Latest Movie Reviews

Drive (2011) Straw Dogs (2011) The Driver (1978) Cross of Iron (1977) Warrior (2011) Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) Cobra Verde (1987) The Debt (2010) Fighting Mad (1976) Our Idiot Brother (2011)

13 Assassins (2010) Krull (1983) Conan the Barbarian (2011) Conan the Destroyer (1984) Conan the Barbarian (1982) Hobo With a Shotgun (2010) Strangers on a Train (1951) 30 Minutes or Less (2011) Executioners from Shaolin (1977) The Help (2011)

Welcome to MoviesinaMinute.com! Check in with us for concise, efficient review coverage of current theatrical releases and films from yesteryear. Spanning all eras and all genres from the classic art house to the latest big budget action romps and everything in between, we look forward to interacting with fellow film fanatics while and hopefully aiding our readers in finding art that suits their vast tastes with frequent updates.

-Brett G. & Brett H.

Drive (2011)

Written by: Hossein Amini (screenplay) and James Sallis (novel)
Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Ron Perlman, and Albert Brooks
Reviewer: Brett Gallman

“If I drive for you, you give me a time and a place. I give you a five-minute window, anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours no matter what.”

Reviewer's Rating: **** (Four Stars)

Straw Dogs (2011)

Written by: Rod Lurie (screenplay), David Zelag Goodman & Sam Peckinpah (story), and Gordon Williams (original novel)
Directed by: Rod Lurie
Starring: James Mardsen, Kate Bosworth, and Alexander Skarsgard
Reviewer: Brett Gallman

“I will not allow violence against this house.”

Reviewer's Rating: *** (Three Stars)

The Driver (1978)

Written and Directed by: Walter Hill
Starring: Ryan O’Neal, Bruce Dern, and Isabelle Adjani
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy The Driver at Amazon.com!

“There isn’t going to be a next time. ”

Reviewer's Rating: ***½ (Three Stars)

Cross of Iron (1977)

Written by: Julius J. Epstein, Walter Kelley, & James Hamilton (screenplay), Willi Heinrich (novel)
Directed by: Sam Peckinpah
Starring: James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, and David Warner
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Cross of Iron at Amazon.com!

“Steiner is a myth. Men like him are our last hope, and in that sense, he is a truly dangerous man.”

Reviewer's Rating: **** (Four Stars)

Warrior (2011)

Written by: Gavin O’Connor, Anthony Tambakis, and Cliff Dorman
Directed by: Gavin O’Connor
Starring: Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, and Nick Nolte
Reviewer: Brett Gallman

“This is impossible--the two men fighting for the championship tonight are brothers!”

Reviewer's Rating: *** (Three Stars)

Sex, Lies and Videotape (1989)

Written and Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: James Spader, Andie MacDowell, and Peter Gallagher
Reviewer: Brett Gallman

“I think that sex is overrated. I think that people place far too much importance on it...”

Reviewer's Rating: ***½ (Three and a half Stars)

Cobra Verde (1987)

Written by: Werner Herzog (screenplay), Bruce Chatwin (book)
Directed by: Werner Herzog
Starring: Klaus Kinski, King Ampaw, and Jose Lewgoy
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Cobra Verde at Amazon.com!

“Aren’t you afraid of dying?”
“I haven’t tried it yet.”

Reviewer's Rating: *** (Three Stars)

The Debt (2010)

Written by: Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman, & Peter Straughan (screenplay), Assaf Bernstein & Ido Rosenblum (original film)
Directed by: John Madden
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Sam Worthington, and Marton Csokas
Reviewer: Brett Gallman

“They dared to confront an unimaginable evil.”

Reviewer's Rating: ** (Two Stars)

Fighting Mad (1976)

Written and Directed by: Jonathan Demme
Starring: Peter Fonda, Gino Franco, and Harry Northup
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Fighting Mad at Amazon!

The story of a man who dares to sound his ground--until they blow it out from under him!

Reviewer's Rating: **½ (Two and a half Stars)

Our Idiot Brother (2011)

Written by: David Schisgall, Evgenia Peretz
Directed by: Jesse Peretz
Starring: Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, and Emily Mortimer
Reviewer: Brett Gallman

“Our idiot brother just ruined my freaking life!”

Reviewer's Rating: ***½ (Three and a half Stars)

13 Assassins (2010)

Written by: Kaneo Ikegami (screenplay), Daisuke Tengan (screenplay)
Directed by: Takashi Miike
Starring: Kôji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, and Yûsuke Iseya
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy 13 Assassins at Amazon.com!

“I shall accomplish your task... with magnificence.”

Reviewer's Rating: ***½ (Three and a half Stars)

Krull (1983)

Written by: Stanford Sherman
Directed by: Peter Yates
Starring: Ken Marshall, Lysette Anthony, and Freddie Jones
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Krull on Amazon.com!

“Power is fleeting; love is eternal.”

Reviewer's Rating: ** (Two Stars)

Conan the Barbarian (2011)

Written by: Robert E. Howard (character), Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, and Sean Hood (screenplay)
Directed by: Marcus Nipsel
Starring: Jason Momoa, Stephen Lang, Rachel Nichols, and Rose McGowan
Reviewer: Brett Gallman

“I live. I love. I slay. And I am content.”

Reviewer's Rating: ** (Two Stars)

Conan the Destroyer (1984)

Written by: Robert E. Howard (character), Roy Thomas & Gerry Conway (story), Stanley Mann (screenplay)
Directed by: Richard Fleischer
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Grace Jones, Wilt Chamberlain, and Sarah Douglas
Reviewer: Brett Gallman

Buy Conan the Destroyer at Amazon.com!

"I suppose nothing hurts you."
"Only pain.”

Reviewer's Rating: **½ (Two and One Half Stars)

Conan the Barbarian (1982)

Written by: John Milius & Oliver Stone (screenplay), Robert E. Howard (stories)
Directed by: John Milius
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Earl Jones, and Sadahl Bergman
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Conan the Barbarian at Amazon.com!

“Crom, I have never prayed to you before. I have no tongue for it. No one, not even you, will remember if we were good men or bad. Why we fought, or why we died. All that matters is that two stood against many.”

Reviewer's Rating: *** (Three Stars)

Hobo with a Shotgun (2011)

Written by: John Davies, Jason Eisener, and Rob Cotterill
Directed by: Jason Eisener
Starring: Rutger Hauer, Molly Dunsworth, and Brian Downey
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Hobo with a Shotgun at Amazon.com!

“When life gives you razor blades... you make a baseball bat, covered in razor blades.”

Reviewer's Rating: *** (3 Stars)

Strangers on a Train (1951)

Written by: Raymond Chandler, Czenzi Ormonde, & Whitfield Cook (screenplay) and Patricia Highsmith (novel)
Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Starring: Farley Granger, Robert Walker, and Ruth Roman
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Strangers on a Train at Amazon.com!

“My theory is that everyone is a potential murderer.”

Reviewer's Rating: **** (Four Stars)

30 Minutes or Less (2011)

Written by: Michael Diliberti and Matthew Sullivan
Directed by: Ruben Fleischer
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Danny McBride, Aziz Ansari, and Nick Swardson
Reviewer: Brett Gallman

“Sometimes fate pulls out its big ol' cock and slaps you right in face.”

Reviewer's Rating: *** (Three Stars)

Executioners from Shaolin (1977)

Written by: Kuang Ni
Directed by: Chia-Liang Liu
Starring: Kuan Tai Chen, Lily Li, and Lieh Lo
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Executioners from Shaolin from Amazon.com!

“Of all the students of Chi Sen, I knew you’d be the only one to look for me. You have guts.”

Reviewer's Rating: *** (Three Stars)

The Help (2011)

Written by: Tate Taylor (screenplay), Kathryn Stockett (novel)
Directed by: Tate Taylor
Starring: Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Octavia Spencer
Reviewer: Brett Gallman

“These women raise white children--we love them, and they love us--but they can't even use the toilets in our houses.”

Reviewer's Rating: *** (Three Stars)

Leaving Las Vegas (1995)

Written and directed by: Mike Figgis
Starring: Nicholas Cage, Elisabeth Shue & Julian Sands
Reviewer: Brett H.
Buy Leaving Las Vegas at Amazon.com!

“Is drinking a way of killing yourself?”
“Or, is killing myself a way of drinking?”
Reviewer's Rating: * * * * (4 Stars)

Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man (1976)

Written by: Fernando Di Leo, Alberto Marras, Vincenzo Salviani
Directed by: Ruggero Deodato
Starring: Marc Porel and Ray Lovelock
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man at Amazon.com!

“You're bad in my books. I'm not saying you're incompetent, but every time you're out on a job, you leave two or three bodies behind in bits and pieces.”

Reviewer's Rating: *** (Three Stars)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)

Written by: Amanda Silver and Rick Jaffa
Directed by: Rupert Wyatt
Starring: James Franco, Frieda Pinto, John Lithgow, and Andy Serkis
Reviewer: Brett Gallman

Evolution becomes revolution.

Reviewer's Rating: ***½ (Three and a half Stars)

Planet of the Apes (2001)

Written by: William Broyles Jr., Lawrence Konner, & Mark Rosenthal (screenplay), Pierre Boulle (novel)
Directed by: Tim Burton
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter, and Michael Clark Duncan
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Planet of the Apes at Amazon.com!

“Get your stinking hands off me, you damn dirty human!”

Reviewer's Rating: **½ (Two and a half Stars)

Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)

Written by: Paul Dehn (story), Pierre Boulle (characters), John William Corrington & Joyce Hooper Corrington (screenplay)
Directed by: J. Lee Thompson
Starring: Roddy McDowall, Claude Akins, Paul Williams, and John Huston
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Battle For the Planet of the Apes at Amazon.com!

“ In the beginning God created beast and man so that both might live in friendship and share dominion over a world of peace.”

Reviewer's Rating: **½ (Two and a half Stars)

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)

Written by: Paul Dehn (screenplay), Pierre Boulle (characters)
Directed by: J. Lee Thompson
Starring: Roddy McDowall, Don Murray, and Ricardo Montalban
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Conquest of the Planet of the Apes at Amazon.com!

“Ape Management... is in the hands of the apes.”

Reviewer's Rating: *** (Three Stars)

Escape From the Planet of the Apes (1971)

Written by: Paul Dehn (screenplay), Pierre Boulle (characters)
Directed by: Don Taylor
Starring: Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, and Bradford Dillman
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Escape from the Planet of the Apes at Amazon.com!

“That's what I'm worried about--'later.' Later we'll do something about pollution. Later we'll do something about the population explosion. Later we'll do something about the nuclear war. We think we've got all the time in the world, but how much time has the world got? Somebody has to begin to care.”

Reviewer's Rating: *** (Three Stars)

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)

Written by: Pierre Boulle (characters), Paul Dehn & Mort Abrahams (story, screenplay)
Directed by: Ted Post
Starring: James Franciscus, Kim Hunter, and Charlton Heston
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Beneath the Planet of the Apes at Amazon.com!

“The only good human... is a dead human!”

Reviewer's Rating: **½ (Two and One Half Stars)

Planet of the Apes (1968)

Written by: Michael Wilson & Rod Serling (screenplay), Pierre Boulle (novel)
Directed by: Franklin J. Schaffner
Starring: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, and Maurice Evans
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Planet of the Apes at Amazon.com!

“I'm a seeker too. But my dreams aren't like yours. I can't help thinking that somewhere in the universe there has to be something better than man. Has to be.”

Reviewer's Rating: ***½ (Three and a half Stars)

Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

Written by: Robert Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Steve Oedekerk, and Scott Mitchell Rosenberg
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and Olivia Wilde
Reviewer: Brett Gallman

“Is it demons?”

Reviewer's Rating: **½ (Two and a half Stars)

Paths of Glory (1957)

Written by: Stanley Kubrick, Calder Willingham & Jim Thompson (screenplay), Humphrey Cobb (novel)
Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, and Adolphe Menjou
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Paths of Glory at Amazon.com!

“Gentlemen of the court, there are times that I'm ashamed to be a member of the human race, and this is one such occasion.”
Reviewer's Rating: * * * * (4 Stars)

The Wrestler (2008)

Directed by: Darren Aronofsky
Written by: Robert D. Siegel
Starring: Mickey Rourke, Marissa Tomei & Evan Rachel Wood
Reviewer: Brett H.
Buy The Wrestler at Amazon.com!

“You're my little girl. And now, I'm an old broken down piece of meat... and I'm alone. And, I deserve to be all alone. I just don't want you to hate me.”
Reviewer's Rating: * * * * (4 Stars)

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Written by: Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (screenplay), Joe Simon & Jack Kirby (comics)
Directed by: Joe Johnston
Starring: Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, and Hugo Weaving
Reviewer: Brett Gallman

“Every army begins with one man. He will be the first in a new breed of super-soldier."

Reviewer's Rating: *** (Three Stars)

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Written by: Terry Gilliam, Tony Grisoni, Tod Davies, & Alex Cox (screenplay), Hunter S. Thompson (novel)
Directed by: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Johnny Depp and Benicio Del Toro
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas at Amazon.com!

“So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high-water mark - that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back.”

Reviewer's Rating: ***½ (3 and a half Stars)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two (2011)

Written by: Steve Kloves (screenplay), J.K. Rowling (novel)
Directed by: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint
Reviewer: Brett Gallman

“The boy who lived...come to die.”

Reviewer's Rating: **** (Four Stars)

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One (2010)

Written by: Steve Kloves (screenplay), J.K. Rowling (novel)
Directed by: David Yates
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One at Amazon.com!

“The Ministry has fallen. The Minister of Magic is dead. They are coming.”

Reviewer's Rating: ***½ (Three and a half Stars)

Horrible Bosses (2011)

Written by: Michael Markowitz, John Francis Daley, Jonathan M. Goldstein (screenplay), Michael Markowitz (story)
Directed by: Seth Gordon
Starring: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Horrible Bosses at Amazon.com!

“You have to admit, our lives would be easier if our bosses weren’t alive…”

Reviewer's Rating: *** (Three Stars)

Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

Written by: Ehren Kruger
Directed by: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia LeBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whitely, and Patrick Dempsey
Reviewer: Brett Gallman
Buy Transformers: Dark of the Moon at Amazon.com!

“You have made a grave mistake…”
Reviewer's Rating: * ½ (One and a Half Stars)