Crisp Criticism - "Transcendence", "The Amazing Spider-Man 2", "The Other Woman"

by

Julien Faddoul

Transcendence

A radical anti-technology organization fights to prevent two scientists from creating a world where computers can transcend the abilities of the human brain.

Glum, self-serious homily on the dangers of high technology with its first-time director offering nothing of interest outside the visual effects.

d – Wally Pfister

w – Jack Paglen

ph – Jess Hall

pd – Chris Seagers

m – Mychael Danna

ed – David Rosenbloom

cos – George L. Little

p – Kate Cohen, Broderick Johnson, Andrew A. Kosove, Annie Marter, Marisa Polvino, Aaron Ryder, David Valdes

Cast: Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Cillian Murphy, Kate Mara, Cole Hauser, Morgan Freeman, Clifton Collins Jr, Cory Hardrict

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

An old friend, Harry Osborn, returns, and Peter Parker uncovers new clues about his past.

Despite being overall more genuine in tone and sensitivity than the previous installment in the rebooted franchise, one still can't shake the fact that is a 200-million dollar piece of revival theatre. The plot is a mess, with no clear line from the beginning of the movie to the end and most of the characters intentions (especially the villains') are incomprehensible. It isn't a horrible movie, just a useless one.

d – Marc Webb

w – Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, James Vanderbilt   (Based on the Comic Book by Stan Lee, Steve Ditko)

ph – Dan Mindel

pd – Mark Friedberg

m – Johnny Marr, Pharrell Williams, Hans Zimmer

ed – Pietro Scalia

p – Avi Arad, Matthew Tolmach

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Embeth Davidtz, Campbell Scott, Marton Csokas, Louis Cancelmi, Max Charles, B.J. Novak, Sarah Gadon, Michael Massee, Jorge Vega

The Other Woman

After realizing she is not her boyfriend's primary lover, a woman teams up with his wife and plots mutual revenge.

Another icky movie where characters don’t seem to understand basic human behavior, both in theory and practice. As a comedy, it’s as funny as a heart attack.

d – Nick Cassavetes

w – Melissa K. Stack

ph – Robert Fraisse

pd – Dan Davis

m – Aaron Zigman

ed – Jim Flynn, Alan Heim

cos – Paolo Nieddu, Jacqueline Oknaian

p – Julie Yorn

Cast: Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, Kate Upton, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Nicki Minaj, Taylor Kinney