9 years ago
Reviews (10 posts found)
“The Purge: Anarchy” Thrills While Critiquing The Kills
This smart horror sequel doesn't just paint a picture of what could be--it argues we're already there.
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“Mood Indigo” Manages To Be Just Quirky Enough To Be Charming
There are levels to twee, and there are indeed levels to how much twee a person can withstand in one sitting. Michel Gondry’s Mood Indigo often comes dangerously close to exceeding the limit, but there is something so deliciously intriguing about the film in s...
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A Talented Cast Can’t Save “Sex Tape”
The most frustrating movies are not those that are outright bad, but those that come so close to being good, only to fail. They find themselves bumping against good ideas almost without trying, only to forget them or wander away in search of something nonsensi...
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“I Origins” A Half-Baked And Purely Guilty Pleasure
The multi-talented actress/writer Brit Marling has become an integral part of an independent film brand through her recent artistic collaborations with filmmakers Mike Cahill and Zal Batmanglij. With high-concept, budget-conscious titles such as Cahill’s Anoth...
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“The Congress” Is Full of Sensory Overload And Not Much Else
The received wisdom rap against Robin Wright -- which I first recall seeing in one of those bloviating columns by know-it-all screenwriter William Goldman – is that this stunningly beautiful and hugely talented actress could have been one of the biggest movie ...
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“Planes: Fire and Rescue” Crashes And Burns In Slightly Less Fiery Fashion Than Its Predecessor
The primal, terrifying, and damaging power of fire is no stranger to Disney animation. It's not difficult to remember the scene where Bambi's mom is killed by an unseen hunter, but Bambi climaxes with a massive fire that lays waste to the forest that was once ...
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“Alive Inside” Beautifully Underscores The Power of Music
No film I’ve seen better underlines the transcendental power and mysticism that music has over human emotions than Alive Inside, filmmaker Michael Rossato-Bennett’s devoutly moving and often quite beautiful-looking documentary spotlighting a one-man crusade ca...
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“Among Ravens” Is For The Birds
Early on in Among Ravens, directors Russell Friedenberg and Randy Redroad stage a dinner gathering between the film's leads, a circle of friends meeting up to celebrate Independence Day near San Francisco. Before too much time passes into their revelry, they'r...
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“And So It Goes” Nowhere Of Interest
Once upon a time, Rob Reiner made good movies. Scratch that: he made great movies. Thirty years ago, he made This Is Spinal Tap in his very first outing as a director. Two years after that, he made Stand By Me. A year after that, he made The Princess Bride. An...
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“Video Games: The Movie” Presses All the Wrong Buttons
It takes a certain mix of hubris and willful ignorance to begin a documentary about video games with a quote from Gandhi. The bluntly titled Video Games: The Movie, after an introductory montage of gameplay footage (one of the many that pads the film), transit...
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