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| Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig & Leslie Jones (r) star in Ghostbusters |
From our friend, Arch Campbell...
The Jungle Book - 4 Stars. Dazzling Disney live-action update of the classic animated cartoon.
Finding Dory - 3½ Stars. Pixar’s follow-up to “Finding Nemo” provides fine and funny moments, and even a tear or two.
Eye in the Sky - 3 Stars. Helen Mirren as British officer with opportunity to target (i.e. kill) several terrorists with a drone, but what about collateral damage? Gripping.
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| Arch with Will Ferrell & Zach Galifianakis (r) |
Love & Friendship - 3 Stars. Jane Austen adaptation of seductive, conniving Kate Beckinsale looking for a new husband for both her and her daughter.
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates - 2½ Stars. A raunchy, guilty pleasure.
Best New Opening > Ghostbusters - 2½ Stars. Update of the 80’s comedy with Melissa McCarthy & Kristen Wiig and breakout performers Kate McKinnon & Leslie Jones. The first hour sparkles with hilarious one-liners. The last hour sags with tiresome CGI effects.
The Nice Guys - 2½ Stars. Private eye comic riff with Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling as hapless detectives, chasing scandal in 1970’s Los Angeles.
Money Monster - 2½ Stars. The financial cable show, hosted by George Clooney & produced by Julia Roberts gets taken over by a gunman demanding answers from Wall Street. Tense and fun to watch, but never feels plausible.
Captain America: Civil War - 2½ Stars. Marvel Comics parade of superheroes. A fan's delight, even when it runs way long.
Maggie's Plan - 2½ Stars. Greta Gerwig falls for Ethan Hawke, who leaves his wife Julianne Moore. Once together, Greta hatches a plan to give him back. Great plot, but talky and not as precious as it thinks.
The Infiltrator - 2 Stars. Based on Robert Mazur’s memoir about his year working undercover in the drug wars. Brian Cranston and John Leguizamo add spark, but the story feels familiar and more than a little forced.
Free State of Jones - 2 Stars. Matthew McConaughey as a Mississippi farmer, who rebels against the Civil War rebellion. Interesting, but too long and more than a little off the mark.
Our Kind of Traitor - 2 Stars. John le Carré's thriller lacks spark. Ewan McGregor plays a poetry professor, drawn into Russian mobster Stellan Skarsgård's plan to defect.
Genius - 2 Stars. Turns out Thomas Wolfe was a jerk, as portrayed in this talky movie about writing.
X-Men: Apocalypse - 2 Stars. Tiresome episode of a worn out series, set in the 80's this time. Argh.
Now You See Me 2 - 1 Star. Nah, you don't.
The Neon Demon - Zero Stars. Supermodel horror story. Elle Fanning tries to break into the business, and gets eaten alive. No thanks.
Swiss Army Man - Zero Stars. Paul Dano discovers the meaning of life in the woods with a corpse, played by Daniel Radcliffe. Some call it inventive, others a waste of time: Count me in the second camp.
Visit Arch's website for his (unrivaled) take on movies. He remains the only other (we're not self-hating) critic, whose opinion we admire and respect.'
