A Good Day to Die Hard

Disappointing. Rather than dropping John McClane accidentally into a dangerous situation, thus making him a fly in the ointment, the lousy script has him causing most of the dangerous situations. It’s the bombastic destruction of the “Die Hard” formula, the single thing that made everybody love Die Hard in the first place. It’s kinda meta, right? Kinda Charlie Kaufman? A character destroying the plot to their own movie that they are, at that moment,  starring in? Whoa dude… Anyway, too bad John McTiernan is in jail. They could have used him here.

Side Effects

I loved this. It’s hard to discuss without ruining it for everybody (as if “everybody” reads this blog). It starts out one way and then cleverly and unnoticeably becomes something else. Rooney Mara is great. It’s Jude Law's best work since Closer. It’s so smart! It’s a shame Steven Soderbergh claims he’s retiring. It’s one of his best movies in his already amazing career. A must see.

Mama

5/6ths of this is really good. In the first half, Jessica Chastain skillfully develops her reluctant mother, gradually evolving from a tough-chick, punk bassist with no maternal ticking-clock whatsoever, into a smart and caring surrogate. When the spooky stuff starts to happen, it’s tense, well directed and the heroes never look stupid. Placing children in that much jeopardy can be a cheap way to earn sympathy. It’s worked so many times in the past. (Exorcist, Poltergeist, etc.) What audience can resist being terrified on behalf of a screaming child? In this case, efforts to put the kids in peril seem genuine and well-intentioned. My problems lie with the final moments, when the ghost has been “appeased” and still freaks out. What’s the point of appeasing a ghost if they’re just going to keep overreacting all the time!? All in all, it’s a fun, scary, and above average version of this kind of movie.