|
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
|