Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

“Olympus Has Fallen” is a ridiculous “Die Hard” knock-off that pits a lone hero (Gerard Butler of “300”) against a pack of terrorists at the White House, but -- ironically, maybe – is far better than the POS “Die Hard 6” ever hoped to be. That’s a lukewarm compliment. This is the kind of flick one watches in silent awe because of the riotous onscreen tug-of-war between “blow ’em up” fist-pump carnage and “can you believe this?” brain-killer stupidity. Case in point: After North Korean terrorists attack the White House, killing hundreds of people, taking hostage the president (Aaron Eckhart), and grabbing control of all U.S. nukes, the speaker of the house (Morgan Freeman) appears on TV and dumbly declares, “Our government is 100 percent functional.” Seriously! Not even Mr. Freeman can sell that crap. He tries. I laughed. Director Antoine Fugu (“Training Day”) has built a beat-for-beat rip-off of the 1988 classic, down to the Army helicopter crash, minus the Twinkie. At least “Olympus" never pretends to be anything but a B-grade shadow of a knock-off, and that goes a long way for slack. Butler is no Bruce Willis, though, and his wisecrack attempts ring hollow. How’s “White House Down”? C+

Battle: Los Angeles (2011)

“Battle: Los Angeles” is a B-popcorn flick on mega-steroids, proudly patriotic, with an enemy that deserves every bullet coming at them. Dig it: High-tech monsters go for an all-out attack on Earth, and battle a platoon of U.S. Marines. Our heroes kick ass. Explosions galore! Gallant speeches! Self-sacrifices! Flag salutes! But “Battle” is a loud, obnoxiously edited rat-a-tat video game that serves up a headache, and things really get ugly when people speak. At one point, our main hero (Aaron Eckhart) gives one of those teary “I lost men” speeches and he says the names of his fallen men “stick in (his) head like a bad joke,” and the movie just vaporizes. I had to laugh. The devastated L.A. cityscapes thrill, but the aliens are badly rendered with Big Lots CGI that looks fuzzy, and I never forgot these actors are pretending to blow shit up, and not very well. This is “District 9” and “Monsters” for dummies, a pale child of “Aliens” and 100 other better films. C-

Rabbit Hole (2010)

Pitched as the most depressing film of the year – a New York yuppie marriage crumbles after the death of the couple’s young boy – “Rabbit Hole” actually is darkly funny, and finally redeeming. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart are the couple, barely existing in a bleached life of grief and memory. She wants to wash away all evidence of the boy. He clings to every video and memento. Based on a play and directed by John Cameron Mitchell, “Rabbit” could have hit every cliché in the book – the hubby flirts with another woman (Sandra Oh), while the wife befriends the shattered teen (Miles Teller) who faultlessly ran the child down -- but it avoids pitfalls. The pain is real and grisly. But those dark laughs, and the trace of light at the end of the tunnel are huge. I wish we had more background on the couple, and ended sooner then its 90 minutes. As well, Kidman’s inexplicably technophobe wife’s Queens accent comes and goes. But, this is fine filmmaking. B+

Paycheck (2003)

The joke is too easy. Why did Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman and Aaron Eckhart star in “Paycheck”? The money! (Crickets.) Based on a Philip K. Dick story, the plot follows Michael Jennings (Affleck), a square-jawed square who hires out his engineering skills to shady corporations. His job: Steal technology, reverse engineer it, and hand the results over. Upon payment, his memory is wiped. At a party, a mega-billionaire fiend (Eckhart) offers Michael a huge payday if he’ll give up three years to work on a secret project. Mike takes the job. He is told nothing will go wrong. Thurmon is the love interest who helps memory-wiped Michael after everything goes bad. John Woo directs with every cliché in his bag of tricks: Crossed guns, slow-mo birds and chase scenes that won’t quit. The three leads have zero spark, so maybe they did sign on for the cash. Only Paul Giamatti and Colm Feore have any presence. The plot is preposterous even for bad sci-fi. Ironically, “Paycheck” wipes from memory at film's end. C-

The Core (2003)

“The Core” is an End of the World Thriller that had me screaming “Burn, baby, burn!” Every minute in this John Amiel-directed film is a bust, making the similar but thoroughly watchable “2012” seem like high art. The film’s most mind-numbing scene has the sun’s microwave heat melting the entire San Francisco Bay Bridge, but only giving the living motorists below sunburn. But that’s just bad science, and this is the place of miracles. Case in point: Aaron Eckhart is made haggard, dull and whiny, while every bit of intelligence that embodies Hilary Swank is erased. Stanley Tucci fares worse as the egomaniac physicist whose shadiness is best demonstrated by his wet-noodle wrist. (Homophobic? You bet.) The badness of the scenes where our heroes endlessly bicker like spoiled children are bottomed only by the ones in which they mourn and weep over one another, but truly appear like they could give a crap. At one point Tucci’s doomed academic sighs, “What the fuck am I doing?” I imagine it’s a phrase the cast often spoke. D-

Conversations with Other Women (2006)

"Conversations with Other Women" is the "Rashomon" of romantic dramas. A split screen shows constantly evolving, changing and conflicting views, asides, thoughts and memories as a man (Aaron Eckhart) and a woman (Helena Bonham-Carter) hook up and screw at a wedding. To give away a second of the film, or even a hint of the characters is to ruin a story that changes course every time one thinks they have it cornered. Know this: Eckhart and HBC are a fantastic, sexy couple and the emotions on display dig deeper and truer than almost any film about sex and love I've seen in ages. Adults only, please. Best tip: It could be watched a dozen times, and a dozen different takes could be carried away. A-