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2/4
|
The Bodyguard
(1992)
|
Duane Dudek
|
There is no archetype so wooden or narrative so predictable that it can't be improved upon by a sense of style. But director Mick Jackson merely moves the pieces in a static and linear way toward a stalemate.
Posted Sep 09, 2020
|
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2.5/4
|
Beyond the Lights
(2014)
|
Cathy Jakicic
|
The basic elements are very much like "The Bodyguard" and countless dangerous-rise-to-fame movies. The originality lies in the details, up-to-date themes and the strong performances of the relatively young lead actors.
Posted Nov 13, 2014
|
|
1/4
|
Dumb and Dumber To
(2014)
|
Graham Killeen
|
Fans of catheters, snot, menstruation, cat anuses and a hearse filled with farts won't be disappointed. All others need not - and should not - apply.
Posted Nov 13, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
Rosewater
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
The real-world events being portrayed were powerful and important. "Rosewater" is less so.
Posted Nov 13, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
Interstellar
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
A thought experiment writ large.
Posted Nov 06, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
Laggies
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
The characters are not the only "Laggies" involved.
Posted Nov 06, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
Big Hero 6
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
The artistry of state-of-the-art commercial digital animation has become a foregone conclusion. Then again, it's a kids' film, and that audience will enjoy it.
Posted Nov 06, 2014
|
|
3.5/4
|
Citizenfour
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
Whatever the meaning of "the greater good" in a post-Sept. 11 world, "Citizenfour" posits - and it's hard to argue otherwise - that the right to privacy is an essential component of it.
Posted Nov 06, 2014
|
|
|
Sign Painters
(2014)
|
Mary Louise Schumacher
|
It's a dive into the toolboxes and tricks of the sign painter, and a lift to the rooftops they lower themselves off of to work, too.
Posted Oct 31, 2014
|
|
1.5/4
|
Horns
(2013)
|
Graham Killeen
|
The movie's hormone-level anger reeks of brimstone, Axe-body-spray and mid-1990s trenchcoat-mafia egocentricity. Mess with this much bull, you get "Horns."
Posted Oct 31, 2014
|
|
2/4
|
Before I Go to Sleep
(2014)
|
Sue Pierman
|
As long as viewers don't get a close-up look at the puzzle pieces, the film offers a giddy tension, but eventually the teasing becomes tiresome and you just wish Joffe would cut to the chase.
Posted Oct 31, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
The ambiguous line it walks between them may prove frustrating to some. But anyone who prefers their film fare to be anything but off the rack should prepare to be dazzled.
Posted Oct 30, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
The Surface
(2014)
|
Graham Killeen
|
Here's a four-word review of "The Surface": Go see "The Surface."
Posted Oct 30, 2014
|
|
3.5/4
|
Nightcrawler
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
Both main performances are hand-in-glove terrific, with Russo id to Gyllenhaal's ego.
Posted Oct 30, 2014
|
|
3.5/4
|
Whiplash
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
There is a "Raging Bull" physicality to Teller's performance, along with a touch of Asperger syndrome, and Simmons brings a "The Great Santini" psychological intensity unlike anything in his nice-guy insurance commercials.
Posted Oct 30, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
The Blue Room
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
Part Alfred Hitchcock razor's edge and part Douglas Sirk sadness.
Posted Oct 24, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
St. Vincent
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
There is little real sense of risk, reward or redemption.
Posted Oct 23, 2014
|
|
3.5/4
|
John Wick
(2014)
|
Graham Killeen
|
Meet John Wick. If the name doesn't ring a bell, his fists will.
Posted Oct 23, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
Dear White People
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
It holds a comic lens up to the love-hate relationship between the races in all its contradictions. And it is a portrait of post-racial America as the symbiotic clashing of opposite polarities.
Posted Oct 23, 2014
|
|
|
Hamlet A.D.D.
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
It is the hybrid episode of Dr. Who and Star Trek Shakespeare never wrote.
Posted Oct 20, 2014
|
|
3.5/4
|
Fury
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
The stirring, grim and brutally realistic "Fury" portrays not the folly of war, but its cost.
Posted Oct 16, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
Men, Women & Children
(2014)
|
Cathy Jakicic
|
Maybe if Reitman was making this point with a single, layered story, my heart could have been engaged even as my head was saying, "No kidding."
Posted Oct 16, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
The Book of Life
(2014)
|
Cathy Jakicic
|
Saying that the visuals outshine the story in an animated feature is not usually good news, but when the animation is as original and stunning as that in "The Book of Life," the result is well worth seeing.
Posted Oct 16, 2014
|
|
1/4
|
The Best of Me
(2014)
|
Sue Pierman
|
Whether it's worth the price of a ticket is measured by your tolerance for treacly romance.
Posted Oct 16, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
We Are the Best!
(2013)
|
Duane Dudek
|
"We Are the Best!" captures the chaos of youth with a funny and profane energy.
Posted Oct 10, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
Dracula Untold
(2014)
|
Graham Killeen
|
"Dracula Untold" tries to be the "Lord of the Rings" of horror movies. Surprisingly, it mostly succeeds.
Posted Oct 09, 2014
|
|
2/4
|
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
(2014)
|
Paul Doro
|
Full of bodily function humor and slapstick comedy, "Alexander" feels outside of director Miguel Arteta's comfort zone.
Posted Oct 09, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
My Old Lady
(2014)
|
Chris Foran
|
Kline's prickly character is hard to warm to, but his bumbling hides a spirit broken by life, and it's a credit to Kline's performance that you string along hoping he'll find a way to mend.
Posted Oct 09, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
Kill the Messenger
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
While leaving room for doubt, the filmmakers clearly take his side and are persuasive in their reporting.
Posted Oct 09, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
The Judge
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
There are reasons that films like these keep getting made. One is that, when they work, they are broadly entertaining.
Posted Oct 09, 2014
|
|
3.5/4
|
Gone Girl
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
However readers may have seen the story in their minds - the unshaven and rumpled Affleck is about a decade older than I imagined, but effectively seedy - Fincher crafts its scenes of a broken marriage into a convincing mosaic.
Posted Oct 03, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
The Notebook
(2013)
|
Chris Foran
|
Don't let its Nicholas Sparks-like title fool you.
Posted Oct 01, 2014
|
|
2/4
|
The Song
(2014)
|
Chris Foran
|
Normally, you can't lose with good material. Although "The Song" has plenty of sincerity and decent tunes going for it, it slips away from its message when it strays too far from its source: the Old Testament's Song of Solomon.
Posted Sep 26, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
The Zero Theorem
(2013)
|
Duane Dudek
|
It is another flawed and meandering mini-masterpiece from a visionary filmmaker whose febrile and fertile imagination never met a narrative it can't mangle into incoherence.
Posted Sep 25, 2014
|
|
2/4
|
The Equalizer
(2014)
|
Graham Killeen
|
[Fuqua] has not only seemingly lost his eye for arty action set pieces, he apparently can't draw characters in more than one dimension.
Posted Sep 25, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
The Boxtrolls
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
Technically stunning but aesthetically ill-conceived ...
Posted Sep 25, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
The Skeleton Twins
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
Fails to find or strike many original notes.
Posted Sep 24, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
Tusk
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
It's great that Smith is still in the game, but here's hoping for more the next time he steps to the plate.
Posted Sep 18, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
This Is Where I Leave You
(2014)
|
Cathy Jakicic
|
While the relatively leisurely pace of a novel offers readers the time to appreciate each character's story, the film is so rushed that only Bateman's character comes close to being satisfyingly explored.
Posted Sep 18, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
The Drop
(2014)
|
Cathy Jakicic
|
The movie belongs to Tom Hardy.
Posted Sep 11, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
Love Is Strange
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
From the first scene, where the pair spoon in a crowded double bed and go about their morning ablutions, the actors convincingly communicate the familiarity of longtime companions.
Posted Sep 11, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
Dolphin Tale 2
(2014)
|
Graham Killeen
|
Once Bethany Hamilton of "Soul Surfer" fame shows up for stunning group-swim cameos, the shallower story is instantly forgiven.
Posted Sep 11, 2014
|
|
3.5/4
|
The Trip to Italy
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
Some second courses are delicious, others an acquired taste. This pasta-filled follow-up to "The Trip" is a little of both.
Posted Aug 28, 2014
|
|
2/4
|
The November Man
(2014)
|
Cathy Jakicic
|
For someone who once played James Bond, you'd think Pierce Brosnan would have better instincts when choosing another spy thriller.
Posted Aug 27, 2014
|
|
2/4
|
When the Game Stands Tall
(2014)
|
Graham Killeen
|
Treats football like this summer's "Godzilla" reboot treated radioactive dinosaurs, eking out game-day and practice footage before piling it on so thick that the last minutes become an instantly forgettable blur of clashing helmets and torn-up turf.
Posted Aug 21, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
If I Stay
(2014)
|
Sue Pierman
|
For those who enjoy tear-jerkers, "If I Stay" will provide a satisfying three-hanky experience.
Posted Aug 21, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
Land Ho!
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
What the result lacks in polish, it makes up for in charm and originality. It breaks no new ground, but the ground it travels looks and feels freshly tilled.
Posted Aug 14, 2014
|
|
2.5/4
|
The Giver
(2014)
|
Mack Bates
|
The filmmakers definitely get the visuals right across the board. Things go wrong elsewhere, however.
Posted Aug 14, 2014
|
|
2/4
|
What If
(2013)
|
Graham Killeen
|
Radcliffe and Kazan's crucible becomes trying to fully inhabit characters who talk past each other, never amounting to more than the sum of their snark.
Posted Aug 14, 2014
|
|
3/4
|
Calvary
(2014)
|
Duane Dudek
|
"Calvary" [is] a parable and gives Gleeson's earthly journey the ring of spiritual truth.
Posted Aug 14, 2014
|
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