video review : Black Mass

video review : Black Mass

Use your hand to cover the “M” on the opening title shot. It’ll be the most entertaining part of the movie. Not that this Boston crime story will necessarily put you to sleep. It’s just that director Scott Cooper is a poor man’s Martin Scorsese.

It’s a case of style over substance as Johnny Depp, looking like an actor in costume, plays the role of Winter Hill Gang leader James Whitey Bulger. The plot preludes his life as a fugitive, but it’s barely interesting enough to make you care.

my rating : 3 of 5

2015

video review : Orphan

video review : Orphan

If you’re thinking of adopting a child, you may want to think twice, then a few more times, because some kids come home with more luggage than you bargained for. The orphan in this movie; a nine-year-old girl named Esther; is very bad. That’s part of the problem. She’s too bad too quick; a fact that, even given the big revelation at the end, strains the believability of a plot that is otherwise engaging and plausible.

My favorite character is the deaf girl; Ester’s new “sister”. She’s cute, but I also like the parents, particularly the father Ester plays the role of Daddy’s little girl to while former-alcoholic Mommy raises her eyebrows in suspicion. It’s a silly story in the sense that not enough reason is given for all the extreme things Ester does when she does them, but it works well for what it is; essentially a psycho killer thriller.

my rating : 4 of 5

2009

video review : Orphan : First Kill