RonenRecommends | All posts published by author 'Ronen Divon'

Ronen's Rating System:

*****	A must watch
****	Worth seeing
***	If you must watch a movie and there is nothing else out there
**	Don’t bother
*	It’s so bad its almost good... not... These are films I walked out on, or just fell asleep
(K: stars)	Rating by my children. As they are easy to please, would typically be higher than mine...

Lee Daniels' The Butler (2013) ***

Posted on 8/17/2013 8:25 PM By Ronen Divon

Lee Daniels' The Butler is an uneven film. At over 2 hours long it feels its length. Furthermore, the pace at which the plot moves mirrors the slowness at which African-Americans won civil rights though several decades of the previous century. It is far from being satisfying as a cinematic experience. However, it does take us through a journey of the civil rights movement, a journey worth remembering.

Popular tags: Lee Daniels, Pamela Oas Williams, Laura Ziskin, Buddy Patrick, Cassian Elwes, Danny Strong, Wil Haygood, Forest Whitaker, Oprah Winfrey, Robin Williams, James DuMont, James Marsden, Minka Kelly, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Lenny Kravitz, Liev Schreiber, John Cusack, Alan Rickman, Jane Fonda, Nelsan Ellis, Terrence Howard, Yaya DaCosta, Mariah Carey, Rodrigo Leão, Andrew Dunn, Joe Klotz

The Wolverine (2013) ***

Posted on 8/5/2013 10:45 PM By Ronen Divon

Though enjoying excellent performance from Jackman, who is able to get under the Wolverine's skin down to his last hair, and despite some terrific action scenes, after a good start The Wolverine is yet just one more flimsy summer action flick.

Popular tags: James Mangold, Lauren Shuler Donner, Hugh Jackman, Hutch Parker, John Palermo, Christopher McQuarrie, Mark Bomback, Scott Frank, Chris Claremont, Frank Miller, Tao Okamoto, Hiroyuki Sanada, Rila Fukushima, Famke Janssen, Will Yun Lee, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Haruhiko Yamanouchi, Brian Tee, Marco Beltrami, Ross Emery

Despicable Me 2 (2013) ***

Posted on 8/5/2013 10:04 PM By Ronen Divon

There are no great messages in Despicable Me 2, and it does fall short in originality, but you'll laugh a lot, your kids will love it, and you won’t notice how fast those 98 minutes pass.

Popular tags: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud, Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy, Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio, Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Elsie Fisher, Dana Gaier, Russell Brand, Steve Coogan, Ken Jeong, Heitor Pereira, Pharrell Williams, Gregory Perler

The Way, Way Back (2013) ****

Posted on 7/29/2013 10:01 AM By Ronen Divon

The Way, Way Back is a likeable coming-of-age story, written and directed by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Though the storyline is quite predictable and the plot suffers from occasional holes, at least when it comes to some of the characters' motivation, the film as a whole does a decent job indulging the audience in splashy summer fun.

Popular tags: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, Tom Rice, Kevin J. Walsh, Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, AnnaSophia Robb, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Rob Corddry, Amanda Peet, Liam James, Rob Simonsen, John Bailey, Tatiana S. Riegel

Pacific Rim (***) 2013

Posted on 7/13/2013 10:17 PM By Ronen Divon

There is something very likable about Pacific Rim, the new sci-fi, monsters fantasy film, directed by Guillermo del Toro to a script by del Toro and Travis Beacham. The film could have been a better film if its makers didn't aim at imparting universal wisdom and, instead, spent more energy on writing a less trivial plot. Maybe the sequel, which is likely to follow, will do better.

Popular tags: Guillermo del Toro, Thomas Tull, Jon Jashni, Mary Parent, Travis Beacham, Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Rob Kazinsky, Max Martini, Ron Perlman, Ramin Djawadi, Guillermo Navarro, Peter Amundson, John Gilroy

Monsters University (2013) ****

Posted on 7/7/2013 10:12 PM By Ronen Divon

While Monsters University may be viewed as yet another formulaic coming-of-age tale, albeit its monstrous proportions, this prequel to Monsters, Inc. plays along a finer motive than plain self-discovery. All in all Monsters University still manages to surprise and show originality. It is heartwarming, smart by fine nuances rather than wisecracks, energetic and fun.