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Deadpool
(2016)
|
Rick Mele
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[Deadpool] the (anti)hero we didn't even know we needed.
Posted Dec 12, 2016
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2/4
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Jason Bourne
(2016)
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
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The franchise just doesn't have the claws it once did; it can't conjure the same outrage in a movie that goes beyond the CIA for a post-Snowden look at how Silicon Valley can be corrupted for the sake of global surveillance.
Posted Jul 29, 2016
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2.5/4
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Captain America: Civil War
(2016)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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As amiable as he is, Spidey's presence compromises the very stakes Civil War is trying to pitch.
Posted May 04, 2016
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2.5/4
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Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
(2016)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Since the movie is opening in the midst of the Syrian refugee crisis and just days after the Brussels attacks, the hostility conjured between these superheroes feels incredibly and uncomfortably pertinent.
Posted Mar 24, 2016
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3.5/4
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The Hateful Eight
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Playing a gun-control parlor game for 90 minutes without letting a single bullet loose is an intense and bravura direction to take for a Western, that most American genre where the 2nd Amendment rings loudest.
Posted Jan 06, 2016
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2.5/4
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Star Wars: The Force Awakens
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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The nostalgic callbacks are so insistent that they can stop the narrative dead, like when some real drama is about to go down but everything pauses so we can have a meet-cute with C-3PO. Even the main villain comes off as some emo Darth Vader fanboy.
Posted Dec 16, 2015
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2.5/4
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Joy
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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The comic tale is trademark Russell. That is to say, it's tonally bonkers and dramatically inert, enlivened by some decent gags and a terrific ensemble cast.
Posted Dec 16, 2015
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2/4
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Concussion
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Concussion plays Omalu's compelling work as your by-the-numbers lone crusader story, which is effective right up to the point when a bristling Smith barks, "Tell the truth!"
Posted Dec 16, 2015
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3/4
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The Big Short
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Turns out Adam McKay is the ideal filmmaker to tackle the absurd and infuriating circumstances behind the credit bubble. The Big Short is a load of laughs that get stuck in your throat when you realize the harm behind the insanity.
Posted Dec 11, 2015
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2/4
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Spectre
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Ace visuals and simmering performances from Daniel Craig and Lea Seydoux, as a reluctant Bond girl, divert attention from the cockamamie plot and backstory cooked up for Christoph Waltz's shadowy and excruciatingly foreshadowed villain.
Posted Nov 05, 2015
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4/4
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Junun
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Junun becomes an unassuming but resounding portrait of what India is today, a country rapidly evolving to join global influences while so much of it seems stalled in time.
Posted Oct 09, 2015
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4/5
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Spotlight
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Spotlight keeps its composure, follows every lead and delivers an important and compelling story. It may no longer land on your porch with a thud but it still hits you in the gut.
Posted Sep 20, 2015
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4/5
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Room
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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A devastating, must-see movie. Finds hope and tenderness in an inhuman situation.
Posted Sep 20, 2015
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4/5
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Sicario
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve builds a taut, thrilling mood piece, where Roger Deakins' vivid cinematography holds your eyes hostage and Jóhann Jóhannsson's score pounds like a jackhammer on your pulse.
Posted Sep 20, 2015
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3/5
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The Martian
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Watney's fear for his own life takes a backseat to his stand-up, an attitude that is this consistently entertaining movie's biggest asset and also its flaw.
Posted Sep 20, 2015
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3/5
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Black Mass
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Scott Cooper's self-serious style has been oppressive in movies like Crazy Heart and Out of the Furnace, but this time he actually has real material to take seriously.
Posted Sep 20, 2015
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3/5
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Legend
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Hardy's Reggie is smooth, clever, romantic and calculated. His Ron is fearsome, with eyes permanently bulging and a mouth mumbling out threats as if he were trying to speak and keep a squirrel trapped inside at the same time.
Posted Sep 20, 2015
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3.5/4
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Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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As far as entertainment goes, Rogue Nation is second only to the original Mission: Impossible.
Posted Aug 02, 2015
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2/4
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Southpaw
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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In Southpaw, Eminem's encore, relapse and recovery is handled with boxing gloves and cliches.
Posted Jul 23, 2015
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2.5/4
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Ant-Man
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Just another run-of-the-mill Marvel origin story that surprises with bursts of flair and humor, as if remnants from Wright and Cornish's script managed to fight their way into the final cut.
Posted Jul 16, 2015
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2.5/4
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Aloha
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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The curious thing about the whitewashing accusations against Aloha is that it completely ignores the movie's most genuine theme: white guilt.
Posted May 28, 2015
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2/4
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Tomorrowland
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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This is a movie written copyright first.
Posted May 20, 2015
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3/4
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Pitch Perfect 2
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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These movies hit the four-quadrant notes that blockbusters require. There may not be massive explosions but the charm and voices among the ladies in the cast are its own special effect.
Posted May 14, 2015
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3.5/4
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Mad Max: Fury Road
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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At no point does the empowering gender switch compromise the movie's speed demon action and pyrotechnics, which are a refreshing return to operatic thrills after all the same-old CGI shenanigans we've become numb to.
Posted May 14, 2015
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2.5/4
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Avengers: Age of Ultron
(2015)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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There is a significant lack of that human touch in Age of Ultron's very fabric, where the winning personalities of its core superheroes feel diminished, defeated and consumed by whatever algorithm keeps these movies going.
Posted Apr 30, 2015
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2/4
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A Most Violent Year
(2014)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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These characters coolly roam through every precise, purposeful scene like the metaphors they are, seemingly motivated by artistic intent as opposed to baser human desires. Even Michael Corleone had a temper; a libido; a pulse.
Posted Jan 24, 2015
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1.5/4
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American Sniper
(2014)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Unlike the movie version of Chris Kyle who never makes a mistake, Eastwood and his writer are prone to flubs that cost them their "fog of war" stance.
Posted Jan 23, 2015
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5/5
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Inherent Vice
(2014)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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A wildly entertaining, beautiful and hypnotic puzzler from a towering talent, Inherent Vice proves to be so much more than just the best film of the year - though it is that too.
Posted Dec 04, 2014
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2.5/4
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Interstellar
(2014)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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If only the plot and the corny, exposition-heavy dialogue - where characters speak in fortune cookie - could hold up to the cinematography.
Posted Nov 06, 2014
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5/5
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Phoenix
(2014)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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A thrilling, seductive game of deception fit for film noir, where lies seek to unearth truths that would rather stay buried. Throughout it all, Petzold concocts images that will sear their way into your memory.
Posted Oct 22, 2014
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5/5
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Ida
(2013)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Ida is haunting and devastatingly beautiful; perhaps my favorite film to come out so far this year, foreign language and otherwise.
Posted Oct 22, 2014
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4/5
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Force majeure
(2014)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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An incisive, stunning and satirical look at the emotional free fall when a man and his marriage can't live up to expectations.
Posted Oct 22, 2014
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2/5
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Mommy
(2014)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Dolan is an excellent manipulator of melodrama, which is in no way offensive until his film makes strong, dangerous statements about mental health and institutionalization.
Posted Oct 19, 2014
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3/5
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Fury
(2014)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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On the one hand, Fury peddles disgust, insisting that we look long and hard at how horrifying war is. Yet that sentiment doesn't translate to its thrilling, first-person shooter battle scenes.
Posted Oct 16, 2014
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92/100
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The Dark Knight
(2008)
|
AskMen.com Staff
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Does it match the hype? Yes.
Posted Aug 20, 2014
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Gravity
(2013)
|
Radheyan Simonpillai
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Cuaron's knack for long takes amplifies the terror, where devastation approaches without a sound and that thump you hear could very well be your own pulse.
Posted Dec 23, 2013
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5/5
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Her
(2013)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Spike Jonze's sophisticated look at romance in the near future is beautiful and bleak, heartfelt and oh-so-cool.
Posted Dec 19, 2013
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5/5
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Museum Hours
(2012)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Cohen's simple, masterful film considers how we anoint value.
Posted Dec 19, 2013
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Blue Is the Warmest Color
(2013)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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To think of it simply as visual pleasure is only looking skin deep.
Posted Dec 19, 2013
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5/5
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12 Years a Slave
(2013)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Shooting the travesties at an artistic remove as if he were observing slavery as a mechanism, McQueen's lush, foreboding compositions don't get in the way of the soul-crushing story.
Posted Dec 19, 2013
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5/5
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The Wolf of Wall Street
(2013)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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A winning return for Martin Scorsese, who delivers his finest and most balls-out entertainment in more than a decade.
Posted Dec 19, 2013
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5/5
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Spring Breakers
(2012)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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I'm not sure how many glow sticks died in the making of Spring Breakers, but I am sure that it was worth it.
Posted Dec 19, 2013
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4/5
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American Hustle
(2013)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Russell's aping is still a knockout, with enough razzle-dazzle style and propulsive humor to make it one of the most casually fun movies of the year.
Posted Dec 19, 2013
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69/100
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Pain & Gain
(2013)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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For Michael Bay fans, Pain & Gain may be his masterpiece, where the director's collision of testosterone-fueled action and blunt wits is perfectly in keeping with the subject.
Posted Apr 26, 2013
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40/100
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Gangster Squad
(2013)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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The redundant violence, no matter how loud and brutal it can be, lacks both tension and imagination. We get plenty of bangs without any of the requisite foreplay.
Posted Jan 11, 2013
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85/100
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Django Unchained
(2012)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Samuel L. Jackson's wicked house slave Stephen is the raison d'être for Django Unchained. The layered and loaded Uncle Tom figure speaks to Jackson's legacy of shuckin' and deconstructin' black stereotypes with Tarantino.
Posted Dec 20, 2012
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60/100
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Amour
(2012)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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If Haneke has any real interest in keeping art cinema alive, he should take some notes from the Queensbridge rapper Nas.
Posted Dec 18, 2012
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93/100
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Zero Dark Thirty
(2012)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Zero Dark Thirty sneaks up on you, hits the mark and then dares to ask whether it was worth it.
Posted Dec 18, 2012
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76/100
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Silver Linings Playbook
(2012)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Like a production of When Harry Met Sally put on by the characters from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Silver Linings uses cliches like a straight-jacket, containing an otherwise nutty film and making it safe for audiences to approach.
Posted Nov 16, 2012
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79/100
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Lincoln
(2012)
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Radheyan Simonpillai
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Lincoln could abolish Argo's Oscar hopes.
Posted Nov 08, 2012
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