
Stepping into the world of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain has a certain gravity. For those who have been following the decorated franchise since its NES inception, I can imagine a sense of homecoming. Still, this is not the MGS title of prior generations.
by Nate Church30 Nov 2015, 9:20 AM PST0

If you are deeply invested in “The Hunger Games” main characters, you will be more than satisfied with the final five minutes of “Mockingjay – Part 2.” Unfortunately, the 131 minutes that comes before are grim, sanctimonious, and downright dull.
by John Nolte20 Nov 2015, 1:46 PM PST0

Before I get too far into reviews where I’m “fanboy compromised,” I like to disclose that fact — I enjoyed 1995’s Descent a lot. So when I saw that Sigtrap Games had released a rogue-like Descent-like mine shooter titled Sublevel Zero, I put on my helmet, strapped into the cockpit, and dove in. I was not disappointed.
by Will Ross7 Nov 2015, 11:37 AM PST0

Developed by Avalanche Studios, creators of the Just Cause series, and published by Warner Bros Interactive, Mad Max is an open world, third person-action game set in the iconic post apocalyptic wasteland of the Mad Max film franchise, in which insanity and savagery run free and jerry-rigged cars rule the landscape as the remnants of mankind struggle to survive.
by Marc Geppert31 Oct 2015, 9:50 AM PST0

Tomb of Tyrants is an easy to learn, impossible to master mix of ‘match-four’ style puzzle game and strategic defense from developer Jake Huhman.
by Will Ross29 Oct 2015, 3:00 AM PST0

Party Hard is strategy stealth murder simulator from Pinokl Games. You play as the Party Hard killer, a man driven to kill people at parties because… they’re too loud. Obviously, the plot isn’t the best part here — the gameplay is, and it’s best to not dwell on it. You’re an angry sociopath in a mask with a knife and with one mission in life: get your knife on.
by Will Ross28 Oct 2015, 10:14 AM PST0

The recently-released first season of “Empire” has a lot to offer — part “Dynasty,” part “Glee” and — to those familiar with the fascinating and sordid history behind Berry Gordy’s music empire — part Motown. Like “Dynasty,” “Empire” is a
by John Nolte15 Oct 2015, 11:15 AM PST0

Make no mistake; the new thriller in theaters called Sicario is no documentary-style production of the drug war in Mexico. It’s a movie like any other, with its exaggerations and stylistic decisions. But what makes Sicario one of the better representations of the reality that is cartel violence on both sides of the border is that it’s accurate enough to be believable—even to those well-versed in the tiniest details of this endless war.
by Sylvia Longmire6 Oct 2015, 12:12 PM PST0

An awkward, ever-shifting-in-his-chair comedian took the reins of “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” Monday night, and had no idea what to do with them or even where to put his hands. At times it was painful to watch Trevor
by John Nolte29 Sep 2015, 6:56 AM PST0

Former Vice President Dick Cheney and his daughter, national security expert Liz Cheney, warn readers in their new book, Exceptional: Why the World Needs a Powerful America, that it will be very difficult to undo the damage that President Barack Obama has caused the United States through a deliberate policy of weakening America.
by Joel B. Pollak14 Sep 2015, 4:00 AM PST0

Rocksteady Studios’ final installment in their critically-acclaimed Batman series, Batman: Arkham Knight, introduces players to a new dynamic duo of not bat and bird, but bat and car. Since the Batman: Arkham games are of high caliber, this review will compare them not merely to other titles in the market, but specifically to the other two Rocksteady games in the Arkham series to highlight the value added, or lost, by Knight.
by Robert Shimshock8 Jul 2015, 7:05 AM PST0

For once a trailer did not lie. The previews for “Terminator Genisys” look like an uninspired mess; the movie itself is an uninspired mess. When it comes to action films, we don’t ask for much: just enough plot to connect
by John Nolte1 Jul 2015, 8:29 AM PST0

Director Brad Peyton’s summer disaster epic “San Andreas” is filled with plenty of eye-catching, cutting-edge CGI spectacle, the cartoonish kind Hollywood has been conditioning us for years to accept and, at least in my case, surrender to. The human story,
by John Nolte29 May 2015, 7:17 AM PST0

Until a few weeks ago, I had no idea a “Poltergeist” remake was coming. So it was just a coincidence that after a number of years, I popped the 1982 original into the DVD player. Obviously, the hope was for
by John Nolte22 May 2015, 6:33 AM PST0

Mad Max (Tom Hardy) has truly gone mad. Groomed like a caveman, and seemingly able to communicate only in grunts; figuratively, our Road Warrior has become the Feral Kid. He eats two-headed desert lizards alive and drives through an endless
by John Nolte15 May 2015, 8:48 AM PST0

With 37 reviews in, director George Miller’s “Mad Max: Fury Road” sits at an impressive 97% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. Many of the reviews are outright raves and make clear that after four decades as a filmmaker, Miller went old
by John Nolte12 May 2015, 9:14 AM PST0

There were more than a few weak Burt Reynolds’ films salvaged by end-credit outtakes and bloopers, which were always hilarious. You never wanted them to end. The effect was manipulative and brilliant. Instead of exiting the theater with the bad
by John Nolte8 May 2015, 5:23 AM PST0

Faced with the daunting task of a follow-up to his critically-lauded 2012 box office sensation “The Avengers,” writer/director Joss Whedon faced a lift as heavy as Thor’s hammer. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans),
by John Nolte1 May 2015, 7:31 AM PST0

Because their “American Sniper” analysis is much more thoughtful than what we saw from Salon’s Andre O’Hehir’s lunacy Wednesday, I want to be clear that I’m no in any way lumping the LA Times’ Steve Zeitchik and Variety’s Scott Foundas
by John Nolte22 Jan 2015, 8:57 AM PST0

Salon’s Andrew O’Hehir has seen “American Sniper” twice and is now pretending he has cracked its cultural and political code. Naturally, what he discovered perfectly fits his own leftist leanings. And that must feel pretty good. After all, director Clint
by John Nolte21 Jan 2015, 10:18 AM PST0

Full Disclosure: I walked out after an hour. It was 11:30 at night, my alarm is set for 6 in the morning, and I had had enough. The premise is dumb, the movie dumber. Non-stop frantic comic montages set to
by John Nolte16 Jan 2015, 12:29 PM PST0

In director Clint Eastwood’s best films (“Gran Torino,” “Million Dollar Baby,” “Unforgiven,” “The Outlaw Josey Wales”), the multiple Oscar-winner is able to make us feel both the righteousness of justified violence and the heavy emotional price paid by those committing
by John Nolte16 Jan 2015, 10:25 AM PST0

Director Ava DuVarney’s third feature film is impressive on many levels. Yet, given its potent subject matter, other than a few scenes, “Selma” is emotionally flat and uninspiring. This is especially surprising in the wake of the George Zimmerman and
by John Nolte9 Jan 2015, 12:44 PM PST0

About twenty-minutes into director Olivier Megaton’s “Taken 3” I had a truly terrifying experience: a “Quantum of Solace” flashback. A poorly scripted action movie can sometimes be redeemed by the action scenes. Until the dreadful “Quantum,” this had always been
by John Nolte9 Jan 2015, 7:41 AM PST0

Writer/director Richard Linklater certainly deserves credit for pulling off an audacious experiment. Filmed over 12 years using the same actors (child and adult), “Boyhood” is a coming-of-age drama unlike anything we’ve seen before. Respect all around. Hats off. The movie
by John Nolte31 Dec 2014, 9:20 AM PST0