Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2009 Despite the fact that this film is full of laughable overacting and weighted down with an overwrought scenario (the main character spends a full 30 minutes on a beam between two skyscrapers), there…

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2009 It’s a sad state of affairs, not to mention a measure of the general mediocrity of the movies opening this week, that I am reduced to featuring in this space a Sandra Bullock…

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2009 Second sequel to the 2004 Ashton Kutcher time-travel flick has this guy tripping into the past and violating The Rules (don’t do anything that will alter your own present) to prevent a girlfriend’s…

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2009 This new work by hyper-tacky director Noboru Iguchi is more of the same lewd comedy-splatter that we’ve come to expect. (In terms of taste, all you need to know about Iguchi is that…

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2009 Squirm-inducing, “evil amongst us” chiller about a couple choosing for reasons unexplained (they already have two good kids) to adopt a Russian-accented 9-year-old (Isabelle Fuhrman) who dresses like Bo Peep and turns out…

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2009 Perhaps they thought that getting Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez and Jordana Brewster back together from 2001 would be enough for the franchise’s fans, and that plot, character and acting were unnecessary….

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2009 This Death Wish wannabe from Saw director James Wan stars Kevin Bacon as the father of a murdered son who, to his own severe detriment, becomes a gangbanger slayer. Wan’s noble message is…

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2009 In this Hollywood origin story of Japan’s Atom Boy, a brilliant robotics scientist who recently lost a son creates a super-robot kid with all his son’s memories, but then spurns the final product…

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009 Vying for the title of Best Living Japanese Filmmaker are Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Hirokazu Kore-eda. Both of their most recent works, Kurosawa’s Tokyo Sonata and Kore-eda’s Aruitemo, Aruitemo (“Still Walking”), were near-masterpieces. Now…

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009 Well, I’ve finally run out of rude things to say about Steven Seagal flicks. Actually, I don’t have anything at all to say about this latest waste of time because it’s so forgettable…

Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2009 A Steven Seagal zombie movie. I’m not kidding. Sometimes I think Steven does stuff like this just to make my job more fun. Most of it is boring footage of survivors wandering through…