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1.5/4
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Obsessed
(2009)
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Frank Ochieng
|
[An] uninspired, generic psycho-chick flick...Puerile and simplistic in its synthetic gimmickry, Obsessed oozes nothing but contempt and a cornball solution for exploiting the repetitive misogynist melodramas
Posted Apr 29, 2009
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2/4
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The Soloist
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Although ambitious in its lyrical presentation, filmmaker Joe Wright's The Soloist plays a stale tune of cliched melancholy musical chairs.
Posted Apr 29, 2009
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1.5/4
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17 Again
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
It must have taken the powers-that-be a brief 20-minute lunch session over a stale roast beef sandwich to conceive this woefully derivative teen comedy
Posted Apr 21, 2009
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3/4
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Earth
(2007)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Enriching, informative and noteworthy, Earth explores the wonderment of our neighboring species and the behavioral observations that ensue in glorified curiosity.
Posted Apr 20, 2009
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2.5/4
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Crank: High Voltage
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Brash, outrageously inane and chaotically crafty, Crank 2: High Voltage is unapologetic in its sheer penchant for graphic-induced ribaldry as its charismatic calling card.
Posted Apr 17, 2009
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1.5/4
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Super Capers
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
[A] woefully toothless send-up of superhero silliness. Indeed, Super Capers is in need of its own creative rescuing.
Posted Apr 16, 2009
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2/4
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Race to Witch Mountain
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
In the long run, one would be advised to walk slowly and sluggishly, not race hurriedly, to the so-called new and improved findings at weak-kneed Witch Mountain.
Posted Apr 16, 2009
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2.5/4
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Alien Trespass
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
...gently wacky. Although breezy and sketchy on the easy laughs at times, Alien Trespass does promise to entertain for the sole purpose of its campy off-kilter makeup.
Posted Apr 15, 2009
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3/4
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Watchmen
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
A nearly 3-hour orgy of orchestrated violent vibrancy designed to perpetuate a whole new appreciation for ambitious, unconventional superhero expositions. Robustly confrontational and impishly raw.
Posted Apr 14, 2009
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2.5/4
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Monsters vs. Aliens
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Monsters vs. Aliens still packs a sufficient amount of jolting jocularity that is sure to satisfy the entertaining mindsets of youngsters and oldsters alike...a zesty escapist treat
Posted Apr 13, 2009
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1/4
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Dragonball: Evolution
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Wong's noxious narrative is nothing more than a hyperactive hackjob that may appease some 10-year old boy grasping his Jackie Chan action figure. [A] cobbled-together canker soar of a fantasy
Posted Apr 12, 2009
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2.5/4
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Observe and Report
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Hill's lopsided laugher is bizarrely charming and frothy in its impishness of impropriety...Roguishly appalling but unapologetic in its mindlessness...
Posted Apr 11, 2009
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2/4
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Hannah Montana: The Movie
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
...plays like a cornball extension of Miley's terminally cutesy televised vehicle. Sadly, it's not the best of both worlds for Miley Cyrus or Hannah Montana in this jagged juvenile farce.
Posted Apr 11, 2009
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3/4
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Anvil! The Story of Anvil
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Gervasi uncovers the obscurity blanket from [these] veteran Canadian metal rockers and gives them a cinematic salute in the outrageously entertaining Anvil!
Posted Apr 07, 2009
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3/4
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The Pope's Toilet
(2005)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Although not the best imaginative movie title ever to grace a matinee sign, The Pope's Toilet resonates with a distinctive warmth and sense of reality and purpose.
Posted Apr 07, 2009
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3/4
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Adventureland
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
...a refreshing take on "the teen turmoil scene" where the uncertainty and inherent fear of a gifted mind is explored with the legitimacy of doubt and disappointment.
Posted Apr 03, 2009
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2/4
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Fast & Furious
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
...pretty much contains the same high-octane hollow hedonism that has run through this routinely noisy, frenetic film franchise...this speeding-wheel spectacle has all the charm and intrigue of a shopping mall speed bump.
Posted Apr 02, 2009
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2.5/4
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I Love You, Man
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Indeed, there is every reason to "man-up" in warped and witty I Love You, Man that plays like a screwy The Odd Couple in a millennium zoned-out state of arrested development.
Posted Apr 02, 2009
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1.5/4
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12 Rounds
(2009)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Preposterous in its perverse practicality, 12 Rounds flexes its cheapened muscles more than its monosyllabic star Cena does in a 20-minute match-up on Monday Night Raw.
Posted Mar 28, 2009
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3/4
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Goodbye Solo
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
An emotional lullaby about lost diverse souls trying to cope with the rigors of life in a confining, cultural cage of ambivalence...another tantalizing triumph for Bahrani
Posted Mar 28, 2009
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2.5/4
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Happy-Go-Lucky
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Roguishly insightful and quietly riveting, Happy-Go-Lucky is innocuously entertaining in its free-wheeling spirit...methodically merry-minded and meaningful...
Posted Dec 21, 2008
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2.5/4
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What Just Happened?
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Although slightly scathing in its cynical look at highly paid Hollywood hacks rambunctiously jumping through artistic creative hoops, Happened is impishly on the spot in its aimless ribbing at movie wheeling-and-dealing madness.
Posted Dec 21, 2008
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3/4
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The Order of Myths
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
[An] affectingly insightful and well-informed documentary. Myths taps into a special kind of Southern tradition%u2014with underlying racial overtones as a societal hovering factor.
Posted Dec 04, 2008
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3.5/4
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Milk
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Both triumphant and vastly disturbing, Van Sant's Milk is a penetrating portrait of an unconventional political figurehead immersed in the chaotic struggles of his defining times
Posted Dec 04, 2008
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2.5/4
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Flow: For Love of Water
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Although meandering at times, Flow is still a serviceable documentary spouting daunting informational facts and figures about the freshwater supply threats and the perilous consequences that inevitably follow.
Posted Dec 02, 2008
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3.5/4
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The Wrestler
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Aronofsky has devised one of the most gritty and intensely authentic sports flicks in recent memory. Rourke is absorbingly raw and reflective...deeply affecting in its razor-like observations
Posted Dec 02, 2008
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3/4
|
Last Chance Harvey
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Charmingly perceptive and gently elegant in wit and warmth...Last Chance Harvey is quirky and quiet while boasting steady performances by leads Hoffman and Thompson.
Posted Dec 01, 2008
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3/4
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Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Long after the credits roll one will be rendered both empty and lifted by a bewildered family's sudden forbidden journey into the abyss of emotional darkness.
Posted Nov 30, 2008
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1.5/4
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Four Christmases
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Letting the hulking Vince Vaughn near a Christmas movie is just like giving a knife to your crazy drunken uncle during a seasonal family gathering--it's reckless, pointless and ultimately foolish in concept.
Posted Nov 29, 2008
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3.5/4
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Slumdog Millionaire
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
...adventurous and exuberantly triumphant. Clearly, this underdog rags-to-riches saga percolates in originality and blistering spirit...fascinatingly lyrical and mischievous
Posted Nov 29, 2008
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2/4
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Twilight
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Twilight sparkles for its intended audience of indiscriminate adolescent females. However, it will only be deemed as a softened, hackneyed horror show of synthetic affection for the rest of us.
Posted Nov 25, 2008
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3.5/4
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Wendy and Lucy
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
[A] thoroughly contemplative and reflective small scale feature. Tender and relentlessly subdued in its low-key poignancy...quaint yet [a] gut-wrenching narrative.
Posted Nov 24, 2008
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2.5/4
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Soul Men
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Awkwardly sentimental but nevertheless sharply spry in song and sass, Lee's acid-tongued Soul Men certainly have something to sing about.
Posted Nov 21, 2008
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3/4
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Role Models
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Wain's loopy-minded laugher does carry some credible distinction as being somewhat earnest within its snappy, obnoxious boundaries.
Posted Nov 20, 2008
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3/4
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I.O.U.S.A.
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
[A] timely documentary...There is a sense of urgency that propels Creadon's cautionary narrative as an alarming wake-up call to financial discipline.
Posted Nov 20, 2008
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3.5/4
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The Visitor
(2007)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Uplifting and undeniably winning in its perceptive landscape, The Visitor is no stranger to compelling filmmaking rooted in gentleness and inspirational fortitude
Posted Nov 19, 2008
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1.5/4
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Beverly Hills Chihuahua
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
The terminally cutesy Chihuahua is just another demonstratively derivative kids' narrative that barks up the wrong creative tree...[a] forgettable fleabag farce...
Posted Oct 15, 2008
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1.5/4
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An American Carol
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Overall, Zucker's cinematic middle finger is about as funny as an exploding toilet seat for hemorrhoid-induced senior citizens...a dreary picture mired in sophomoric sludge.
Posted Oct 14, 2008
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2.5/4
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Eagle Eye
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Eagle Eye's simplistic and colorful contrivance is oddly refreshing in its preposterous exuberance...a transparent treat at best. Thoroughly rollicking and roguish...
Posted Oct 07, 2008
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2/4
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Nights in Rodanthe
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
...[A] moping melodramatic malaise. Ridiculously artificial in its Cupid-driven cornucopia of sketchy endearment. [Rodanthe] has the forceful flair of an unlit wax candle.
Posted Sep 26, 2008
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1/4
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My Best Friend's Girl
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Raunchy and wretched...profoundly unfunny and sophomoric sludge...meaningless material that wouldn't be suitable for lining your pet parrot's birdcage.
Posted Sep 23, 2008
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3/4
|
Towelhead
(2007)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
...[A] shocking and subversive coming-of-age melodrama. Perceptively blunt and incendiary, Towelhead is one of the most challenging cinematic efforts of the year.
Posted Sep 22, 2008
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3/4
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Ghost Town
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Koepp strangely captures the cheeky charm and chippy imagination of Ghost Town that could have been deemed just another faceless formulaic fantasy.
Posted Sep 19, 2008
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2.5/4
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Lakeview Terrace
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
...conventional but compellingly caustic...LaBute's excitable exposition is passable enough to sustain the manufactured intrigue and tension
Posted Sep 18, 2008
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1.5/4
|
The Women
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Lame and saturated in the dour makeup of an afternoon soap opera, The Women is a transparent chick flick standing on its shaky high heels without much support.
Posted Sep 13, 2008
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2/4
|
Tyler Perry's the Family That Preys
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Overstuffed and self-indulgent...The Family That Preys is nothing more than a busy-minded, shifty soap opera propelled by its empty-minded sense of indignation.
Posted Sep 12, 2008
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2/4
|
Righteous Kill
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
...a synthetic, spineless suspense piece that cobbles together all the familiar ingredients of sensationalistic cynicism on the gaudy backs of a sneering DeNiro and edgy Pacino
Posted Sep 12, 2008
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2.5/4
|
Burn After Reading
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
The Coens' brand of irreverent chuckles propels Burn After Reading as a stylistic and sassy sideshow for unredeemable rogues on the road to surrealistic scrutiny.
Posted Sep 12, 2008
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2/4
|
Bangkok Dangerous
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
The Pang Brothers' remake yearns to be sensationalistic and probing but falls short in its request for a slight redemptive actioner that sizzles with moral conflict and confusion.
Posted Sep 09, 2008
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1/4
|
Disaster Movie
(2008)
|
Frank Ochieng
|
Pointlessly rancid and redundant...Hopefully, Disaster Movie will indeed vanish as quickly as a three-second burp at a chili-eating contest.
Posted Sep 08, 2008
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