughable at times. Director Jonathan Liebesman (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, Darkness Falls) put together some decent special effects throughout (with one glaring exception, the aliens), but it doesn't help the cause. You've heard and seen it all before. Earth has been attacked by alien life forms and it doesn't take long before they begin to take over our planet. Of all the hundreds of thousands of locations to choose from, the writer choose Los Angeles for the film to take place. That's a...

This is a very complicated film with tremendous performances across the board. Director Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo) had his hands full with this alternate reality/sci-fi romance. The script was written by Alex Garland (Sunshine, 28 Days Later...), who's very good at what he does. His script is based on the best-selling book by the same name, but he began writing it before the novel was released. He worked on it for years. The end result is satisfactory, but this film definitely could've been better in a lot of areas. The film follows three friends Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Ruth (Keira Knightley) and Tommy (Andrew Garfield). All three grew up in a strange English boarding school called Hailsham. Where they are monitored closely and go through the same mundane details, day after day. Kathy and Tommy become close friends when they're real young, but Ruth steals him away from her. They still remain friends through the years though. It isn't long before a "teacher"...