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Seduced and Abandoned
(2013)
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Charlie Lyne
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If Toback and Baldwin set out to prove that nobody is making good movies any more, then this utterly inept piece of filmmaking should prove just the ticket.
Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Stranger by the Lake
(2013)
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Charlie Lyne
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An erotic-drama-cum-murder-mystery - where the operative word is unquestionably 'cum'.
Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Nebraska
(2013)
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Charlie Lyne
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A tangle of film school clichés, rampant condescension and woe-is-me, middle-aged-white-guy-problems so juvenile it would blot even a first-time filmmaker's copybook.
Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer
(2013)
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Charlie Lyne
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Reveals little more than the order of events, which have already been succinctly detailed in forms that take considerably less than 86 minutes to process.
Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Stories We Tell
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Perhaps the most organic, transformative meeting of form and function I've seen this year.
Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Blackfish
(2013)
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Charlie Lyne
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The film appears to have been spat out of the same auto-outrage documentary generator that gave us The Cove and Bully.
Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Nine Dead
(2010)
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Charlie Lyne
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It's a fairly transparent attempt by Hart to shake off her Nickelodeon past, climaxing in a visceral flashback sequence in which she beats a rapist to death with a baseball bat.
Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Pacific Rim
(2013)
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Charlie Lyne
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Glorified Power Rangers specials don't need to unfold over 131 endless minutes.
Posted Jul 08, 2013
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Run for Your Wife
(2013)
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Charlie Lyne
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It's hard to believe that the play could have warranted a 9-year theatrical run in 1983. I guess the past really is a foreign country. One populated exclusively by toddlers.
Posted Feb 19, 2013
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The Sessions
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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For the most part, an authentically subversion take on fringe sexuality.
Posted Jan 07, 2013
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Lincoln
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Even as a historical figure considerably better known than any he's played before, there's no trace of impersonation in Lewis's performance.
Posted Jan 07, 2013
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Les Misérables
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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A good example of a movie that contains a single scene of such unfathomable cinematic perfection that to dwell on its various failings seems cruel and unusual.
Posted Jan 07, 2013
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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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It's the behaviour of the supposedly affable dwarves that makes this particular 'adventure' such a punishing experience.
Posted Jan 07, 2013
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The Dictator
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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The film's writers understand that satire is infinitely more powerful when it's accessible
Posted Dec 26, 2012
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End of Watch
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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End of Watch's found footage pretensions tend to materialise when it has too few ideas.
Posted Nov 10, 2012
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Frankenweenie
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Maintains the legitimately dark tone of the original short while expanding the narrative in a pleasingly Scissorhands-esque direction.
Posted Nov 10, 2012
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After Lucia
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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93 more riling minutes of cinema you will not find.
Posted Nov 10, 2012
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Argo
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Functional.
Posted Nov 10, 2012
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Silver Linings Playbook
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Makes the life of a film critic that little bit easier by setting 90% of the drama, action and dialogue literally in the middle of the road.
Posted Nov 10, 2012
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The Campaign
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Emblematic of a US comedy scene that's turning into something of a fraternity.
Posted Sep 28, 2012
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Ted
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Feel free to tell me to lighten up and get a sense of humour, but it's also worth asking whether it's humour that really drives Ted's nasty streak.
Posted Sep 07, 2012
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Take This Waltz
(2011)
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Charlie Lyne
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Williams works her adorable little chipmunk cheeks to the bone in a typically weighty role.
Posted Sep 07, 2012
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Ruby Sparks
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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One of the most thoughtful, brilliant films about filmmaking in ages.
Posted Sep 07, 2012
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Lola Versus
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Greta Gerwig makes something of a success out of this mixed bag of rom-com tropes and indie quirks.
Posted Jul 17, 2012
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Magic Mike
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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A mess of Soderberghian devices so dense that it must surely be considered his definitive work.
Posted Jul 11, 2012
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Dark Shadows
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Dark Shadows makes almost no attempt to reward cinema audiences.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Woody Allen: A Documentary
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Appropriately fawning.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Rust and Bone
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Strangely unaffecting.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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An unapologetically fan-only experience that might have found more success as a series of YouTube clips than a fully-fledged 94-minute movie.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Laurence Anyways
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Dolan still does attractive young people walking in slow-motion to electropop better than anyone else.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Better than its predecessor but worse than most other things.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Antiviral
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Brandon's cunning plan to step out of his father's shadow is basically to plagiarise every movie he's ever made.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Lawless
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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There's no denying it's a one-note film, but what a lovely note it is.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Amour
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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A two-hour portrait of human existence at its most fucking-hell-when-will-it-end brutal.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Room 237
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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There's something quite charming about Ascher's refusal to outright dismiss his subjects' hallucinations.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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The Sapphires
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Its treatment of Big Themes like racism, war and oppression, is shallow to the point of repulsion.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Post Tenebras Lux
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Boasts some incredible scenes.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Sightseers
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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The film's narrative concerns frequently play second fiddle to the utterly convincing relationship at its centre.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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The Paperboy
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Extreme inconsistencies of tone and structure are mercifully offset by its moments of perverse (and possibly accidental) genius.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Gimme the Loot
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Charmingly lackadaisical.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Cosmopolis
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Just about important enough to be self-important.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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Killer Joe
(2011)
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Charlie Lyne
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To pick out any one transgression in Killer Joe is to minimise its overall achievement in crafting one of the least affable movies in recent memory.
Posted Jul 06, 2012
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The Five-Year Engagement
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Overlong and curiously (wait for it) unengaging.
Posted Jul 05, 2012
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The Amazing Spider-Man
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Horror of Giant Lizard < Horror of Adolescence
Posted Jun 28, 2012
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Rock of Ages
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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As the tagline says, Rock of Ages is nothin' but a good time. Sometimes, it's even less.
Posted Jun 11, 2012
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On the Road
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Salles's film revels in the spirit of adventure espoused by beatniks Sal and Dean but is also awake to their all-consuming selfishness, regularly undercutting the free-spirited chaos with a few much-needed reality checks.
Posted May 24, 2012
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Killing Them Softly
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Built on dynamic set pieces and jet black humour, it's reminiscent of last year's Drive. It's a shame then, that Dominik saddles the film with a heavy-handed political subtext that would echo much louder if it spoke a little quieter.
Posted May 22, 2012
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Moonrise Kingdom
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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An absolute smash. It's a gloriously overemotional tale of two pre-teen lovers full of lime-soaked scenery and pleasingly stilted 1960s telephone conversations.
Posted May 16, 2012
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Dr. Seuss' the Lorax
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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For all its good intentions, there's something deeply unsettling about this bubblegum pop approach to environmentalism.
Posted Apr 30, 2012
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21 Jump Street
(2012)
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Charlie Lyne
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Feels like it's doing something new with the teen genre, while still acknowledging its debt to the classics that came before it.
Posted Apr 29, 2012
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