Tag: review
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Hurt Locker/Perfect Getaway Double Pack Reviews
The Hurt Locker Review Hollywood loves classical three act structure. The Hurt Locker could give a damn, is my guess, and that’s great. For around 90 minutes The Hurt Locker hurtles along, keeping the tension super-high and the narrative episodic. Usually an episodic narrative in a feature format might drag, but not for the first…
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Judd Apatow’s Best and Worst Movie
Funny People Review A fairly drastic departure for Judd Apatow, Funny People is overlong, rambling, unfocused and also sometimes moving, thought-provoking and maybe even just a smidge deep. Adam Sandler is actually quietly a very strong dramatic actor, a fact known to viewers of Punch-Drunk Love and Reign Over Me. Compared to those two movies…
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A Bit Boring, Bottom Line
Public Enemies Review Listen, Michael Mann made Heat and he can pretty much coast for the rest of his career and I would still think he’s a genius. But really in many of Mann’s films there’s a sort of clinical closeness that’s distancing, he’s not the type of filmmaker that you’d expect to see a…
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Reheated Denzel
The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 Review Denzel Washington plays an MTA worker chatting with John Travolta’s subway hijacker in The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 otherwise known as the JV team version of Inside Man. How it’s Similar to Inside Man 1. Denzel vs. Hostage Taking Criminal Mastermind Except instead of a coolly cold and eloquent…
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Probably Going To Be The Funniest Movie of 2009
The Hangover Review This movie is laugh-out loud funny literally from the beginning through the closing credits. It’s about three friends who awake from a bachelor party without the groom, and can’t remember what happened to him because they blacked out during the party. There are some narrative issues, particularly a blatant deus ex machina…
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Why Terminator Kinda Half Flopped
Terminator Salvation Analysis In lieu of doing the typical review, I’ve decided to approach Terminator Salvation from a more analytical angle, in terms of its relative success as a summer tentpole film (also doing this because I only just saw it, so a typical review would be pretty late at this point). Boxofficemojo currently has…
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Ridiculous, But Fun
Drag Me To Hell Review Pay attention to the goat. That’s all I have to say about that. This movie has gotten remarkably good reviews for a PG-13 horror film, likely a credit to Sam Raimi and Co.’s insane over-the-topness. The set-up has Alison Lohman as a loan officer at a bank deny an old…
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Pure Genius
Up Review The people at Pixar perform a master-class on story with practically every film they put out now. Toy Story, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Wall-E, and now with Up: these folks create modern classics on a near-yearly basis. For my money, Up is their best at least since The Incredibles and maybe their best ever (full disclosure, I…