9 years ago
Theatrical (10 posts found)
Coming to a theater near you
“Dinosaur 13” A Middle-of-the-Pack Doc That Could’ve Been So Much Better
Usually, when a mainstream documentary focuses on a subject that's less-than-uplifting, the filmmakers are able to find some angle through which they can put an optimistic stamp on the story. At the very least, they might toss up some title cards with links to...
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“Ragnarok” A Middling, Wannabe “Indiana Jones” Adventure
The new Norwegian film Ragnarok wants very badly to be a modern-day Indiana Jones story, but ends up feeling slightly more enjoyable than the SyFy Movie of the Week. ("Better than Sharknado 2!" may not be a desirable pull-quote, but there you are.) Its heroic ...
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“The Trip to Italy” Puts Too Much On Its Plate
The Trip, which began life as a 6-episode BBC series and was subsequently cut down to a feature for festival and home video distribution, was a study in contrasts. Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon played lightly fictionalized versions of themselves as two actors co...
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“The Giver” Gives Us Nothing New
When Lois Lowry's The Giver came out in 1993, its story of a repressive post-apocalyptic dystopia in the context of the setting for a young-adult novel was a fresh idea. But now, in a media landscape dominated by such stories (seriously, half of all YA books n...
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“Step Up All In” Brings Economic Reality to the Dance Floor
Step Up All In begins by breaking down what makes dance so important to people. It’s like a runner’s high, an exhilarating movement of mind, body, and soul. Images of various dance styles cycle on-screen as the audience hears the movie’s leading man describes ...
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“The Dog” A Flashy But Gratuitous Documentary About The Inspiration for “Dog Day Afternoon”
Sidney Lumet’s Oscar-winning film Dog Day Afternoon tells the story of Sonny Wortzik, a man who robs a bank in Manhattan to pay for his lover's sex reassignment surgery. The film is based on the true story of John Wojtowicz, a soldier-turned-criminal who becam...
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Somber “Heli” Trafficks In Misery
Around Heli's halfway mark, you may begin to feel alienated by its frank depictions of violence. The film slow-burns its way through the mundane comings and goings of an ordinary life that's primarily defined by economic struggle (with a side of marital strife...
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“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” An Uninspired Revival of the Iconic ’80s Heroes
“Litter Stops Here” reads the sign that’s prominently displayed in front of April O’Neil (Megan Fox) at the beginning of an early setpiece in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the reboot of the Gen-Y-favorite franchise that spans films, video games, TV shows, and ...
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“The Maid’s Room” A Portentous, Plodding Mystery With One Good Twist
The music begins before the story does in The Maid's Room, and is consistently overwhelming until the end credits. That may sound like a minor issue, but there are various parts of this mostly single-set psychological thriller where the music ends up being so ...
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“The Hundred-Foot Journey” A Conventional And Benign Food-Centric Crowd-Pleaser
If we learned anything from food-centric crowd-pleasers like Ratatouille or Chocolat, it's that unexpected challengers will eventually bend uncompromising traditions and satisfy their opponents’ deepest indulgences. In Lasse Hallström’s latest, the characteris...
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