MoVTie Critic

 Woody Allen has always been known for his theatrical work in bringing to life adult-themed pieces and theatrical works made for the movies and "Wonder Wheel" is no exception. Written and directed, he has once again brought to life a piece that can be easily written for the stage. Acting as a narrator as the story plays out Mickey (Justin Timberlake) a poet and aspiring playwright working as a lifeguard at Coney Island during the summer off from earning his masters at NYU in the 1950's. Addressing the audience, he tells the story of Ginny (Kate Winslet) a former actress now waitress in a loveless marriage to her second husband Humpty (Jim Belushi). During the summer, she deals with reflecting on the choices she made in life while dealing with her husband's daughter Carolina (Juno Temple) who is hiding out from her mobster husband, her son Richie (Jack Gore) who is skipping summer school to go to the movies and setting fires while she carries on an affair wi...

In 2003, a film was released called "The Room" that was written, directed and starred Tommy Wiseau. The film would go on to be a cult classic and be called "The Citizen Kane of Bad Movies" for being so bad that it was good and led to the success of two friends in the film industry, this is their story. Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) is a wannabe actor that is at a standstill working local modeling jobs and doing theater classes until he enlist the help of Tommy Wiseau (James Franco) an odd mysterious man who's whole life is one big stage and he is the star in his mind. Together they set out for Los Angeles hoping to follow their dreams, but after an altercation with a producer in a restaurant telling Tommy that he would never make it in the business, he sets out to prove them all wrong by making his own movie. In 2001, a screenplay is finished and using Tommy's "unlimited resources" they set out to make the movie "The Room", but as...

 Crime movies have always had gripping tales and have portrayed characters at their rawest element with emotion and flaws that make us reflect on ourselves seeing how different and similar we are to them. Many of them are descent at heart and when faced with a chance at redemption will go to any links to gain it. Mike Kendell (John Hawkes) a former cop who was let go after being drunk on the job that ended with his partner and a kidnapped victim dead has been doing very little to improve his life for the past year. Drinking heavily and collecting unemployment, his sister Kelly Banks (Octavia Spencer) and brother-in-law (Anthony Anderson) are supportive, but growing impatient with him in his effort to improve his life.  After a night of drinking, he wakes up in his car outside of town and finds a woman who has been beaten almost to death. Although able to race her to the hospital, he learns that the woman named Kristy (Stephania Barr) has died. Determined to find h...

Normally, I try to stick with the lesser known films or films that just came into theaters, but a friend recommended I see this and I decided it needed a few words. After all, this was the winner of four Academy awards this year and being called "an other-worldly fairytale". It seems only right to mention a film like this. Taking place in 1962 Baltimore, Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins) is a cleaning woman who has been mute since she was scarred and abandoned at infancy. Leading a simple life she has only a few friends, Giles (Richard Jenkins) and old artist who lives with his cats next door to Elisa and Zelda Fuller (Octavia Spencer) a fellow cleaning lady who spends most of their day talking to her and for her when needing translation.  Working for a government facility to clean their labs and offices, Elisa discovers that they are bringing in an Amphibian Man (Doug Jones, who played another water creature Abe in the Hellboy movies) that at first is seen as aggre...

We've got another "Movie Verses" and it will be the first featured on my Facebook page Mo VT ie Critic for those who wish to follow my page. This time its action verses science fiction drama where life and death are the subject of the films. How we choose to live or how we choose to die making the difference in the world around us. Up first, we find Ethan Hawke playing Travis Conrad, a former Marine turned assassin for a company called Red Mountain. When he is hired to kill a whistle-blower Keith Zera (Tyrone Keogh) he tracks his whereabouts to a source named Lin (Qing Xu) who is in charge of protecting him, but when she discovers his intentions, she takes him out before he can reveal the location. Suddenly Travis finds himself waking up in an unknown lab where Dr. Helen (Nathalie Boltt) has used a procedure that Red Mountain has been perfecting to bring him back to life, only to learn its a temporary fix and that he has twenty-four hours to live before he dies agai...

Each culture around the world has its rituals for laying the dead to rest. Egyptians mummified their royals in magnificent tombs and modern culture here holds a funeral and a wake to remember those we've lost. Yet what happens when the spirit is not at rest and refuses to go without being heard? Alice (Erica Dasher) and her friends along with college professor Jeff (Mark Borkowski) travel to Siberian Russia to pay their respects to their friend Kara (Ana Flavia Gavlak) who was believed to be murdered by Alice's brother Brandon (Chris Petrovski) at her birthday party a year ago. Invited to participate in a cultural ritual to let Kara's spirit be at peace since she died so tragically, they watch as a Shaman chants as they link together in a circle, but when something goes wrong it soon becomes clear that Kara is not at rest and that they've unleashed something evil. One by one, members of the group become possessed by a demon that they are told was unleashed by Kara...

Some may wonder why I don't only do box office reviews, well that's because many films don't even make it to the huge movie theaters. Some go straight to Blu-ray or DVD while others are only featured and festivals like Sundance or Toronto and we miss out completely. This is one of those examples. Taking place in Italy in the summer of 1983, Elio Perlman (Timothée Chalamet) is a seventeen-year old Jewish American-Italian boy who spends most of his time reading and playing/writing music on the piano. His father (Michael Stuhlbarg) is a professor in archeology and has invited a twenty-four year old Jewish American grad student named Oliver (Arnie Hammer) to live with his family for the summer while assisting with academic paperwork. At first Elio could care less for Oliver's carefree behavior and resents having to share part of his room with him. His only escapes are his books and spending time with his girlfriend Marzia (Esther Garrel). Yet as the two begin to spend ...

Look closely, what may look obvious on the surface may not be what is really going on beneath, and the innocent face may in fact hide dark secrets. Nick (Alex Pettyfer) and Sam (James Freedson-Jackson) are two travelers making their way across the country. Telling those they meet like the staff member of an off season motel Kelly (Emily Althaus) that they're brothers off on a camping trip, it becomes clear that is far from the truth. Sam tells everyone his name is Jeremiah and he is plagued by nightmares whenever he sleeps to where he can almost see these images when he is awake. Nick takes Sam out to his father's old hunting cabin where they believe they will be safe until Nick is shot and Sam must leave him. Finding himself on a farm for wayward youths, the owner Gary (Gene Jones) sensing Jeremiah's (the name he gives him) is hiding something takes him in. As the days follow, the events of what has occurred start to come to light, but only Sam knows the shocking...

 Just when you thought it was safe to go running around the cornfield again, the extreme murderous cult of demented children return for one more murderous rampage.  Ruth (Marci Miller) was a member of the Children of the Corn, but when finding herself pregnant, she decides to run from her cult family and "He Who Walks Behind The Rows" to protect her unborn child. Burning the field and everyone in it, she begins her life on the run. Thirteen years later, Ruth and her son Aaron (Jake Ryan Scott) go from town to town never settling anywhere for fear that she is being followed by something dark, but when the police stop them and impound their car, Ruth is forced to take a job working in a garage run by Carl (Lynn Andrews III) a tough, but empathetic mechanic who gives Ruth and Aaron a place to stay until they can get on their way. Yet just as Ruth feared, she starts to hear the sound of locust and have strange visions stemming from her dark past and a Pretty Girl (Sa...

Growing up, we all played games, read stories or saw movies about brave knights fighting and slaying ferocious dragons and other mythical beast in a quest to save the kingdom and gain glory. Yet how many of them have had zombies? I can't think of any I've seen, until now. For nearly nine months, three knights George (Ben Loyd-Holmes), Richard (Ross O'Hennessy) and Thomas (Silvio Simac) have been on a quest for their king to slay a vicious dragon that has attacked their kingdom along with nine other knights. They have traveled through the twelve other lands slaying beast and have never come up against anything that attacks without reason. With the death of their fourth brother in arms James (Adrian Bouchet) they travel towards home in hopes they will be able to slay the dragon yet, but come to find there is another threat growing in the kingdom at a village bar of creatures that are relentless furious killers they call "Furies". While back at the castl...

Many know through history that Queen Victoria was known for her long, great reign over England and being the trendsetter for dressing her baby girl up in pink outfits when it was common for boy babies to wear pink since so many assumed she was having a boy and didn't want to send perfectly good baby clothes back. Yet it only came to light in 2010 through a journal about an unexpected and what was seen by many as a taboo friendship.  During Queen Victoria's (Judi Dench) jubilee two Indian men Mohammed (Adeel Akhtar) and Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal) a Muslim clerk are brought to England to serve and present a mohur, a gold coin minted for her to show appreciation from the British-ruled India that she has been Empress of for 29 years. During his time there, Victoria takes an interest in him and the wisdom and stories he tells her. She ask him to teach her Urdu and the Koran become her Munshi (teacher) and trusted friend. Yet as their friendship grows, others around her would...

Many of you are probably saying, "Christmas, it's almost St. Patrick's Day" or "Didn't we see this in theaters" Well, yes, and yes. However I'm one for doing the ones we may have missed and this had so many hits overshadowing this at the time it was in theaters that I thought it was worth giving a few words. Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens from the live action "Beauty and the Beast) finds after the success of his book "Oliver Twist" to be in a slump. After three failures in the last year and a half, Charles is becoming financially strained and is in need of a hit that will bring his name back as the acclaimed novelist he once was. That's when inspiration strikes him to write a story taking place at Christmastime and he only has less than two months to complete it if he wants it fully published by Christmas. During this time he learns that his wife Kate (Morfydd Clark) is pregnant and that his father John (Jonathan Pryce) who...

We've all found ourselves wanting to do good for others, yet sometimes when faced with an actual person in need, we shy away letting our fears get the better of us. Yet sometimes it only takes an ounce of courage to begin making a difference that can change more than just their life. Based off of true events, art dealer Ron Hall (Greg Kinnear) has built a life for himself that many can only begin to imagine, beautiful home a wife Debbie (Renee Zellweger) and their two children Regan and Carson (Olivia Holt and Austin Filson). Yet when Ron admits to Renee of having an affair, it looks as if it will destroy everything they have. Yet rather than divorce him or make him buy back her love, she chooses to make him earn it by helping her at a local mission. During this time, Debbie has a dream of seeing a man on an open road and when she sees that same man at the mission she takes it as a sign from God that they are meant to befriend him. Yet the man Denver Moore (Djimon Hounso...

Agatha Christie was and still is considered on of the greatest murder mystery writers to ever live with her thrilling and shocking novels that have inspired many films. Her life even having one of the biggest mysteries of all when after her husband asked for a divorce to be with his lover, her car was found on December 3, 1926 abandoned with no trace of her. The police desperately searched and a reward was offered all the while her husband being under the police's watchful eye. When she was finally found on December 14, 1926 at the Swan Hydropathic Hotel (now Old Swan Hotel), she acted oblivious to what was going on and had given the surname of her husband's lover when she checked in. To this day, no one knows if she had snapped and was amnesiac or had she taken a page out of her own writings in order to make her husband pay and to not be seen by society as "the jilted wife". Now her work has been brought to life yet again in one of the most famous tales, "...

Winner of two Academy Awards, this epic film takes you on an emotional journey of a mother's struggle to find justice when everyone else has given up, and the consequences that come with it. Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) is a mother at her wits end when her daughter Angela (brief role by Kathryn Newton) is raped and murdered seven months ago and there have been no arrest or suspects in the case. Desperate for answers, she pays to have three billboards put up on the backroad where Angela was found not far from home to get people's attention in the hopes something will be done. It soon becomes a heated controversial topic amongst the townspeople including the police force led by Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) and his anger-challenged deputy Dixon (Sam Rockwell). Yet despite the harassment and threats, Mildred doesn't give in and is not afraid to get in people's faces about it. Yet as the billboards stand there, the tension builds and it becomes a questi...

From the writings of author Bruce Coville, "Aliens Ate My Homework" is the first of the four part series "Rod Albright's Alien Adventures" to be brought to life. Originally published in 1993, it has been updated for a new generation of young science fiction fans. Rod Albright (Jayden Greig) has a very loving family and shares a love for science fiction and aliens with his father Art Albright (Sandy Robson) until one night he suddenly has to leave and promises Rod he will be back. Now three years later, Rod's father has not returned yet his family including his wife Gwen (Kirsten Robeck) and the twins Eric and Linda (Christian Convery and Carmela Nossa Guizzo) believe that he didn't lie about returning and will someday. Yet while they wait for that day Rod goes on with his life dealing with friends like Mickey (Sean Quan) a budding chemist and bullies like Billy Becker (Ty Consiglio) who loves to squish insects on Rod's head as his form of tormen...

Growing up, the ones who are there for many are Mom and Dad. They feed us, put band aids on our scraped knees and watch us grow. They love us, they fight with us and they stay by our side through thick and thin, at least they're suppose to, but not in this case. Brent (Nicolas Cage) and Kendall Ryan (Selma Blair) are portrayed as 40-somethings with two kids Carly (Anne Winters) and Joshua (Zackary Arthur) living as a typical white-collared, middle-upper class suburban family. Brent is showing signs of having a mid-life crisis, Kendell is wondering where the fun in her life has gone, Carly is being rebellious as many teenager girls are and Joshua goes about his day with his childhood imagination. Yet that all changes when an unknown force suddenly drives parent's instinct to protect their children and reverses it creating them into psychotic killers hell bent on murdering their own flesh and blood. As the chaos ensues, Carly and Joshua must fight to survive with the hel...

 We all grew up playing the game Hangman, you settle on a word and try to get people to guess the letters to solve it before you finish drawing the stickman hanging, yet when someone decides to make the game real, the rules of guessing before someone hangs no longer apply. Detective Will Ruiney (Karl Urban), a criminal profiler for one of the busiest police forces is as good as they come and when he is given Christi Davies (Brittany Snow) a investigative reporter to follow him around and get the story on the real life of a police officer, he is reluctant, yet dutifully does it. Yet while investigating a hanging body of a young woman at an elementary school, he soon finds himself as a player in a sadistic game of hangman, and whoever is playing with him has called out his old partner Detective Ray Archer (Al Pacino) who retired a year ago. Following the breadcrumbs that the killer referred to as "Hangman" has left for them they discover he will kill every 24 hours l...

They say good fences make good neighbors, but sometimes fences can't keep our eyes and our curiosity from looking through the slots.  Mike (William Fichtner) is your typical middle-age man with a wife Lisa (Jean Louisa Kelly) who is often distant keeping herself busy with her career while he works at home writing technical books, a simple dull life, until a young newlywed couple moves in next door. Jenna (Jessica McNamee) and Scott (Michael Rosenbaum) are a young twenty-something couple who seem nice and Mike and Jenna begin socializing regularly. Yet as time passes, Mike begins to see the cracks in the relationship and suspects Scott is abusive towards Jenna. While not having any proof, he keeps his eyes and ears open while developing a crush on Jenna driving his eagerness to protect her and carries the risk of losing everything he has. This was one of those films that comes off as having a lot of contradictions. For example, is Mike trying to be the good guy and sa...