9 years ago
Reviews (10 posts found)
“Cheap Thrills”: The Savage One-Upsmanship of the Desperate
Cheap Thrills begins with the sounds of sex -- or, rather, sex interrupted. Craig (Pat Healy) is entering the throes of passion with his wife Audrey (Amanda Fuller) one morning, when the alarm clock suddenly goes off. Craig hits the snooze button, delaying the...
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“Sabotage”: A Promising Return to Form For Arnold Schwarzenegger
Sabotage begins with low-fi footage of a woman in close-up being tortured as she wails for help that will never come, and it never gets any more pleasant from there. Following in the wake of End of Watch, the film only deepens co-writer/director David Ayer’s c...
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Two by Sion Sono: “Himizu” and “Guilty of Romance”
These two movies, both directed by Japanese provocateur Sion Sono, were originally released back in 2011. Now, they're finally getting simultaneous theatrical runs here in the states. Much of what could be said about Himizu could also be said about Guilty of R...
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“Maladies” is Harmlessly Worthless
Maladies furthers my conviction that filmmakers who go by one name are to be given little benefit of the doubt. I'll hazard a guess that "Carter," who wrote and directed this movie, is a friend of James Franco, given that his only previous IMDb credit is for a...
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Review: “The Missing Picture”
In the mid-1970s, the forces of Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, took over Cambodia. Their vicious, autocratic reign initiated a four-year national genocide that exterminated about a quarter of the country’s entire population. In the regime's Utopia, no Cambodian ...
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“Nymph()maniac: Vol. I”: Lars Von Trier Waves His Freak Flag
Reviewing Danish troublemaker Lars von Trier's latest film, Nymph()maniac feels like nothing more than a fool's errand. That's partially because the movie opening in theaters this Friday is just the first half of the entire production, whose second entry relea...
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“Divergent”: Derivative Dystopia
Not all Young Adult (YA) adaptations are made the same. Don’t tell that to Hollywood executives, of course. Over the last decade, practically every YA novel with a supernatural or science fiction bent has been scooped up for adaptation, regardless of the under...
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“Bad Words”: Spell this, Adam Sandler!
In his directorial debut, funny man Jason Bateman is seduced by the irresistible charm of words: his character is a forty-year old louse taking advantage of a loophole by competing in kids' spelling bees. After watching Bad Words, one fact becomes crystal clea...
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“Muppets Most Wanted”: The Kid-Friendly Version of “Face/Off”
Like The Great Muppet Caper, the follow-up to The Muppet Movie, Muppets Most Wanted concerns itself with the theft of British jewels. Unlike Caper, Muppets Most Wanted is a lot of fun and a very good movie. It’s a loopy tribute to the anarchy of its titular c...
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“On My Way” Hurries Along Slowly
Peaks and valleys; that's the basic structure of French road trip film On My Way. As with January's Gloria, the official Chilean entry for Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Academy Awards, On My Way revolves around the mid-life crisis of its protagonis...
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