All Reviews
Official Reviews
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Jonathan Pryce (The President) and Byung-hun Lee (Storm Shadow) steal the film from the muscled stars without firing a bullet.The greatest American Heroes are back and much different from the first film. G.I. Joe: Retaliation takes a swath to the characters from the original, then restarts with new leads and a plot as plasti...more
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Stoker is one of those films that comes along from a director you greatly admire and is so good it makes you want to immediately revisit his previous work.Like everyone else, my head was delightfully spinning after watching Oldboy and still to this day is astonished when thinking over the experience. What a film! When I saw Oldboy it had been released f...more
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... Scene after worthless scene is designed to cater to the lowest expectation possible--nothing higher. It's pandering drivel that seeks to cloud proper judgment with EXPLOSIONS! MORE EXPLOSIONS! CG! MORE CG! 3D! MORE 3D! ONE-LINERS! BLARGH!!!***Right now, I'm staring at an armed figure that goes by the name, "G.I. JOE RETALIATION". He's a mean, mother. . . The worst, so I've heard. He's armed to the teeth. . . Pistols, shotguns, sniper ri...more
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A meta-doc*mentary without an agenda; a celebration of a meticulous master.I tend to dislike movies about movies. Movies like Hugo or Cinema Paridiso. I appreciate what they're saying and enjoy some aspects, but perhaps I'm too close to Film to watch a movie more interested ...more
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A safe, self-aware comeback for an old action star still potent with charm, yet no longer believable.This is Arnold Schwarzenegger's leading-man return to film. It's also Kim Ji-woon's (director of The Good, the Bad, and the Weird and I Saw The Devil) English-language debut. Both interesting factors ...more
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... This broadcast hears you; understands you. . . It shows you things. . . A dizzying collection of fears and desires thrust against a world fueled by susp*cion and paranoia...So, you just sat down after a long, hard day's routine of work, traffic and nagging neighbors. With a finely-chilled beer in one hand and a remote in the other you become alit by the television's haun...more
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Olympus Has fallen packs a punch with its fair share of tired clichés. It's at once hokey and gripping, a pulp feature that certainly doesn't hold back.Antoine Fuqua has made a career of making tough, gritty, violent films. No one can accuse him of losing his touch. Olympus Has Fallen is a staggeringly intense film. The uncompromising, up close natur...more
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A daring and taut thriller from the cinematic equivalent of Banksy.You don't often come across anonymity in filmmaking, because the names and faces of those who make the films are needed to sell said production. Sure, there were directors who could petition to have t...more
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A lackluster script, poor direction, and a dialed-in lead performance from Steve Carell make this ensemble comedy a big disappointment. The lone highlight and saving grace is Jim Carrey.There's little magic and even less humor in The Incredible Burt Wonderstone. A lackluster script, poor direction, and a dialed-in lead performance from Steve Carell make this ensemble comedy a big dis...more
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... Both metaphorically and literally speaking, the ABC'S OF DEATH is a collection of filmmakers jerking off on their audience and trying to pass it off as artistic entertainment...Back in 2011, I was informed of a little contest via my sanctuary for cinema, Alamo Drafthouse. This little competition regarded an anthology of twenty-six short films all revolving around the nature ...more
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... Yeah, it looks pretty, but so may a prostitute under the garish glow of a red light district--doesn't mean it's good for you in the slightest...Every once in a while, I witness a film that transcends expectations and delivers a work of art that reminds me why I pursued my passion for cinema in the first place. I remember the first time I saw ...more
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No matter how many viewers it draws to Oz, it deserves no applause, simply because it had flaws that made me stop and pause."Oz" is not great, it is not powerful. It's not even good or passable. It's a failure that calls all the more attention to itself by being mounted on such a grandiose and flashy CGI-infused screen. Th...more
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If you don't leave Oz with a smile on your face and bounce in your step, then you're a miserable grouch that surely needs a hug.Oz the Great and Powerful is a magnificent, wondrous film; an enchanting adventure that lives up to the hype generated by the massive marketing campaign. The trailers, endless TV commercials, and tie-...more
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A creepy and intense little thriller that pays homage to Hitchc*ck with a slick premise and favorable performances.One of my favorite lines in 2008's The Dark Knight (I know, starting out way in left field...) is when Michael Caine says to Christian Bale, "Some people just want to watch the world burn." There are ...more
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The CGI effects and tepid intro will probably bore older viewers, but if you let yourself get into the story, then you're in for a decent time.Warner Brothers and director Bryan Singer take on medieval fantasy in the CGI adventure, Jack the Giant Slayer. Based on the popular English folk tale, Jack and the Beanstalk, insert "fee-fi-fo-fum" h...more
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Dwayne Johnson has his best performance yet as a father fighting to save his son from a grave injustice.Dwayne Johnson has his best performance yet as a father fighting to save his son from a grave injustice in Snitch, the latest crime drama from writer/director Ric Roman Waugh. The story begins when Ja...more
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A pleasure. And no, not a guilty one.SAFE HAVEN Nicholas Sparks' film adaptations are somewhat of a guilty pleasure of mine, excluding "The Last Song". Let's not even begin to discuss what a mess that was. Aside from that, "...more
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Ain't it just like you, to believe your own damn legend.Based on the novel "The Wettest County in the World" (2008) by Matt Bondurant, director John Hillcoat--whose most recent film "The Road" (2009) is among the most critically acclaimed post-apocalyptic ...more
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The well has certainly dried up for the Die Hard franchise.You can only go to the well so many times before the well dries up. The well has certainly dried up for the Die Hard franchise. A Good Day to Die Hard, the fifth installment of the series, is a major ...more
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... In shambles WARM BODIES; a zombie movie by way of TWILIGHT. If that sounds interesting to you then you probably don't like undead films to begin with...Remember the good ol' days when monsters and all manner of creepy denizens were things to be feared? Bryan does. Remember when such creatures of the night would mercilessly w...more