Shyam Vedantam

Drama wastes interesting premise

“True Story,” based on Michael Finkel’s memoir of the same name, fails to be as interesting as the true story. Finkel’s stories were...

By The MercuryApril 27, 2015

Archives Commentary Life & Arts

New ‘Furious’ film resorts to same formula

“Furious 7” has a nonsensical plot and dull dialogue, but it speeds past these road bumps that might otherwise sideline any other film...

By The MercuryApril 13, 2015

Archives Commentary Life & Arts

‘Marigold’ sequel delightfully simple

Film underwhelmingly mixes talented cast with stuffy plot As the title suggests, “The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” doesn’t portray anything new or...

By The MercuryMarch 9, 2015

Commentary Life & Arts

Weak cyber crime action movie features lackluster performance

“Blackhat” fails to make hacking watchable for audiences “Blackhat,” starring Chris Hemsworth, is a plodding crime drama about hacking, with clumsy dialogue and...

By The MercuryJanuary 26, 2015

Commentary Life & Arts

Dull script weakens WWII story

“Unbroken” tells the unbelievable true story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic long distance runner who was captured by Japanese troops during World War...

By The MercuryJanuary 12, 2015

Commentary Life & Arts

‘Dumb’ doesn’t live up to original lowbrow classic

The sequel to the Farrelly brothers’ classic comedy “Dumb and Dumber” is an almost carbon copy of the original film. However, “Dumb and...

By The MercuryNovember 17, 2014

Archives Commentary Life & Arts

‘Ouija’ underwhelms with unoriginality

With uninspired scares and lackluster directing by Stiles White, “Ouija” is a completely forgettable foray into the horror-film genre. Hasbro is taking a...

By The MercuryNovember 3, 2014

Commentary Life & Arts

Found-footage ploy ruins film

Horror film features one-note characters trekking through Parisian catacombs While it’s a good commercial for the Paris catacombs, “As Above/So Below” is ultimately...

By The MercurySeptember 8, 2014