action
WANTED parties like it’s 1999… again.
July 3rd, 2008
WANTED
review by James Harleman
starring James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, and Morgan Freeman
Directed by Timur Bekmambetov
Rated R
It’s been the eternal question on no one’s lips: what would happen if The Matrix and Fight Club had a baby? At least now, we know it would be Wanted… a high octane, man-up, power to the people bootstrap bonanza that [...]
HULK smash… puny preconceptions and manipulated memories
June 20th, 2008
by James Harleman, Cinemagogue Editor-in-Chief
“The first Hulk movie was a failure!”
“The first one bombed at the box office!”
“The previous movie didn’t have enough Hulk!”
“The Hulk effects looked like crap!”
“Ang Lee’s movie was depressing!”
And so on… and so on… and so on. As The Incredible Hulk smashed into theaters June 13th, the old rants about Ang [...]
Marvel’s Second Hulk Transformation is SMASHING…
June 14th, 2008
A Review of The Incredible Hulk
by Pastor James Harleman
Starring Ed Norton, Liv Tyler, and William Hurt
Directed by Louis Letterier
I can remember my Dad racing home furiously in our Volkswagen Beetle, hoping to drop us in front of the television before the pilot for the 1970s Incredible Hulk began. We rarely missed an episode, and read [...]
World Weary Indiana Jones must choose… WISELY
June 1st, 2008
A review of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
by Pastor James Harleman
Starring Harrison Ford and Shia LeBeouf
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Rated PG-13
Preppy teenagers cruise along in a 50s roadster, urging the square-jawed men with serious faces next to them to loosen up and enjoy the ride. The latest Indiana Jones installment, [...]
Iron Man’s midlife crisis makes audiences cheer while fans soil themselves with glee
May 7th, 2008
A review of IRON MAN (PG-13)
by James Harleman
(for an exploratory audio review of the film taught before a live audience, click HERE).
I sat through Black Sabbath’s classic “Iron Man” tune, watching the film’s techno-credits dazzle until the familiar scroll kicked in. The friends who’d accompanied me and sat through the two-hour rocket of a film [...]
Appropriacalypse Now
March 19th, 2008
A Review of Doomsday (R)
by Pastor James Harleman
When a movie comes out called Doomsday, it invariably draws ones mind to many other end-of-world films that have graced (or smeared) the silver screen over the last several decades. There are so many creative ways the apocalypse might be ushered in, after all. It could be zombies, [...]
Batman Vs. Superman…
January 16th, 2008
Transcending pulpy paper and kiddie-comics, these global cultural icons have invaded nearly every entertainment medium since the 30s, from radio programs to billion dollar films. As a younger man, I resonated with Batman and the underlying angst of the character. I never really “got” Superman until I was nearly 30. After I became a Christian, [...]
Bourne Again… and Again… and Again
January 4th, 2008
A review of The Bourne Ultimatum
with reflections on the Bourne Trilogy
by James Harleman
(watch for an AUDIO session on the Bourne to be posted soon as well)
When The Bourne Identity came out, I thoroughly enjoyed its themes. Sure, to some it was nothing more than a brisk, tightly-paced action movie by Doug Liman; however, the redemptive [...]
Third Time’s a DISMEMBERING Charm…
October 3rd, 2007
A Review of “Resident Evil: Extinction” (R)
There is nothing new about the third installment
in the Resident Evil series… though, for avid readers of Cinemagogue, you know that’s not necessarily harsh criticism. Still, while the film is enjoyable for fans of the genre, even I was surprised how unabashedly it borrowed from the themes and style [...]
More than Meets the Eye…
July 5th, 2007
More than two decades after Hasbro, Takara, Sunbow and Marvel Comics combined forces, to unleash the most successful, holistic, cartoon/comic/vehicle/puzzle/robot marketing campaigns ever known to man, creating a towering titan of revenue that has ebbed and flowed for decades, Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg have taken the steel-reinforced franchise one step further with a crowd-pleasing, comedic [...]