movie review

Last updated by Bruce Simmons at May 17, 2013.

Star Trek into Darkness Review

by Bruce Simmons on May 17, 2013

in Entertainment, movie reviews, movies

Hey folks. This movie review of Star Trek into Darkness starts here on Brusimm, but the bulk of the review is posted over on science fiction author Peter Cawdron’s website, Thinking Sci-Fi.

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This is a non-spoiler movie review of Star Trek Into Darkness.

Into Darkness is the 2nd movie in the J.J. Abrams reboot realm of the Gene Roddenberry sci-fi franchise. Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin and John Cho reprise their roles while Benedict Cumberbatch (who has a very cool voice), Peter Weller and Alice Eve add their names to the franchise in one fashion or another.

J.J. Abrams directed and produced the movie off a story written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman & Damon Lindelof.

But to be honest, the question isn’t if the actors brought their characters to life in an entertaining fashion, (they did). The big question in my mind was if this sequel will fall into the typical sequel realm of so-so, or does it hold up on its own or stand out above the first one?

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Continued at Thinking Sci-Fi Star Trek Into Darkness movie review…

(While you’re there, look around and see what Peter has to say on various things.)

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Broken City Review; A Thoughtful Crime Drama

by Bruce Simmons on May 12, 2013

in Entertainment, movie reviews, movies

Movie review: Broken City delivers a slow burn of a story that does pay out by the end of the third act. But does it keep the pace fresh enough throughout to keep you awake?

The movie cast includes action stars Mark Wahlberg & Russell Crowe. They’re supported by Catherine Zeta-Jones, Kyle Chandler, Jeffrey Wright and more, in a film directed by Allen Hughes (The Book of Eli).

The leads alone had me thinking this was going to be more of an action flick, but I found Broken City to be more a smart tale of crime, subterfuge and punishment.

In place of an over abundance of action, we find ourselves having heavily fleshed out stories and solid backgrounds and motivations for your characters rather than the flimsy veneers that most action flicks expect you to accept.

I think you’ll like this movie, particularly if you’re a fan of any of the primary cast.

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Chernobyl Diaries Movie Review

May 7, 2013

I just had a chance to watch Chernobyl Diaries the other day. You know when in one movie, the ghostly spirit says “Get out!” and well, they don’t? You don’t have to get out if you see this movie coming on the tube, but if you do get out and change the channel, you won’t [...]

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‘Iron Man Three’ Spoiler Conversation & Recap

May 3, 2013

Iron Man 3 movie review with spoilers: If you’re looking for the non-spoiler Iron Man 3 movie review, follow <- that link…. because here, I don’t hold back in the talking points about the Shane Black directed movie. – When Shane Black took over the directorial duties of the Iron Man franchise, I did not [...]

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‘Iron Man Three’ Movie Review

May 3, 2013

Iron Man 3 movie review by Bruce Simmons Iron Man 3 could possibly be the smartest chapter in the trilogy, and if you were wondering if you’d notice the difference between Jon Favreau’s and Shane Black’s directorial input, the answer is a resounding YES. There’s a huge difference in the tone of the film from [...]

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Review: ‘Total Recall’ Remake

April 29, 2013

I just caught the remake of the 1990 movie, Total Recall, the 2012 remake starred Colin Farrell as Quaid/Hauser, Kate Beckinsale as his “wife,” and Jessica Biel as Melina. Bryan Cranston played Cohaagen. It was directed by Len Wiseman (Underworld movie franchise, Live Free Die Hard). And I had the impression that the movie was [...]

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Early Iron Man 3 Reviews

April 23, 2013

U.S. press are embargoed from reporting their Iron Man 3 movie reviews until after April 29th. (Many will see it this week.) The International press, not so much! With that said, ComicBook.com did some footwork with Google Interpret and built a bit of a collective of reviews. We see the movie getting 4/5 stars in [...]

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Peter Cawdron Reviews ‘Oblivion’

April 15, 2013

Peter Cawdron, the author of such great hits as Monsters and Anomaly, had slapped his perspective on the new Tom Cruise & Morgan Freeman movie, Oblivion. It’s due out in theaters here in the U.S. this Friday, but being in Australia, he saw there before the rest of us after it opened on April 11th. [...]

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’13 Eerie’ Isn’t So Bad And It’s Good to See Michael Shanks Again

April 2, 2013

13 Eerie movie review: This is a movie about forensics undergrads looking to secure a coveted training spot with the FBI. They’re competing in a live forensics examination on cadavers placed around an old penitentiary island. But things go awry when we discover that there’s a black goo in barrels around the island. And from [...]

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Oscar Best Picture Winner “Argo” Is A Pretty Intense Rescue Thriller [A Review]

February 25, 2013

Argo, starring Ben Affleck, (who also produced and directed) Bryan Cranston, Alan Arkin, John Goodman and more. The movie is about a “1980 joint CIA-Canadian secret operation to extract six fugitive American diplomatic personnel out of revolutionary Iran.” Affleck plays an expert exfil (exfiltration) CIA agent Tony Mendez, who comes up with the idea of [...]

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‘Alpha Males Experiment,’ Review – The Romantic Comedy You Wont See Coming

February 20, 2013

Alpha Males Experiment is a misleading title, as you would never guess that you’re stepping in to a movie experience for a romantic comedy. Yet if you are of the like-minded alpha male of this world, you will not be disappointed by this movie either. Far from it. Alpha Males Experiment carries a compelling message [...]

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‘Flight’ Movie Review, Washington Pulls Off A Confusingly Good Role

February 9, 2013

Flight opens with Whip Whitaker waking with what seems to be one of many women in his life. He starts his day by finishing his beer from the night before and snorting a line of coke to erase the effects of the beer. He then heads off to his “day job” of being an airline [...]

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‘End of Watch’ Movie Review; Gyllenhaal & Peña Deliver The Bad Guys

February 8, 2013

I recently caught End of Watch and I found it to be an engaging piece of work. Having not seen or read very much about the movie, I came into the story pretty fresh minded. Though as the story developed, my concerns were warranted as to where the tale was headed. But regardless of what [...]

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‘Taken 2′ Movie Review

January 19, 2013

-Taken 2 stars pretty much the same cast as 2008′s Taken, with Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen, Leland Orser reprising their roles. New blood in the mix is Rade Serbedzija, the patriarch of a group of guys that Bryan (Neeson) killed while in pursuit of his kidnapped daughter in the first Taken movie. It’s [...]

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“Zero Dark Thirty” Review: A Solid Entertaining Docudrama Experience

January 11, 2013

Zero Dark Thirty movie review by Bruce Simmons. This is the tale of the chase for Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 terrorist attack. And it does a good job of portraying the intelligence efforts necessary to get a job like this done because in the realm of military intelligence, it takes more than a [...]

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The Butterfly Effect Was A Surprise Video

January 6, 2013

I just caught the 2004 movie called The Butterfly Effect and had to write up this movie review. It stars Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Elden Henson, William Lee Scott and a fleeting bit of time with a surprise look from Kevin Durand. The Butterfly Effect, is what you expect it to be, a movie about [...]

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Lawless Movie Review: A Worthy Bit of Entertainment

January 5, 2013

Lawless is a powerful story that takes place in the Depression-era Virginia about a bootlegging gang facing off against the law. And the law… Oops, almost gave it away. – The cast of Lawless is a pretty solid mix of actors headlined by Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska [...]

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War of the Dead, A Surprise Movie Review

December 27, 2012

War of the Dead is a World War II zombie movie, and sure, it’s another zombie movie. And to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from it. But I dutifully cranked it up , thinking it would be on in the background while I do other things. But the story was good enough to have [...]

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