TheRetroCritic

Channing Tatum, Steve Carell and Mark Ruffalo star in Foxcatcher , the Oscar-nominated film based on the shocking true story of an Olympic wrestler and his brother's destructive encounter with bizarre multimillionaire John E. Du Pont. After Tatum's wrestler Mark Schultz is called in by the wealthy entrepreneur (and avid bird watcher) to his vast estate, he is promptly hired to train for Du Pont (Carell) as part of the Foxcatcher team in the hope that another Olympic win lies ahead. Unfortunately, Du Pont's strange behaviour becomes something of a problem as it becomes quite clear that he's not quite the talented wrestling coach he painted himself out to be. Add to that a drug problem, an odd relationship with his mother (played by Vanessa Redgrave) and some altogether inappropriate behaviour and you've got yourself one awkward training environment for Schultz to say the least. Things take a turn for the worse when Du Pont hires Mark's brother David (Ruffalo

Despite 21 Jump Street being a surprise hit at the box office and even critically upon its release, a sequel cheesily called 22 Jump Street came as a complete surprise to most and the very idea sounded like a joke. And a joke it both was and wasn't. The charm of the original rested on two things: the likeable two leads and the tongue-in-cheek self-knowing humour which actually worked to make the film at least amusing. This sequel is fully aware of how pointless and absurd its existence is and it tries to have fun with it, which turns out to be a good move. Taking any of this seriously would have been a mistake to say the least. And so here we have 22 Jump Street, the bigger, goofier, slightly inferior sequel which prides itself on giving us more of the same, with a few add-ons. The result is a fun, silly little film which makes up for how random and unnecessary it is with more Channing Tatum/Jonah Hill buddy lols and some fun new (and old) jokes. This time, the undercov

You'd think that, by now, Roland Emmerich's gimmicky blockbuster formula would have imploded in on itself and culminated in an undeniable stinker. (post Godzilla , that is) And yet miraculously,  White House Down , while just as dumb and ridiculous as its predecessors, still worked as a popcorn movie. Taking that one iconic scene from Independence Day and inexplicably spinning it off into its very own movie, Emmerich delivers yet another fun, mindless mess complete with vomit-inducing patriotism, big explosions and a bag-full of one dimensional characters and obvious stereotypes. Working with what seems like a much lower budget than 2012 , White House Down focuses its attention on a siege taking place in the White House without going around the world and showing monuments and the French blow-up randomly, as those types of films usually do. Our lead is Channing Tatum, a cop who can talk to squirrels and who aspires to work for the President (Jamie Foxx) as part of the U.

Mathematically, some films should be disasters and, indeed, many are. Here's one that somehow slipped through the cracks. Yes, surprisingly this movie remake of 21 Jump Street nobody asked for and nobody wanted is... not terrible. Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill are paired up as a jock and a geek who can't stand each other in school then grow up to be cops and best buds until they're put to the test by being made to go undercover back to school in order to catch a drug dealer who's been selling a fatal new product. Once there, they start thinking that maybe this is the perfect opportunity to set some things right since their original high school years were so dire. On paper, this is as obvious and tired as it gets: the whole back to school scenario, all the buddy cop cliches, yet the two leads are likeable enough that they pull it off. The script offers them loads of fun moments to work with and they make the most of it. The supporting cast (Dave Franco, Ice

And Dwayne Johnson does it again... It's looking like The Rock has not only made a comeback but he's decided to go around stealing franchises. To some extent that's what he did with The Scorpion King and Journey 2 but as of late, with Fast Five and now   G.I. Joe: Retaliation , it looks like we'll be seeing a whole lot of him in the near future. Sadly, no word on a Southland Tales spin-off yet... This sequel to the wildly ridiculous but strangely enjoyable first G.I. Joe film, The Rise Of Cobra , follows the story some time later, not right after. Yes Jonathan Pryce's evil twin is still the President, yes Channing Tatum is still around but Dwayne Johnson's now part of the gang, everyone's following the President's crazy orders, Cobra and Destro have been captured and are now kept in glass coffins in some impossible-to-reach location, Bruce Willis is... Joe? Basically this movie is one cast member and plot thread away from being a complete reb