Reviews and Editing by R. Allen Leider
with CJ Henderson, Andrew Johnson and Monis Rose

February 17th, 2012

"Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" in 3D

Eva Mewndes read the script and bowed out of this sequel, which has had less than favorable reviews from advance consumer audiences. Be warned!

Johnny Blaze, still struggling with the curse of being the Ghost Rider, is hiding out in a remote part of Eastern Europe when a secret sect of the church asks him to save a boy, Danny ( Fergus Riondan) from the Devil, who wants to possess the lad on his birthday. At first Johnny is reluctant to use his power, but it's the only way to save the boy and possibly rid himself of this curse forever.

Ghost Rider's adversary inthis installment is Ray Carrigan ( Johnny Whitworth) a human who is turned into the Demon Blackout by The Devil (Ciaran Hinds) to complete his task of makingsure the plan goes well. This transformation gives Blackout the fortitude and supernatural abilities to compete with Ghost Rider.

The Players:Nicolas Cage, Ciarán Hinds, Violante Placido, Idris Elba, Johnny Whitworth, and Fergus Riordan

The Filmmakers:
Directed by Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor
Screenplay by Scott M. Gimple and Seth Hoffma
Released by Columbia Pictures

"Thin Ice "

Reviewed by Andrew Johnson

Sometimes a great deal of conniving doesn’t pay off, and when you think you have “all your ducks in a row,” things seem to hit a great snag. Case in point: insurance salesman Mickey Prohaska (Greg Kinnear) in the film “THIN ICE.” This individual is a true wheeler dealer, an opportunist with confidence and swagger in his ability to immediately convince anyone about anything. We see him as a morally shallow person.
Thrown out of his house by his wife (Lea Thompson), and with very little future in sight, he learns of an elderly insurance client, Gorvy Hauer (Alan Arkin), who possesses an extremely valuable violin. The older man doesn’t realize the value of the instrument, an item among all the junk he’s collected in his house. Mickey at once builds a friendship with the man, sells him insurance, and makes plans to steal the precious instrument. A hardware store man arrives to install an alarm system in the house. This man, Randy Kinny (Billy Crudup), is a small time ex-con thief with a violent streak, indeed a very scary and unpredictable person. The two, by circumstance, team up for the proposed theft. Mickey’s caper begins to unravel piece by piece as he always appears to be skating through trouble. Mickey even realizes that he’s well over his head in the goings-on.
The film is a delicious one with everything appearing not as it should be, and rightly so, for the ending encompasses a complete turn-around twist that was never imagined by the viewer or tipped off in the film. This ending, however, is explained in a rather rapid fire manner having the viewer’s mind playing catch-up in think about it mode.
“THIN ICE” makes it a point to tell you that when a stranger asks you: “What time is it?”, a scam or con could be very well in the works. The film shows too that those who seem to think they know it all and feel they can pull the wool over another’s eyes are most susceptible to an even greater con man.
I enjoyed this bit of “Midwestern noir” set in frigid Wisconsin. There are a number of loose ends, but these are necessary for this cinematic tale proceeding to its eventual outcome. One major one which I questioned: an insurance company making a huge payout without the normal full scale investigation.
“THIN ICE” was originally shown at the Sundance Film Festival with the title, “THE CONVINCER.” It was bought for distribution and re-cut from that original showing. At the festival, it received favorable reviews, the now version not so favorable ones. Director and co-writer Jill Sprecher was completely left out of the loop with the film’s re-editing. Though set in Wisconsin, the film was shot during the winter in Minnesota.

The Players: Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Billy Crudup, David Harbour,
Lea Thompson, Michelle Arthur, Bob Baliban

The Filmmakers:
Directed by Jill Sprecher
Written by Jill Sprecher and Karen Sprecher
Photographed by Dick Pope
Music by Jeff Danna
Distributed by ATO Pictures and Werc Werk Works

"The Secret World of Arietty"

Arrietty (voice of Bridgit Mendler), a tiny, four inch tall, but tenacious 14-year-old, lives with her parents the Clock family (voices of Will Arnett and Amy Poehler) in the recesses of a suburban garden home, unbeknownst to the homeowner and her housekeeper (voice of Carol Burnett). Like all little people, Arrietty (AIR-ee-ett-ee) remains hidden from view, except during occasional covert ventures beyond the floorboards to “borrow” scrap supplies like sugar cubes from her human hosts.

But when 12-year-old Shawn (voice of David Henrie), a human boy who comes to stay in the home, discovers his mysterious housemate one evening, a secret friendship blossoms. If discovered, their relationship could drive Arrietty’s family from the home and straight into danger.


The Players: Bridgit Mendler, Amy Poehler, Carol Burnett and Will Arnett

The Filmmakers:
Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Gary Rydstrom
Screenplay by Hayao Miyazaki
Based on the book "The Borrowers" by Mary Norton
Released by Walt Disney Pictures

"Iron Sky "

Coming for April 14, 2012

In 1945 the Nazis exiled to the dark side of the moon.

Guess what?

They're back and this time they intend to conquer all of Earth in one battle.