Vaughn On Movies – The World's Toughest Movie Critic™

The nominations for the 888th presentation of the Academy Awards were announced earlier today. To save time, I’ve avoided them. This coming from a jaded viewer, once ready for Oscar night, now indifferent. The simple truth is this antiquated award ceremony, where a small sector of the population pats themselves on the back before all [...]

The kick-butt female action flick is the only way action junkies can get a fix away from the Redbox renegades and whatever Jason Statham has been up to. There’s just something more PC about a girl crunching bones in the 2010’s, in the least there’s something marketable. When I was a kid, anything with a [...]

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy is the exact opposite of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. There aren’t any stunts and the protagonist acts his age. This is an old school, plausible tale of espionage. I don’t even recall the Tom Cruise of this movie running. George Smiley (Gary Oldman) is a recently retired British intelligence expert [...]

Last night I went over the 11 worst movie posters of 2011, so why not take the effort to play out this year on a high note. Here are the 11 best movie poster of the year, but there is one small rule change. Independent films are allowed. The reasoning is that they’re capable of [...]

There was a time when poster artwork was indeed, well artwork. There were paintings of actors, fanciful logos and insignias, even the occasional artist signature. Now, in Hollywood’s ever cheapening of its product, they consist mostly of photoshopped imagery. Here are the 11 worst movie posters of 2011, but first some rules. Rules: To qualify [...]

Famed journalist Tintin purchases a fancy model ship, only to have it made the target of thieves. Our inquisitive reporter researches the history of the actual Unicorn and before long is hurdled into an journey full of daring thrills as he races to discover the family secrets of the ship’s captain. Thank the gods of [...]

The Hollywood version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo offers few surprises for the seasoned viewer of the 2009 Swedish original. Yes, it has come to the point that we can’t wait long enough to rip-off foreign markets. To its credit director David Fincher manages to inject the compelling mystery with his auteur pizzazz, [...]

Operative Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is back in action in Brad Bird’s live action directorial debut. The Pixar famed director joins the superstar on this jaunt across the Eastern hemisphere. The Impossible Missions Force is dissolved after taking blame for a bombing. Ethan and his remaining colleagues must attempt to prove their innocence while also [...]

The central concern that kept me from seeing the prior Holmes film was the obvious deviation from the established lore. Holmes, the calculating detective fist fighting in slowmo was enough of a turn off in a crowded December. Though Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows confirmed much of my suspicions, it also managed to deliver [...]