Author: Laurie Coker

By Laurie Coker Rating: C Oscilloscope’s new film Low Down’s exceptional cast delivers impressively in this cliché ridden, true story of drug addiction and the damage it does.  Based on the memoir of Any-Jo Albany, Low Down: Junk, Jazz, and Other Fairy Tales From Childhood, the film follows a young girl though the rabbit hole… Continue reading Review: LOW DOWN

By Laurie Coker Rating: B+ With Big Hero 6, Disney gives us creative, loving characters, who don’t have the broad shoulders, perfects pecs and whittled waistlines of typical Disney heroes. Instead we get Baymax a puffy, marshmallowy robot with a knack for subtle wit and making people feel better. Wicked animation more than makes up… Continue reading Review: BIG HERO 6

By Laurie Coker Rating: B- Going into Keanu Reeves’ return to screen film John Wick, I knew what to expect. The film’s trailer spells out the premise clearly, and while I am not a hardcore fan of bang, bang, revenge thrillers, I am a fan of Reeves. The film adds little to the genre in… Continue reading Review: JOHN WICK

By Laurie Coker Rating: D I never imagined that I would dislike any performance by two time Oscar winning actor Christoph Waltz, but I found little interesting or memorable about him in Terry Gilliam’s chaotic science fiction epic The Zero Theorem. Actually, I lied. Waltz and his co-stars offer splendid performances, but can’t help but… Continue reading Review: THE ZERO THEORUM

By Laurie Coker Rating: C After hearing mumblings as I left the screening, I might be one of a few who actually didn’t hate Liam Neeson’s latest film, A Walk Among the Tombstones, directed and adapted to screening by Scott Frank. This does not mean, however, that I like it either. A lumbering pace and… Continue reading Review: A WALK AMONG THE TOMBSTONES

By Laurie Coker Rating: B+ Tom Hardy’s face, except perhaps as Bane in the last Batman, is becoming quite familiar these days and in each film, whether comedy, romance or drama, he shows his natural talent as an actor. In The Drop, a new film by director Michael Roskam (Bullhead), Hardy melds in to a… Continue reading Review; THE DROP

By Laurie Coker Rating: D Kevin Kline has been on my radar for quite a long time. From his early days in film (Sophie’s Choice) to his later years (Last Vegas), no matter how insipid the script, Kline (close to 20 years older than the character he plays) melds into each character seamlessly. In his… Continue reading Review: THE LAST OF ROBIN HOOD

By Laurie Coker Rating: D+/C- Anyone who has ever been in or near a tornado should avoid Into the Storm, because its creators offer impressively realistic storm sequences demonstrating the dramatic destruction of these unpredictable weather phenomena.  I have only seen one in my life and have viewed these storms’ devastation. While watching director Steven… Continue reading Review: INTO THE STORM

By Laurie Coker Rating B- Academy awarding winning actress Helen Mirren’s body of work scans decades and she has moved from sultry seductress and sinister schemers to stern, pinch-mouthed nitpickers and as played everything in between. She has remarkable talent for melding into a variety of unique and interesting characters and this she does in… Continue reading Review: THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY

By Laurie Coker Rating: C Like every sensible person should do, I took Ninja Turtle fans, 10-year-olds, to the screening of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie. They loved it! I, on the other hand, was so distracted by the mouth-breathing Megan Fox (among other things) that I could hardly pay attention. Director Jonathan… Continue reading Review: TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES