Long Island Movie Reviews with Christopher Boyle

Man Of Steel 06/19/13 Yeah, so we have a new Superman movie on our hands. After the failure of director Bryan Singer's 2006 Superman Returns, a well-meaning but somewhat misguided attempt to revive the franchise as a sequel to and (some would say overly) loving homage of the late 70's Richard Donner...............................................Chris Boyle

The Purge 06/12/13 The Purge is a wacky movie that holds an interesting yet not fully-developed premise within its cinematic boundaries. It kinda reminds me, a tiny bit, of the old-school Star Trek episode "Return of the Archons" where this computer controlled an entire society with an iron grip but let everyone...............................................Chris Boyle

After Earth 06/05/13 After Earth isn't as bad as everyone is making it out to be. That's not to say that it's a good movie by any means, but I'm not really buying into the mass dog-piling that seemingly every other critic on Earth is almost gleefully indulging in. You see, we critics LOVE to write reviews of bad movies...............................................Chris Boyle

Fast & Furious 6 05/29/13 I love the Fast & Furious series. Yeah, some people think of it as the cinematic equivalent of the sneeze guard at the local family all-you-can-eat buffet, but I personally turn my nose up at such snobbery. These movies are dumb, cheesy, crazy fun, each and every one of them, and I have found..............................................Chris Boyle

Star Trek Into Darkness 05/22/13 Yes, I'm a Trekkie, or Trekker, or whatever the hell you want to call it. I love Star Trek. I grew up on it, and Captain Kirk has always served as my personal hero of sorts. The crew of the USS Enterprise has always served to elicit a warm and fuzzy reaction from me, as if these people..............................................Chris Boyle

The Great Gatsby 05/15/13 I don't like The Great Gatsby. I didn't like it when I had to read F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel in high school for a book report, and I don't like Baz Luhrmann's 2013 film adaptation. I am clearly not the target audience for Gatsby, but I shall nonetheless do my best to review it in a fair and unbiased manner..............................................Chris Boyle

Iron Man 3 05/08/13 Well, after Marvel conquered the world with the build-up and release of the ultimate comic book team-up movie, The Avengers, "Phase Two" (meaning the systematic build-up the eventual release of Avengers 2) is officially underway with the subject of today's review- Iron Man 3. Written and directed.............................................Chris Boyle

Pain & Gain 05/01/13 Pain & Gain is one of those movies that are based on a true story that, upon viewing, you say to yourself, "Man, these movies never stick to the facts. This is too crazy to be real." But in this case, it IS. Michael Bay directed this one, and apparently Pain & Gain is a pet project of his that he insisted.............................................Chris Boyle

Oblivion 04/24/13 There's a great deal of sci-fi coming out as of late, and I for one couldn't be happier. Science Fiction, in my opinion, is a lot like pizza- even when it's bad, it's still pretty good. Yeah, I know, that's a pretty lame and overused analogy to use, but it still holds true. The latest bit of sci-fi to plop down.............................................Chris Boyle

Scary Movie 5 04/17/13 Man, some series just have to run themselves into the ground before they realize their time is up...and yeah, Scary Movie is such a series. David Zucker has quite a pedigree. Heck, this is the man that created possibly the greatest spoof film in history- 1980's "Airplane!" I just watched it.............................................Chris Boyle

Evil Dead 04/10/13 First, I'd like to open this review to acknowledge the untimely and unfortunate passing of one of the true greats in my biz...Roger Ebert. You will be sorely missed, my friend. Evil Dead, the twisted z-grade 80's horror flick that has enslaved generations of rabid fanboys, launched a cult media franchise.............................................Chris Boyle

G.I. Joe: Retaliation 04/03/13 Growing up in the 80's was a great thing...entertainment in that day exposed children to endless amounts of violence, blood, and wanton destruction, and nothing epitomized that more than Hasbro's awesome GI Joe toy line and cartoon series. I loved it then, and I love it now.............................................Chris Boyle

Olympus Has Fallen 03/27/13 Olympus Has Fallen follows the rather implausible premise of terrorists taking over the White House and holding the President of the United States hostage. Still, it's a movie, and if you buy into movie logic and are capable of suspending disbelief...well, it's STILL rather............................................Chris Boyle

The Call 03/20/13 I'm not a fan of Halle Berry. In fact, I consider her one of the worst actresses working today. It's just my opinion, Halle Berry fans. Don't take it personally. It's hard to explain why I feel the way I do. Is it her wooden delivery? Her lack of range? How she feels fake in almost every role? Again, it's just my............................................Chris Boyle

Oz the Great and Powerful 03/13/13 Everyone knows The Wizard of Oz, right? I mean, if you're a modern parent, and you haven't shown your kids this timeless classic by the age of four or five at the latest, you really should have Child Protective Services called on you. And everyone knows that Hollywood is creatively bankrupt............................................Chris Boyle

Jack the Giant Slayer 03/06/13 Jack the Giant Slayer has been getting ripped apart early on by both critics and audiences alike based on the fairly lame advertising campaign that predated its release. That's a common problem in the movie business...the quality of a trailer can make or break a film, and a bad one............................................Chris Boyle

Snitch 02/27/13 Finally, Dwayne Johnson is coming around. The former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar left the mat several years ago to concentrate on his budding Hollywood career and was seemingly poised to inherit the Action Hero crown from none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger............................................Chris Boyle

A Good Day to Die Hard 02/20/13 A Good Day to Die Hard? For this series, maybe. Listen, everyone loves 1988's Die Hard and John McClane, the tough-as-nails, down on his luck, everyman police officer played by Bruce Willis who takes on a skyscraper of terrorists. 1990's Die Hard 2: Die Harder has its detractors............................................Chris Boyle

Identity Thief 02/14/13 Identity Thief is a terrible new comedy starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy. What, I have to write more? But it's bad enough that I had to watch this movie...I have to relive the rotten experience by writing about it? You mean, it's my job? Well...okay. Fine. We all know............................................Chris Boyle

Bullet to the Head 02/06/13 Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, two of the biggest action stars ever, have released new films in the last few weeks...and both films have tanked hard at the box office. I guess the 1980's, the heyday of both the Action genre and of Schwarzenegger............................................Chris Boyle

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters 01/31/13 Every now and again, you've gotta unwind with a fun garbage movie. That's basically Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters in a nutshell. Wait...in a nutshell? I know clichés are often inane and obscure in their meanings, but I'm not even 100 percent sure what "in a nutshell" means............................................Chris Boyle

The Last Stand 01/23/13 Arnold has returned. All is right with the world. With the action movie scene of today populated by wimps and wussies, it's more apparent that the heyday of ruthless 80's Action films is long gone. Sly Stallone dusting off his John Rambo character for one last go-round a few years ago was............................................Chris Boyle

Texas Chainsaw 3D 01/16/13 When it comes to the legendary icons of slasher movie history, I'm a Jason Voorhees guy. Always has been, always will be. Guys like Freddy, Michael, and Pinhead have always taken backseat to my hockey mask-wearing hero. Sure, these dudes can be entertaining in their own right, but............................................Chris Boyle

Django Unchained 01/09/13 You know, in the past I've been rather hard on director Quentin Tarantino....I've often felt that he's one of the most overrated filmmakers in history. His penchant for mixing drama with camp and for a little too blatantly wearing his cinematic influences on his sleeve were just things............................................Chris Boyle

Jack Reacher 01/02/13 I'm torn on Tom Cruise movies. On the one hand, it's almost fashionable to bash on the guy; he's considered somewhat of an eccentric by the public at large, what with his devotion to Scientology, the infamous couch-hopping incident on Oprah Winfrey's talk show back in the day............................................Chris Boyle

Rise of the Guardians 12/26/12 Well, here we are with a nice holiday film for the family to enjoy that I just so happened to take my nephew to go see. What I'm trying to say is that Rise of the Guardians isn't a movie that I myself would choose to see for my own entertainment, but as kid's fare, it's pretty solid and should............................................Chris Boyle

The Hobbit 12/19/12 I must preface this review of The Hobbit by pointing out that I am not a Lord of the Rings fan; this applies to both the cherished medieval fantasy novels written by J.R.R. Tolken and the flashy film adaptations made by director Peter Jackson a few years back. I prefer my tales of swords and sorcery............................................Chris Boyle

Seven Psychopaths 12/12/12 Every now and again a little film comes along that catches me by surprise. Seven Psychopaths is such a film. It's been out in limited release for several weeks, and if you look around, you can still find it playing in select locations. It's a pretty crazy crime/comedy film with an ensemble............................................Chris Boyle

Red Dawn 12/05/12 Pointless, pointless, pointless...can you say pointless? Hollywood, in all its creative bankruptcy, is choking on pointless remakes in recent years, churning out carbon copies of movies that were, for the most part, usually pretty good-to-great the first time around. But the horror of constantly............................................Chris Boyle

Flight 11/28/12 There's something horrible yet riveting about watching a man's slow, inevitable, and self-inflicted decent into his own personal hell. Flight, a drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and featuring an ensemble cast including Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, Melissa Leo, Bruce Greenwood............................................Chris Boyle

Lincoln 11/21/12 I hate to go against the grain here, as everyone is showering Steven Spielberg's biopic Lincoln with near-universal praise. And, in many ways, it's very deserving of it. It features a stunning performance by Daniel Day-Lewis, whose near-obsessive method acting technique is once again brought to the fore............................................Chris Boyle

Skyfall 11/14/12 I'm a massive James Bond fan...always have been. Whether he was played on the silver screen by Sean Connery, Roger Moore, or even George Lazenby (but not so much Timothy Dalton...sorry, Tim), I've always enjoyed the cinematic tales of author Ian Flemming's British MI6 agent with a penchant for............................................Chris Boyle

The Man with the Iron Fists 11/07/12 Well, we all know that I love action movies...because I tell you, my loyal readers, every single time I get a chance. And one subcategory of this amazing genre that I especially adore is that known as the Kung-Fu movie. Born out of the fabled land of Hong Kong............................................Chris Boyle

Silent Hill: Revelation 3D 11/02/12 I’m a big fan of the Japanese-developed Survival Horror videogame series known as Silent Hill. Each installment is a deep, atmospheric trek through the cursed town after which the series is named, relying on psychological terror, disturbing creatures that are created............................................Chris Boyle

Paranormal Activity 4 10/25/12 When it comes to Paranormal Activity 4, I guess you could say what is old is new is old again, if that makes any sense. Written, directed, and shot by amateur filmmaker Oren Peli in his very own home, the original Paranormal Activity was the story of a young couple, Katie............................................Chris Boyle

Sinister 10/17/12 2001's hit, Insidious, was considered by many as a creepy renaissance of sorts; after years of boring, bland, cookie-cutter horror films, the director/writer team of James Wan and Leigh Whannell crafted a terrifying tale that had audiences screaming and peeking at the screen through their intertwined............................................Chris Boyle

Taken 2 10/10/12 Taken...oh, how I love thee. Liam Neeson's lovingly-crafted ode to blood, death, and bodily dismemberment was a highlight of 2008 for me personally, and a much-needed shot in the arm of the limp and floundering action movie genre in general, which had unfortunately lost a great deal............................................Chris Boyle

Looper 10/04/12 Don't let the goofy name fool you...Looper is a pretty hard-edged sci-fi/action film with a brain. Looper opens like any self-respecting science fiction movie does: with a voiceover courtesy of the main character explaining the world you're about to enter to the audience. Judge Dredd did it last week when............................................Chris Boyle

Judge Dredd 3D 09/26/12 Judge Dredd, England’s most popular comic book hero, got his start in the pages of 2000AD Magazine way back in the 1970’s. Taking place in a post-apocalyptic America, the Judge Dredd comic concerns the last remnants of humanity............................................Chris Boyle

Resident Evil: Retribution 09/19/12 So Resident Evil: Retribution wasn't that hot. And after five installments in the series, it ended in yet another cliffhanger, too. So, considering the fact that this movie was a hit at the box office this weekend, it looks like yet another sequel's coming for sure............................................Chris Boyle

The Possession 09/12/12 Aw, no...not ANOTHER demonic possession movie that's "based on true events." I...I can't take it anymore! They're all really starting to blur into one big indistinguishable mess of film after film, each one looking, sounding, and acting the same as the one that came before it............................................Chris Boyle

Lawless 09/05/12 Man, Lawless is BRUTAL. Brutal, I say! Oh, and it's a great movie, too. Read on, brethren. Directed by John Hillcoat and based on Matt Bondurant's 2008 novel "The Wettest County in the World" (what a terrible title) about his grandfather and great uncles in Prohibition-era Virginia, Lawless............................................Chris Boyle

ParaNorman 08/29/12 I loves me some stop-motion animation. In this age of super-slick GCI cartoons, the sheer amount of labor and artistry that goes into your typical stop-motion film is truly awe-inspiring to behold. For those of you who aren't in the know, stop-motion animation is...well, I'll just let............................................Chris Boyle

The Expendables 2 08/22/12 We all know I love the carnage, destruction, and oozing machismo of the 80's Action film genre; I declare my devotion of this sweet art form at every opportunity when I write my movie reviews. So when The Expendables came out in 2010, an ensemble action/adventure flick combining............................................Chris Boyle

The Bourne Legacy 08/15/12 The Bourne Legacy is a good movie that didn't need to have the word "Bourne" in its title. Don't get me wrong; I can understand why the filmmakers wanted to cash in on the name recognition of the popular spy series now that star Matt Damon has split the scene and a new (unrelated) character............................................Chris Boyle

Total Recall 08/08/12 Hollywood's obsession with corporately-mandated, money-grubbing remakes hit a new low when it was announced that Total Recall, the brilliant action/sci-fi flick directed by insane Dutchman Paul Verhoeven and starring the mighty Austrian Oak himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger............................................Chris Boyle

The Watch 08/01/12 The Watch is an ensemble sci-fi/comedy film starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, and Richard Ayoade as suburbanites who form a neighborhood watch group and end up taking on outer-space alien invaders who threaten the planet. Yes, that's really the plot. I don't normally............................................Chris Boyle

The Dark Knight Rises 07/15/12 Well, director Christopher Nolan's fascinating take on the Caped Crusader finally comes to an end with The Dark Knight Rises, the final film in the trilogy that began with Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight (2008). It's almost impossible to compare Rises to the other............................................Chris Boyle

Ice Age 4: Continental Drift 07/18/12 I hate using clichés, but every now and then nothing else will do to get my point across easily and clearly. This one has something to do with beating a dead horse. Maybe you've heard it used before? Ice Age 4: Continental Drift is a computer generated cartoon that takes place............................................Chris Boyle

Ted 07/11/12 I can't believe it. Ted is actually a good movie. I mean, I reacted probably like pretty much anyone did when they saw the trailer for Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane's feature film directorial debut starring a foul-mouthed stoner teddy bear...I thought it was the dumbest freaking thing I'd ever seen............................................Chris Boyle

The Amazing Spider-Man 07/03/12 You know, Spider-Man 3 was only released in 2007...the decision to reboot the series a mere FIVE YEARS (it feels shorter, I know) later seems a bit crass, even by Hollywood standards. I mean, director Sam Rami did the famous wall-crawling crime fighter proud in his............................................Chris Boyle

Brave 06/27/12 It's funny...everyone is waiting for Pixar to finally lay an egg, fire off a dud, hit a foul ball, and they never do it. It's like people WANT them to fail, and it's gotten to the point these days that if Pixar releases a film that might be anywhere from, say, anywhere from one to seven percent removed from............................................Chris Boyle

Snow White and the Huntsman 06/22/12 Hey...on the lookout for a movie without any story whatsoever? Then you've found it! . Well, okay...I'm exaggerating a tad. Snow White and the Huntsman DOES have a story. Well, barely. After all, it's based on the beloved children's fable compiled by the Brothers Grimm, but only in............................................Chris Boyle

Prometheus 06/13/12 I'd been looking forward to Prometheus more than any movie in recent memory; to the point that I had imposed an embargo upon myself regarding all online spoilers and reviews...I wanted to go into Prometheus knowing as little as possible. Starting development by director............................................Chris Boyle

Chernobyl Diaries 06/07/12 I went into Chernobyl Diaries expecting garbage. Maybe fun garbage, but garbage nonetheless. What I got, surprisingly, was an atmospheric horror movie in a unique setting that does a nice job of building a mounting sense of dread. It's nothing groundbreaking............................................Chris Boyle

Men In Black III 05/31/12 Men in Black 3 is a better film than Men in Black 2. Of course, I could have handed a monkey a camera and he could have produced a better film than Men in Black 2, so it goes without saying that any attempt at filming a third installment in the franchise would be an improvement by default, unless the............................................Chris Boyle

The Dictator 05/23/12 Sacha Baron Cohen is a genius...well, of a sort. A British comedian and interviewer who has made a career out of melting into tailor-made, subversive roles for the purpose of revealing his subject's inner prejudice and ignorance (as well as just generating untold amounts of shock value)............................................Chris Boyle

The Pirates! Band of Misfits 05/16/12 I love stop-motion animation. Just the sheer amount of effort and detail readily apparent in each and every painstakingly-crafted frame just fills me with awe. And the currently kings of the hill when it comes to stop-motion are the delightful Brits of Aardman Animations............................................Chris Boyle

The Avengers 05/10/12 Well, after what seemed like forever, it's finally here: The Avengers, the superhero team-up movie to end all superhero team-up movies, pitting Marvel Comics' mightiest do-gooders against a threat that promises to decimate the entire planet. The seeds for what would eventually become The Avenger............................................Chris Boyle

The Raven 05/03/12 Great...my official 200th review for Long Island Exchange and it has to be The Raven. I hate Hollywood. You know, I thought that the recent Sherlock Holmes movies starring Robert Downey Jr. that re-imagined the drug-addicted intellectual super-sleuth as a martial arts expert/action hero were pushing............................................Chris Boyle

The Cabin in the Woods 04/26/12 This is a strange movie for me to review, in the sense that I really feel a strong obligation NOT to tell you anything about it. The Cabin in the Woods is the kind of movie where it's best to go in knowing as little as possible....the experience will be all the more enjoyable............................................Chris Boyle

Lockout 04/18/12 Well, well, well...if it isn't the most unoriginal action movie ever made: Lockout. Written and produced by Luc Besson, who has brought us great films such as Taken and From Paris With Love, Lockout falls directly into line with Besson's established formula: take a cool, deadly, charismatic leading man, add............................................Chris Boyle

The Raid: Redemption 04/12/12 Okay, I'm cutting to the chase with this review because I want to tell you all about how awesome The Raid: Redemption is. First off, there are three things that my long-time readers are all too well aware of: 1.) I love action movies. 2.) 99.9% of modern action movies are limp............................................Chris Boyle

Wrath of the Titans 04/06/12 Honestly, when reviewing Wrath of the Titans, the sequel of Clash of the Titans, I could have gone back to my review of the 2010 original (itself a remake of classic the 80's film) and simply cut and pasted the text into this very spot. And, with very few alterations, that review would be pretty much............................................Chris Boyle

The Hunger Games 03/29/12 For me, The Hunger Games, the film adaptation of the popular "young adult" sci-fi novel by Suzanne Collins, is a failure on many levels. I can't even say that its wasted potential, since any shred of potential it displays is blatantly ripped off from other, better movies. At its heart, one could best describe............................................Chris Boyle

21 Jump Street 03/22/12 It's always a letdown when a comedy starts out great, only to take a nosedive about halfway through. Such is the case with 21 Jump Street, a film based on the old 80's TV series about young undercover police officers that featured Johnny Depp in one of his earliest roles. Now, Depp is out (well, he does............................................Chris Boyle

John Carter 03/16/12 You know, people are always ready to hate when one of the big boys takes a fall in Hollywood. Everyone was writing off John Carter, Disney's big $250 million dollar sci-fi/fantasy epic, as the next Ishtar before it was even released. Based on the first of a series of novels penned by Edgar Rice Burroughs............................................Chris Boyle

Project X 03/08/12 I'm sure by now you've heard that Project X, the product of first-time director Nima Nourizadeh and starring a trio of relative unknowns, is rather reprehensible from a moral standpoint, and for the most part, the film's detractors are right. Project X is pretty much packed to the gills with highly unlikable characters............................................Chris Boyle

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island 03/02/12 Taking the pro wrestling world by storm, Dwayne Johnson (AKA The Rock) left at the top of his game to pursue leading man roles in Hollywood, and with his charisma and impressive physical attributes, he seemed poised to take over the action movie crown for this generation............................................Chris Boyle

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance 02/23/12 Hello, children. Today's review is Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, the Nicolas Cage-starring sequel to 2007's Ghost Rider, itself a Marvel Comics-based tale of a stunt motorcycle driver who becomes possessed by a demon and the shenanigans that ensue. Now, I'm pretty sure............................................Chris Boyle

Chronicle 02/15/12 Chronicle is a science fiction film directed by newcomer Josh Trank, and yes, it comes to us in the form of one of those "found footage" movies. In other words, one of the characters is wielding a video camera at all the right moments, obsessed with documenting their life for all the audiences............................................Chris Boyle

The Woman In Black 02/09/12 I'm telling ya...they don't make 'em like this anymore. A slow-paced, atmospheric, genuinely creepy horror movie with sparse dialogue and an actual sense of restraint? The Woman in Black is all those things and more, my friends. This film is also significant in that it's Daniel Radcliffe's first............................................Chris Boyle

The Grey 02/02/12 The Grey was an oddity for me. According to the trailers, it was to continue star Liam Neeson's recent trek away from the dramatic roles that used to be his bread and butter and towards becoming the new Charles Bronson (which isn't a bad thing, mind you). However, much to my surprise, the opposite............................................Chris Boyle

Haywire 01/25/12 FINALLY. A movie where a woman beating the living crap out of a man is actually 100% believable! I've been waiting years for this. If you've been reading my reviews for a while, you've probably noticed that I usually tend to be a tad on the harsh side when reviewing action movies ............................................Chris Boyle

Contraband 01/19/12 Contraband is a solid yet unoriginal and unremarkable action/thriller about a criminal trying to turn his life around who is forced to come out of retirement to do "one last job." Hey, I almost had to stifle a snicker when I typed that opening sentence, since along with avenging the............................................Chris Boyle

The Devil Inside 01/12/12 When it comes to movies, the cardinal rule is to always go out strong; in other words, a good ending can actually elevate an otherwise so-so film into something pretty good. Likewise, a bad ending can really just sink a halfway decent flick straight to the bottom of the toilet............................................Chris Boyle

Young Adult 01/05/12 Young Adult has a small amount of significance to me, but not because it's made by the duo of writer/ex-stripper Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman (who made 2007's Juno, a film I never saw), or the fact that it stars Oscar-winning actress Charlize Theron as a drunken floozy............................................Chris Boyle

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol 12/29/11 I've always given the Mission: Impossible films (themselves based on the classic TV series) a passing glance, but I've never gotten too into them. I'm not sure why...what I've seen is pretty solid, I like action films, and series star Tom Cruise, general............................................Chris Boyle

Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows 12/22/11 You know, I kind of enjoyed the first Guy Ritchie-directed Sherlock Holmes film back in 2009, even though it bore little resemblance to the stories crafted by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The tale of Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.), the amazing Victorian-era super-sleuth............................................Chris Boyle

The Sitter 12/16/11 The Sitter: totally unoriginal, vaguely offensive, kinda weird, yet still entertaining and, dare I say it, even funny. It stars Jonah Hill playing Jonah Hill playing Noah, a fat college dropout who acts just like Jonah Hill does in every movie he's ever made since Superbad. If you don't understand what............................................Chris Boyle

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy 12/09/11 Ah, it's been far too long since we've had a solid little espionage film thrown our way, and now we have a very good one in the form of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, a British production based on a 1974 novel by John le Carré. Now, I'm not sure how widespread the advertising............................................Chris Boyle

The Muppets 12/02/11 Man, I loved the Muppets as a kid. When I was little, birthdays usually consisted of my mom taking me and a bunch of my friends out to the movies, and then to Friendly's for some ice cream...and one of the earliest memories I have of those great birthday outings is going to see............................................Chris Boyle

Jack And Jill 11/28/11 I'd given up on Adam Sandler long, long ago...2010's Grown Ups was pretty much the final straw for me when it came to ever expecting a semi-amusing film from him ever again. Well, leave it to Sandler to drive that point home with the instant death that is Jack and Jill, the movie that seems............................................Chris Boyle

Immortals 11/21/11 With the success of the recent Clash of the Titans remake, it was a sure bet that another over-the-top sword-and-sandal movie dealing with Greek Mythology was going to come out sooner rather than later, and here we have Immortals, which is basically Zach Snyder's 300, only with the gods............................................Chris Boyle

Tower Heist 11/11/11 Brett Ratner is pretty much regarded amongst Holly directors with terms such as "middle of the road," "solid," and "average at best." Me? I just think he's okay. Wait...isn't that the same thing? Anyway, I've never really seen a bad Brett Ratner film, but I've never really seen............................................Chris Boyle

Paranormal Activity 3 11/03/11 It's amazing how something so fresh and new can get so stale so quickly. In 2007, independent filmmaker Oren Peli blew moviegoers worldwide away when he released Paranormal Activity, a cheap yet shockingly original and effective horror movie about demons terrorizing............................................Chris Boyle

The Three Musketeers 10/28/11 You know, I've seen worse movies than The Three Musketeers, director Paul W.S. Anderson's un-needed, un-asked for addition to the many, many film adaptations of the classic Alexandre Dumas novel. But even though it's not the worst example of cinema that I've ever............................................Chris Boyle

The Thing 10/21/11 In 1982, Director John Carpenter created what I consider to be one of the few absolutely perfect movies ever made and possibly my favorite film of all time: The Thing, a masterpiece of sci-fi/horror, blending paranoia and an unrelenting sense of dread while introducing moviegoers............................................Chris Boyle

Real Steel 10/13/11 I don't get all the hate Real Steel was getting from people prior to its release. Based on its trailers, no one I spoke to or corresponded with online believed the movie could be any good, and I don't understand why that is. I mean, I thought the commercials looked pretty neat, and............................................Chris Boyle

Dream House 10/10/11 Well, Daniel Craig was on a roll...landed the role as James Bond (although the 007 series is currently on hold since its parent company, MGM, is in the financial toilet), starred in a big sci-fi/action blockbuster (Cowboys and Aliens), and now this. Dream House, a slow, boring............................................Chris Boyle

Moneyball 09/30/11 I'm not really that into sports. And I'm especially not much of a baseball fan. Hey, sorry, but we all have our own thing, right? So, with this being said, I went into the showing of the film I'm reviewing today, Moneyball, with a small bit of bias against it. Why, you may ask? Well obviously, if you couldn't guess............................................Chris Boyle

Killer Elite 09/23/11 Killer Elite is an action film. An action film with a rather stellar cast, overall: Jason Statham, Clive Owen, and Robert De Niro. However, it's also an action movie that ends up actually being a bit more than the sum of its parts. Not MUCH more, but more. Read on. Killer Elite is based on............................................Chris Boyle

Contagion 09/16/11 Hmm...I can't say that director Steven Soderbergh's new movie, Contagion, is a good one. It is, however, completely and utterly engrossing. But Chris, you might ask...don't the two go hand in hand? Well, yes, I suppose they should, but not always. Just starting reading the review............................................Chris Boyle

The Warrior 09/12/11 Finally.after a few weeks of watching and reviewing fairly mediocre movies, I finally get to write about a good one. That movie is Warrior, a fighting/drama film starring Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, and Nick Nolte. You know, considering how popular Mixed Martial Arts are, I'm surprised............................................Chris Boyle

Shark Night 3D 09/02/11 I wanted to watch Apollo 18 for you this week, which looked like a pretty good horror/sci-fi movie. Alas, due to a scheduling snafu, I was instead forced to endure a lovely little source of pain called Shark Night 3D. Yes, Shark Night 3D. I'm telling you, no good can come of a film with that title............................................Chris Boyle

Columbiana 08/26/11 Oh, good! It's been at least three or four weeks since I've seen an action movie where a rail-thin supermodel beats the crap out of men who outweigh her by at least 100 pounds. Because, you know, that happens all the time in real life. Don't get me wrong...I know movies are all............................................Chris Boyle

Conan the Barbarian 08/19/11 Conan the Barbarian is Arnold Schwarzenegger. No one else can ever play the hero of Robert E. Howard's sword and sorcery novels as convincingly as the Austrian Oak did in director John Milius' 1982 epic film. Sadly, the grim specter of time has aged the once-mighty Arnold to............................................Chris Boyle

Final Destination 5 08/12/11 You know, I love horror movies. Love 'em. But they're liars, mind you...terrible, terrible liars. They're always promising to end their respective series, only to pop back from the dead just like the antagonist of any self-respecting slasher film after you think the hero has finished............................................Chris Boyle

Cowboys And Aliens 08/05/11 Hey kids! Today's review is Cowboys And Aliens, the new sci-fi western directed by Jon Favreau (Elf, Iron Man 1 and 2) and starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. It's taken a mild beating in the press, pulling in mostly average reviews, but I'm here to give you the real deal............................................Chris Boyle

Captain America: The First Avenger 07/29/11 Marvel Studios certainly seems to know how to pick their directors. Kenneth Branagh, with his vast history of Shakespeare productions, seemed a natural choice for the recent hit movie Thor (starring the Norse God of Thunder). Joe Johnston who apparently once made............................................Chris Boyle

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part Two 07/21/11 Well, after 14 years, 7 novels, 8 movies, and tons and tons and tons of merchandise, it's all over. Yup, with the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, the cinematic adaptations of British author (and richest woman in the............................................Chris Boyle

Horrible Bosses 07/15/11 Haven't you ever wanted to kill your boss? Sure, we all have...well, not ME, as the swell guys running Long Island Exchange are just super keen, but I've held other jobs where I wouldn't have minded if a couple thousand cinder blocks happened to fall on my erstwhile employer's head. It's only............................................Chris Boyle

Zookeeper 07/08/11 Instead of actually reviewing the instant death that is Kevin James' new movie, Zookeeper, I'm tempted to simply cut and paste the word "TERRIBLE" about 700 times and leave it at that. However, I don't think that would get me paid, so I guess I'll go the more conventional route and try............................................Chris Boyle

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon 07/01/11 It you've seen Transformers 1 & 2, director Michael Bay's take on the popular 80's toy and cartoon series about alien robots who turn into cars and trucks and planes and coffee cups or whatever, then you've already seen Transformers 3, or...........................................Chris Boyle

Green Lantern 06/24/11 Man, going into a movie with lowered expectations can work wonders for your overall enjoyment level of said movie. However, in Green Lantern's case, all the negative press it's been getting seems a bit unwarranted. This DC comic book-based flick, starring Ryan Reynolds as a guy...........................................Chris Boyle

Super 8 06/17/11 Whenever a movie comes out with a number in its title, and that movie isn't a sequel to something, my friends and I have this running gag that just never gets old. Take Super 8 for instance...the joke would be to say, "Well, I didn't see the first 7, but..." I'm telling ya, it never ceases to crack ...........................................Chris Boyle

X-Men: First Class 06/10/11 After the wretched X-Men: The Last Stand and the so-so X-Men Origins: Wolverine, I had given up hope that the once critically-acclaimed superhero franchise based on my beloved series of childhood comic books would ever turn out a watchable entry again. Enter Matthew Vaughn, director...........................................Chris Boyle

The Hangover 2 06/06/11 I'm one of the few Americans that didn't quite get The Hangover. It was a funny film, sure, and it frequently went over the line of good taste, but overall, I just didn't get what all the commotion was about. Still, it made a boatload of dough, and the Powers That Be demanded a sequel and, well, here...........................................Chris Boyle

The Conspirators 05/27/11 This week I had the option to review "Bridesmaids," but given the description of it as being the "female version of The Hangover," I instead opted for something that I thought would be a tad more highbrow; in this case, "The Conspirator." Hey, now I love trashy cinema as much as...........................................Chris Boyle

Priest 05/19/11 Is it a compliment to say that a movie isn't nearly as horrible as I was expecting it to be? That it was actually, shockingly, okay? I...I guess it is. Such is Priest, a new sci-fi vampire flick starring Paul Bettany, who you probably know as the voice of Iron Man's wise-ass computer, JARVIS. Based on...........................................Chris Boyle

Thor 05/13/11 "Thor? Well, it hurts." Get it? GET IT? No? Well, it helps if you say it with a lisp... Okay, bad jokes aside, let's just jump into this week's review: Thor, the latest Marvel Comics character to get the big-screen treatment. Now, if you've read this column before (and you do every week, don't you?), you'll...........................................Chris Boyle

Hobo With A Shotgun 05/06/11 I'm so happy I live in a world where a totally sick, depraved movie like Hobo With A Shotgun can be made. For those of you who don't know, Hobo With A Shotgun started life as a fake trailer directed by Jason Eisener, made for a contest to promote 2007's Grindhouse, Robert Rodriguez...........................................Chris Boyle

Fast Five 04/29/11 I just can't get enough of the Fast and the Furious. I can't explain why...well, I CAN, but it probably wouldn't sway anyone who feels it's just a series of vapid, poorly-acted, flashy action movies with no real redeeming value, mainly because they'd be right. Fast Five, the latest installment in the Furious...........................................Chris Boyle

Scream 4 04/23/11 As a film critic, I occasionally get the privilege of actually getting to write my opinion of some truly great movies...but mostly, I have to wade through a lot of crap. Now, don't get me wrong, ripping a bad movie a new one via pounding out a few paragraphs on my keyboard can be a lot of fun, but in the case of...........................................Chris Boyle

Hanna 04/15/11 Hanna is one of those quirky European action movies that occasionally find themselves getting a wide release in the States. Personally, I happen to like these kinds of movies. Remember how I'm always going on and on about Liam Neeson's wonderful 2008 film Taken? French-made...........................................Chris Boyle

Insidious 04/08/11 Considering that Insidious was made by the writing/directing team that gave birth to Saw, which has become the inbred, trailer trash grease stain of the horror movie world (although the original film had some potential), I was pretty much floored by how good Insidious actually is. Sure, it's a whole lot...........................................Chris Boyle

Sucker Punch 04/01/11 Sucker Punch: remove the last seven letters from the title of this movie and you'll have my opinion of it. Yes, Zack Snyder, noted director of such hits as 300 and Watchmen, has created the ultimate plotless, all style/no substance movie populated with vapid characters who...........................................Chris Boyle

Limitless 03/25/11 Limitless is about a guy with no drive, focus, or ambition who takes a special non-FDA approved pill that makes him real, real smart. So smart that it gets him in lots of trouble. Okay, that's it. See you next week when I review... Oh, wait, my review has to be longer than two sentences? Oh...okay...........................................Chris Boyle

Battle: Los Angeles 03/18/11 Battle: Los Angeles starts out with the alien invasion that makes up its plotline already in full swing. Then, after about a minute, it jumps back 24 hours to before the action begins. Why? I don't know. Maybe it's to make sure people compare it to last year's Skyline, yet another movie that...........................................Chris Boyle

The Adjustment Bureau 03/11/11 The Adjustment Bureau has, at its core, an interesting concept that never quite feels fleshed out enough. If they had really run with its rather interesting concept, it might have resulted in a great movie, rather than just a good one. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this flick, and I...........................................Chris Boyle

I Am Number Four 03/04/11 There's nothing like being dragged into a movie kicking and screaming, expecting it to be horrible beyond words, and actually leaving having been, at least to some small, tiny degree, entertained. Now, I'm not saying that I Am Number Four, a lame and blatant attempt...........................................Chris Boyle

Unknown 02/25/11 Oh, man, I loves me some Liam Neeson. He's one of the few actors walking the Earth that can class up just about any movie he sees fit to appear in. In fact, I think he'd even make a navel lint documentary pretty darn entertaining, if he chose to go that route. Okay, so, with that...........................................Chris Boyle

The Eagle 02/18/11 The phrase "okay" was pretty much invented to describe The Eagle, a movie about the occupation of Britain by Rome back in 2nd century AD. It's not a bad movie, it's not a good movie, it's just..."okay." To expand a bit, one could say that it has a rather interesting and unique setting, but...........................................Chris Boyle

The Company Men 02/11/11 You're heard of feel-good movies, right? Well, aside from maybe a documentary about the horrors of Auschwitz, The Company Men is the ultimate feel-BAD movie. First off, The Company Men is a very timely release. Set during the current economic toilet that our country is ...........................................Chris Boyle

The Rite 02/04/11 Okay, I just had to say it. I'm sure at least a dozen or so other film critics have made the same awful joke when reviewing this movie, but based on the off-chance they didn't, I did. Also, its 1:30 in the morning...........................................Chris Boyle

The Mechanic 01/28/11 Last week I reviewed sophisticated art house film The King's Speech. This week I review The Mechanic, which is neither sophisticated nor artsy, but it does have more explosions and a much higher body count. That's gotta count for something, right?...........................................Chris Boyle

The King's Speech 01/21/11 The King's Speech: a modern-day Lethal Weapon? No, no, no...I kid, but really, it follows the character arc established by Danny Glover and Mel Gibson in their classic cop caper flick (not to mention about a million other movies). No, Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush don't shoot anyone or blow anything...........................................Chris Boyle

The Green Hornet 01/14/11 Wow, I kinda remember The Green Hornet, a Batman-ish like superhero who uses his wealth and tech to fight underworld criminals. Not the original 1930's radio serial he debuted in back in the day, however...........................................Chris Boyle

True Grit 01/06/11 I'm not a huge fan of westerns, but when a great one comes along; I can't help but sit up and take notice. Now, while most of those great films have starred Clint Eastwood - The Outlaw Josey Wales, High Plains Drifter, Unforgiven, etc. - occasionally a non-Eastwood Western comes along that I also...........................................Chris Boyle

Black Swan 12/29/10 It's been a long time since a film has affected me this way. It's been over an hour since it ended and I can't stop thinking about it. That alone is automatically worth either three stars or one star by default, depending upon how good/bad a movie it is. In the case of Black Swan, director Darren Aronofsky's...........................................Chris Boyle

Little Fockers 12/23/10 Oh, the agony I go through for my Long Island Exchange readers sometimes. I mean, there's several near-classics out in theaters this week - among them True Grit and Black Swan - and here I am reviewing the celluloid equivalent of monkey excrement instead. I'm not sure exactly how this happened...........................................Chris Boyle

Tron: Legacy 12/17/10 Yeah, Tron: Legacy is pretty, but that's about all it is. Don't get me wrong, it's a solid and at times even entertaining flick, but, like the 1982 Disney original, it's not really groundbreaking visually; back in the day, Tron was one of the first films to incorporate massive amounts of computer animation...........................................Chris Boyle

Unstoppable 12/10/10 Unstoppable is a movie directed by Tony Scott and based on a true story about some dunce of a train operator in Pennsylvania who decided to hop out of his moving choo-choo to manually switch tracks while idling out of a train yard...........................................Chris Boyle

Faster 12/03/10 Faster is the best movie Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has made in years, possibly ever. That's not to say that it's perfect, however; we're talking about a man whose post pro-wrestling film career seems to have been guided by the desire to accept the worst scripts..........................................Chris Boyle

The Next Three Days 11/29/10 The Next Three Days is a really solid little film that, for me, really flew in under the radar. Of course, I'd seen the trailers, but I didn't really have high expectations, despite the fact that one of my all-time..........................................Chris Boyle

Skyline 11/18/10 Movies are funny in the sense that, while a below-average flick can be somewhat redeemed by a great ending, an otherwise solid outing can be dragged right straight down into the toilet by a bad ending..........................................Chris Boyle

Stone 11/11/10 The first ten minutes or so of Stone, directed by John Curran and starring Robert De Niro, Edward Norton and Milla Jovovich, are actually pretty incredible.........................................Chris Boyle

Saw 3D 11/04/10 Whew...thank goodness, it's finally over. Well, at least, that's what they're claiming: that Saw 3D is indeed the last installment of the Saw series........................................Chris Boyle

Paranormal Activity 2 10/29/10 Last year, I gushed endlessly about the original Paranormal Activity, a groundbreaking horror film directed by a guy named Oren Peli in the comfort of his own house.......................................Chris Boyle

Jackass 3D 10/21/10 I've been a huge fan of Jackass over the years. The 2000-2002 MTV television show involved a group of mental cases, led by one Johnny Knoxville, as they engaged in all manner of pranks and stunts......................................Chris Boyle

Let Me In 10/15/10 Another day, another Hollywood remake. And this time it's quite possibly the most unnecessary one yet. Let Me In is based the 2008 Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In.....................................Chris Boyle

The Social Network 10/11/10 Man, everyone loves Facebook, the networking website where people carry out a great chunk of their social lives nowadays (as sad as that may be)....................................Chris Boyle

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps 10/01/10 The original Wall Street, released in 1987, is considered iconic by the general movie going public. Well, except me, since I've never seen it. Shocking, I know, but it's true. Sure, I'm familiar...................................Chris Boyle

The American 09/24/10 The American is everything modern movies are not: it's slow-paced, smoothly shot, and edited with restraint. In that sense, it's actually extremely refreshing compared to the....................................Chris Boyle

Resident Evil: Afterlife 09/16/10 The fourth film based on Capcom's best-selling videogame series, is ultimate example of flash and style over substance. Directed by Paul W. S. Anderson (are you surprised?), Afterlife contains no story....................................Chris Boyle

Machete 09/10/10 Sadly, Machete was probably made 10 years too late- Danny Trejo came across as a beat-up, broken-down old man who can barely fight, walk, or even move....................................Chris Boyle

Takers 09/01/10 Takers' story is unoriginal and actually pretty bad, and while the acting is nothing to write home about either, there's at least there's a few stand-outs among its cast. Kid Vader...I mean, Hayden Christensen...................................Chris Boyle

Piranha 3D 08/27/10 Piranha 3D wastes no time getting going: a character played by Richard Dreyfuss (um, what?) is fishing in Lake Victoria, AZ. An earthquake hits, opening up the lake floor to yet another underground lake...................................Chris Boyle

The Other Guys 08/20/10 Yet another her cop buddy parody, is actually the movie Cop Out should have been. In other words, it's (usually, but not always) smart, clever, and above all else, funny....................................Chris Boyle

The Expendables 08/12/10 You know how I'm always whining that today's action movies are lightweights compared to the hard-as-nails flicks from the heyday of pure action, the 1980's?...................................Chris Boyle

Dinner for Schmucks 08/05/10 It's depressing when you find yourself watching a movie that could have been amazing if a different editor had cut it during post-production. As it is, Dinner for Schmucks is a two-hour long movie...................................Chris Boyle

Cyrus 07/30/10 Cyrus is a new comedy written and directed by brothers Jay and Mark Duplass. It's a small, rather intimate movie and as usual for an off-beat, independently-made movie of this type, the marketing guys in charge...................................Chris Boyle

Despicable Me 07/23/10 It's not often that you find a film where the main character is a bad guy...and this usually goes double when it comes to animated fare. Yet that is exactly what we get with the release of Despicable Me.....................................Chris Boyle

Inception 07/16/10 The funny thing about Inception is that no one seems to understand what it's about. Yeah, there's buzz around it due to this being Nolan's big Dark Knight follow-up (Batman 3 coming up next!), but the trailers have been vague at best....................................Chris Boyle

Predators 07/09/2010 Well, it's finally here...the first new stand-alone Predator film in 20 years. Directed and produced by the team of Nimród Antal and Robert Rodriguez, Predators is a direct sequel to the classic 1987 original starring...................................Chris Boyle

Grown Ups 07/02/10 I'm not sure what happened with Grown Ups. On paper, this movie read like a "who's who" from the world of comedy: Adam Sandler, Chris Rock, Kevin James, David Spade, and Rob Schneider are all in the lead roles...................................Chris Boyle

Knight And Day 06/25/10 I believe the phrase "middle of the road" was coined specifically to describe this movie. What movie? Oh, we're talking about Knight And Day, a new action/comedy film starring Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz...................................Chris Boyle

Toy Story 3 06/21/10 Toy Story 3 continues the Pixar tradition of films that appeal to young and old alike...as usual, the kids will be happy with the physical comedy and cutsey gags...................................Chris Boyle

The A-Team 06/13/10 Directed by Joe Carnahan, known for the 2002 crime drama NARC and the 2007 action flick Smokin' Aces, The A-Team is a fun movie starring a group of actors who display a great amount of....................................Chris Boyle

Killers 06/04/10 Killers, the new action/comedy starring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl, was not screened for critics prior to its release. Studios often do this for their movies when they just KNOW said critics are going to rip....................................Chris Boyle

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time 05/29/10 Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time is a solid but not mind-blowing entry into the summer action/adventure movie market. It actually reminds me a lot of the recent ho-hum Clash Of The Titans....................................Chris Boyle

Shrek Forever After 05/21/10 While "unfunny" comes to mind, the word I would most associate with Shrek Forever After, the third wretched sequel to the (actually pretty good) original Shrek, is "unnecessary.".....................................Chris Boyle

Iron Man 2 05/13/10 Overall, Iron Man 2 is a great follow-up to the original. Sure, it loses a bit of that "breath of fresh air" feeling the first movie had, but that's to be expected; after all, it came out of nowhere and was a wonderful alternative.....................................Chris Boyle

A Nightmare on Elm Street 05/06/10 Freddy Krueger. This horrific movie boogeyman got his start in 1984 in director Wes Craven's groundbreaking horror classic, A Nightmare on Elm Street.....................................Chris Boyle

The Losers 04/29/10 The Losers is a comic book movie based on a comic book I have never heard of. I don't know how this reflects upon me, but I'm going to assume that the Vertigo/DC-published comic was fairly obscure....................................Chris Boyle

Kick-Ass 04/22/10 Kick-Ass, a hyper-violent new action/comedy based on a Marvel comic book, is causing some degree of controversy. That controversy is mostly centered around the 11-year old superhero "Hit-Girl"....................................Chris Boyle

Date Night 04/15/10 Remember last week, when I reviewed the remake of Clash of the Titans and said that is was a solid action movie, but ultimately generic and forgettable? Well, Date Night, the new comedy....................................Chris Boyle

Clash of the Titans 04/09/10 Clash of the Titans is the tale of Perseus who, unbeknownst to him, is a demigod and the illegitimate son of Zeus, ruler of the gods of Mount Olympus, after a tryst with a human woman....................................Chris Boyle

Hot Tub Time Machine 03/31/10 Hot Tub Time Machine is basically Back To The Future with a Hot Tub instead of a DeLorean. It deals with three unhappy middle-aged men who all had potential they failed to live up to...................................Chris Boyle

Brooklyn's Finest 03/17/10 Brooklyn's Finest had all the makings of a classic. It has an all-around amazing cast, and from what I read its leads even took pay cuts in order to get the film made within its low budget...................................Chris Boyle

Cop Out 03/04/10 Honestly, I think I've given up all hope that writer/director Smith will ever turn out another decent film. By "another decent film," I do admit that his 1994 indie premiere Clerks was pretty good, but since then he's just released stinker after stinker and I just can't take it anymore.....................................Chris Boyle

Shutter Island 02/26/10 So, this Shutter Island place is home to the Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, and Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) are a pair of U.S. Marshals.....................................Chris Boyle

The Wolfman 02/17/10 Well, another day, another remake- this time around, it's The Wolfman, directed by Joe Johnston and featuring an impressive ensemble cast. However, I find it easier in my heart to forgive this one, as its source.....................................Chris Boyle

From Paris With Love 02/11/10 Overall, From Paris With Love was really fun. It's light on plot and character development (light? that's being kind), but heavy on guns, violence, speed, and personality.....................................Chris Boyle

Edge of Darkness 02/04/10 Edge of Darkness, Mel Gibson's first starring role since 2002, is an interesting movie. An adaptation of the 1985 BBC television series of the same name regarding a police detective investigating his daughter's murder....................................Chris Boyle

Legion 01/27/10 Helmed is basically a Catholic-themed remake of James Cameron's 1984 film The Terminator. How, you may ask? Simple- let's run down some basic plot points about the main character and see if you can....................................Chris Boyle

Daybreakers 01/12/10 Man, vampires are popular these days. I've been a big fan of 'em too, be it the gothic horror depicted in old Hammer Studio's Dracula films or Neil Jordan's excellent adaptation of Anne Rice's novel.....................................Chris Boyle

Sherlock Holmes 01/07/10 The famous fictional detective whose adventures were transcribed by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (starting in 1887) in the form of 4 novels and 56 short stories, has been the subject of countless media adaptations- films, television shows....................................................Chris Boyle

Avatar 12/18/09 Avatar marks the return of James Cameron to feature films since puttering around on the ocean floor making documentaries for the last 12 years. Yes, it's hard to believe it's been that long since Cameron shattered....................................................Chris Boyle

Armored 12/08/09 I've been awaiting the release of Armored with great interest. No, not because I've been forced to watch the trailer 10,000 times, but an opportunity check out the credentials of director Nimród Antal....................................................Chris Boyle

Ninja Assassin 11/27/09 Expertly directed by James McTeigue. It's a slightly redundant title, but at the same time it's also very catchy. It's the story of Raizo (played by Rain, the Justin Timberlake of Korea), a guy who's living my life's dream.....................................................Chris Boyle

2012 11/19/09 2012, the latest in a long line of nearly-identical disaster films by director Roland Emmerich, is the ultimate "missed it by one inch" movie. By that, I mean that the main characters will get into a random vehicle, start moving.....................................................Chris Boyle

The Box 11/11/09 Set in the 1970's, The Box starts out simply enough: Norma (Cameron Diaz) and Arthur (James Marsden, the guy with laser eyes in X-Men) Lewis appear to be a moderately successful married couple.....................................................Chris Boyle

13 Scary Films To Keep You Busy This Halloween 10/29/09 Instead of just reviewing one film, I'm going to compile a whole list of my own personal horror movie recommendations, past and present, to get you in the mood for this dark and evil season.....................................................Chris Boyle

Black Dynamite 10/22/09 The movie business, just like most things in life, is rife with politics, and at times these politics can prevent otherwise groundbreaking films from achieving the success they so richly deserve.................................................Chris Boyle

Paranormal Activity 10/15/09 To start off, Paranormal Activity lives up to the hype- and then some. And aside from being a truly engrossing and disturbing horror movie, it's also important in the sense that it was made.................................................Chris Boyle

Zombieland 10/08/09 Zombieland is fun, fast-paced, and for fans of gratuitous violence and gore, there's plenty to ensure that Zombieland easily earns its "R" rating.................................................Chris Boyle

Surrogates 09/30/09 Surrogates is a pretty solid film, but one that has the odd distinction of sharing exact, major plot elements with another recently-released sci-fi movie...in this case Gamer................................................Chris Boyle

The Informant! 09/23/09 The Informant is centered around a real-life international price-fixing conspiracy in the mid-1990s to artificially inflate the price of an animal feed additive called lysine................................................Chris Boyle

Gamer 09/10/09 While it doesn't quite reach the heights (and depths) of sheer, utter lunacy that the Jason Statham-starring Crank sequel did, Gamer still gets pretty out there from time to time...............................................Chris Boyle

Halloween II 09/02/09 Halloween 2 picks up right after the first movie ended. Laurie Strode, the sister of Michael Myers, is wandering down the streets of Haddonfield, IL, after plugging Mikey point-blank in the puss with a .357 magnum..............................................Chris Boyle

Inglourious Basterds 08/26/09 Much like director Quentin Tarantino's last movie, Death Proof, his new film Inglourious Basterds would have been brilliant if the editor had chopped out maybe 30 minutes or so..............................................Chris Boyle

District 9 08/19/09 District 9 is an excellent film. It's not the movie of the year like many are hailing it (the last act somewhat abandons the story in favor of a suprising amount of action instead)..............................................Chris Boyle

G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra 08/12/09 I must say that despite taking huge liberties with the look and some storyline details involving the characters and their relationships with each other, the movie DOES feel like G.I. Joe in the basest sense..............................................Chris Boyle

The Collector 08/05/09 The Collector is a horror movie about a guy called...well, The Collector. He's a scrawny masked guy with zero backstory whatsoever, other than he "collects" people.............................................Chris Boyle

Orphan 07/29/09 I found Orphan to be a really effective horror/thriller. You could tell director Jaume Collet-Serra is very familiar with all the standard, tired horror movie tricks and tactics and tries to play off of them in rather amusing and unexpected ways............................................Chris Boyle

Brüno 07/15/09 Brüno is a film that gleefully crosses the line time and time again, so much so that I experienced equal amounts of shock and awe. Yes, it's super-offensive and certainly not for your kindly old grandma...........................................Chris Boyle

Dead Snow 07/09/09 Dead Snow is a Norwegian horror film starring actors you've never heard of and directed by Tommy Wirkola, who you've also never heard of. The film made its US premiere at the Sundance Film Festival where it was snapped up by IFC Films for distribution...........................................Chris Boyle

Pixar's New Movie: Up 07/01/09 As far as I'm concerned, there's one constant in this universe of ours...Pixar always brings the goods. If you've read my review for 2008's WALL-E, you'd know the high esteem I hold this animation studio in...........................................Chris Boyle

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 06/24/09 Revenge of the Fallen learned nothing from its predecessor, 2007's Transformers. Directed by Michael Bay and based on the popular toy line and cartoon about sentient alien robots..........................................Chris Boyle

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 06/16/09 A very good, yet flawed movie. At its heart, it's an intimate tale of two men talking over the airways and figuring out what makes the other tick..........................................Chris Boyle

Drag Me To Hell 06/04/09 As a horror movie (which it was billed as), Drag Me To Hell was a complete failure. But as a comedy, it was HILARIOUS. But don't take my word for it...ask the entire audience of the showing I went to..........................................Chris Boyle

Terminator Salvation 05/27/09 Back in 1984, an unknown director named James Cameron introduced us to a low-budget science fiction film simply called "The Terminator." ..........................................Chris Boyle

Angels & Demons 05/21/09 A sequel to last year's hit movie, The Da Vinci Code. Both films are based on novels written by Dan Brown that I've never read, and although I'm told that Angels & Demons was published and takes place before The Da Vinci Code..........................................Chris Boyle

Star Trek (2009) Star Trek, directed by J. J. Abrams, is a “reboot” of sorts of the classic science-fiction media franchise that has existed for decades. Now, do I really have to explain to you the significance of Star Trek in American society?..........................................Chris Boyle

X-Men Origins: Wolverine 05/06/09 Back in 1963, the comic book "X-Men" was created by the duo of writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby for Marvel Comics. Considered very progressive for its time, the comic used.................................................Chris Boyle

Crank: High Voltage 04/22/09 Crank: High Voltage, a sequel to 2006's Crank, is the craziest movie I've ever seen. It makes the intense original film seem tame and mild-mannered in comparison...................................................Chris Boyle

Observe and Report 04/15/09 Observe and Report is a very unusual movie. How, you may ask? First of all, the advertising campaign: the film that it's portraying in ads is nothing like the film you see when you actually go to the theater..................................................Chris Boyle

Fast & Furious 04/08/09 Fast & Furious is a difficult film to review, I'll admit. On the one hand, I tried my very best not to enjoy it, feeling myself above the type of "all style and no substance" drivel that this flashy streetcar-racing franchise.................................................Chris Boyle

12 Rounds 04/01/09 The first thing I have to say about the 12 Rounds is that it's produced by WWE Films. As in, World Wrestling Entertainment. As in, a pro wrestling company.................................................Chris Boyle

I Love You, Man 03/25/09 I Love You, Man, a comedy starring Paul Rudd and Jason Segel, came as a complete surprise to me- it was very, very good..................................................Chris Boyle

Miss March 03/18/09 I could wrap up this review with less than one paragraph by simply telling you that Miss March is a terrible movie and not worth your time or money.................................................Chris Boyle

Watchmen 03/10/09 A comic book being listed by Time Magazine as one of the top 100 novels of all time is quite an impressive feat. But it's a feat that Watchmen, a complex superhero story originally written................................................Chris Boyle

Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li 03/04/09 Occasionally, I actually go to the movies not just as a critic, but for my own personal pleasure. Saturday night was one such occasion................................................Chris Boyle

Friday the 13th (2009) 02/20/09 - As you are all no doubt aware, as of late Hollywood is crazy about pointlessly remaking movies that were perfectly good the first time around.................................................Chris Boyle

Taken 02/11/09 - If you're a long-time fan of my reviews here on Long Island Exchange (well, of course you are!), then you know that, in addition to my love of cultured, sophisticated cinema, I am also an unabashed action movie junkie..................................................Chris Boyle

The Wrestler 02/03/09 It's funny - growing up and into my early adulthood, I loved professional wrestling. I can't say why I enjoyed watching grown men in spandex play-fighting, but eventually I grew out of it..................................................Chris Boyle

Gran Torino 01/17/09 Ah, getting older- it's no fun. Friends and loved ones pass on, your annoying kids try to ship you off to the old folks home, and the neighborhood you built a life in is slowly changed foreign cultures..................................................Chris Boyle

Transporter 3 12/06/08 After reviewing several of his movies previously here on Long Island Exchange (such as The Bank Job and Death Race), I'm beginning to think that I'm something of a qualified Jason Statham expert. Let's see...he's a tough-guy who's really good at driving a car.................................................Chris Boyle

Quantum of Solace 11/22/08 I've been a huge James Bond fan ever since I was introduced to the British secret agent's films as a kid growing up in the 70's. Back then Roger Moore played the titular role, and I reacted with stunned disbelief when informed that this wasn't always the case.................................................Chris Boyle

Zack and Miri Make a Porno 11/11/08 Overall, I'm not what you would call a fan of Kevin Smith's movies. The New Jersey-based writer/director burst onto the indie filmmaking scene back in 1994 with the low-budget hit Clerks.................................................Chris Boyle

Max Payne 10/25/08 Max Payne (yes, that's his real name) is a NYPD detective working the Cold Case unit. The Cold Case unit, for those that are unaware, is basically where all the dead-end and unsolvable cases go..................................................Chris Boyle

Righteous Kill 09/20/08 Righteous Kill got a lot of pre-release hype due to the clandestine paring of two acting icons- Robert De Niro (Goodfellas, Raging Bull) and Al Pacino (The Godfather, Scarface)..................................................Chris Boyle

Death Race 08/28/08 This is the first time in ages I'm going to voice a positive opinion of a film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. Not an overall positive opinion, mind you, but Death Race is a level above the usual deck expected of him after delivering to us such cinematic.................................................Chris Boyle

WALL-E 07/06/08 Wall-E is a movie created by Pixar, the premiere computer graphics animation studio responsible for mammoth hits such as Toy Story and Finding Nemo. Their track record in the industry is nearly flawless.................................................Chris Boyle

Incredible Hulk 06/20/08 For those of you out of touch with popular culture for the last 46 years, The Hulk is a big green man who talks like a third grader and is very mad and very strong, and the madder you make him, the stronger he gets.................................................Chris Boyle

Iron Man 05/15/08 Tony Stark, AKA Iron Man, is atypical as far as superhero alter-egos go. He's not a nerdy school kid pining away for the girl of his dreams, nor is he some angst-ridden recluse out to avenge the death of his family. ................................................Chris Boyle

88 Minutes 04/28/08 When an American movie featuring a major star finishes filming in December of 2005 but isn’t released nationally until April of 2008, you tend to suspect its overall quality may have some...minor issues................................................Chris Boyle

Doomsday 04/01/08 Doomsday is basically a mish-mash combination of a number of various movies, and the resulting concoction adds up to far less than the sum of its parts...............................................Chris Boyle

The Bank Job 03/17/08 I’m horrible with accents. Call me uncultured or whatever, but if someone has a thick foreign accent, it just takes me a while to get my ears around it...............................................Chris Boyle

Semi-Pro with Will Farrell 03/06/08 Yes, it’s Will Ferrell in yet another sports spoof, and it's (surprise, surprise) exactly like every other Will Farrell movie ever made..............................................Chris Boyle

Rambo 02/06/08 My fellow moviegoers, let me tell you of a time known as the 1980’s. Former actor Ronald Regan was president, and in Regan’s America, an odd duality existed in the movies produced during that era- sex was bad.............................................Chris Boyle

Cloverfield 01/24/08 There’s been more mystery surrounding Cloverfield than any film in recent memory. A cryptic, untitled teaser trailer for this “giant monster eats Manhattan” movie was released this past summer.............................................Chris Boyle

Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem 01/08/08 Merriam-Webster defines a Requiem as “A mass or solemn chant for the dead.” That alone tells us that no good will befall any of the characters involved in today’s review- 20th Century Fox’s Aliens Vs. Predator..............................................Chris Boyle

I Am Legend 12/19/07 The new film starring the always bankable Will Smith, originally came into existence back in 1954 in the form of a Science Fiction novel written by Richard Matheson about the last man alive on Earth..............................................Chris Boyle

Stephen King's 'The Mist' 11/29/07 Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to my very first 4-star review. I suppose it's fair to inform you that I'm a huge fan of horror movies, and that The Mist is, in fact, a horror movie.

American Gangster 11/20/07 The easiest way to describe American Gangster is that it’s similar to Al Pacino’s Scarface in the sense that it covers the rise and fall of a crime lord from the ghetto...................................................................Chris Boyle

Saw 4 - A Cinematic Nightmare 11/02/07 I viewed Saw 4 last night and have no idea what the hell I watched. Honestly. I went on Wikipedia to read the plot recap right when I got home from the theater...................................................................Chris Boyle

Gone Baby Gone 10/25/07 Gone Baby Gone is horrific actor Ben Affleck’s directorial debut. And, to my surprise, it started out very solidly, with an especially excellent bit of character acting by star....................................................................Chris Boyle

We Own the Night 10/20/07 We Own the Night is a crime drama set in Brooklyn, NY during the late 1980’s, an era known for its decadence, style, and big, big hair................................................................Chris Boyle

Resident Evil: Extinction 10/10/07 You normally won't find the words 'fine cinema' and 'based on the hit videogame' in the same sentence. Such is the stigma that videogame-based film adaptations...................................................................Chris Boyle

Halloween 2007 - Rob Zombie 09/13/07 In 1978, fledgling director John Carpenter released a low-budget, independent horror film titled simply: Halloween. It told the tale of Michael Myers...................................................................Chris Boyle

Balls of Fury 09/01/07 Few things are worse than something the exhibits promise, yet fails to live up to it. A good example of such a thing would be a movie that claims to be a comedy, but in reality, it isn't....................................................................Chris Boyle

Rush Hour 3 08/17/07 There have been a lot of “cop buddy” movies throughout the years. A “cop buddy” film is when two police officers with obviously clashing personalities are forced to “team up” on a case, usually for comedic effect...................................................................Chris Boyle

The Bourne Ultimatum 08/08/07 People have long been intrigued by the glamorous picture painted by the celluloid spy, starting in the 1960’s with the granddaddy of them all, James Bond....................................................................Chris Boyle

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 07/27/07 Harry Potter. The famous boy wizard and star of author J.K. Rowling's recently-concluded series of books has become the stuff of pop-culture legend...................................................................Chris Boyle

Transformers 07/05/07 Initially starting out as a line of Japanese toys imported by Hasbro and released in America back in 1984, the idea of everyday, innocuous objects such as cars, jet planes and boom boxes that transformed into fighting robots caught the imagination of children everywhere....................................................................Chris Boyle

Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer 06/28/07 In 2005, the original Fantastic Four was released in theaters and was a major hit with moviegoers...................................................................Chris Boyle

Hostel Part II 06/14/07 In 2005, Eli Roth’s Hostel was released and managed to spark some controversy with its brutal subject matter....................................................................Chris Boyle

28 Weeks Later 06/08/07 28 Weeks Later is a horror movie and sequel to the critically acclaimed 28 Days Later by director Danny Boyle (no relation), which itself was a sequel to the hit film 28 Days starring the always-spunky Sandra Bullock...................................................................Chris Boyle

Distrubia with Shia LaBeouf 05/19/07 It’s always pretty cool when you go into a movie expecting it to be somewhat generic and uninspired and come out actually having had a quality entertainment experience. That’s the case with Distrubia..................................................................Chris Boyle

Spider-Man 3 with Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst 05/10/07 First off, I feel compelled to mention that Spider-Man 3 has Venom in it, the best Spider-Man villain ever. Okay, on with the review.....................................................................Chris Boyle

The Condemned with Steve Austin 05/04/07 I love action movies. Movies that make no pretense of being high art- just good, old-fashioned blood, death, and violence. This magical genre saw its heyday in the late 80’s through to the early 90’s....................................................................Chris Boyle

The Reaping with Hilary Swank 04/26/07 There are a lot of instantly forgettable films released into theaters nowadays. Movies that are neither good nor bad, movies that decline to stand out in a special or memorable way, lost in a vast abyss of mediocrity....................................................................Chris Boyle

Grindhouse 04/16/07 Grindhouse is, if nothing else, an interesting experiment. It’s a testament to two men’s love of the Exploitation film genre and a throwback to the 70’s when sleazy, violent, sex-filled movies...................................................................Chris Boyle

Blades of Glory with Will Ferrell 04/09/07 It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good comedy- the best one in recent memory was 2003’s Old School...................................................................Chris Boyle

Shooter with Mark Wahlberg 03/31/07 Shooter. I hate the name (it’s super-generic), but I guess it wraps up what the movie is all about. It’s about a guy who shoots stuff with guns, and he’s real good at it...................................................................Chris Boyle

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon 03/21/07 Last night, my movie-going cohort and I were trying to decide on a new film to view this week. There were, as always, a plethora of various releases to decide upon, but the showtimes of the vast majority of them were pretty inconvenient..................................................................Chris Boyle

Ghost Rider - Nicolas Cage 03/06/07 The wave of movies based on comic books just keeps coming. And for someone whose childhood was greatly influenced by reading of the exploits of larger-than-life superheroes, I couldn't be happier.................................................................Chris Boyle

Hannibal Rising 02/21/07 Hannibal Lecter. The charismatic, cultured, cannibalistic serial killer was originally introduced to the world by novelist Thomas Harris in the 1981 novel Red Dragon and later popularized into iconic status by films such as Silence of the Lambs................................................................Chris Boyle

Epic Movie with Kal Penn, Adam Campbell, and Carmen Electra 02/07/07 Sorry, folks, but I can only review this movie up until about the 45-minute mark, because that's the point that I walked out of the theater in search of something less painful, like pulling out my toenails with rusty pliers. Yeah, Epic Movie is that bad...............................................................Chris Boyle

Smokin' Aces with Jeremy Pivan and Ray Liotta 02/02/07 After giving such a glowing review to Blood Diamond in my very first article written for this website last week, I began to wonder when I'd have the dubious honor of writing my first negative movie review..............................................................Chris Boyle

Blood Diamond with Leonardo Dicaprio 01/25/07 A lot of people have been talking about this movie, which released nationwide on December 8th. Our fellow movie going friend informed us that his father had seen it and that if we didn't do the same, that we would be "crazy".............................................................Chris Boyle

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