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Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
(1999)
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Betsy Bozdech
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The upcoming Oct. 16 release of Lucasfilm's first DVD - Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace - is officially a Very Big Deal.
Posted Jan 15, 2022
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3/4
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Love & Basketball
(2000)
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Betsy Bozdech
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While full of great jump shots and on-court action, this "love story in four quarters" is first and foremost a romance.
Posted Jan 15, 2022
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3/4
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Bring It On
(2000)
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Betsy Bozdech
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Dunst was born to play Torrance, a perky, sunshiny girl who's basically cheerleading incarnate.
Posted Jan 15, 2022
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4/4
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9 to 5
(1980)
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Betsy Bozdech
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9 to 5's strong cast ... and appealing concept (who hasn't wanted to chain up the boss at one point or another?), make it almost as relevant today as it was when it hit theaters in 1980.
Posted Jan 15, 2022
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3.5/4
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Groundhog Day
(1993)
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Betsy Bozdech
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Groundhog Day is more than simply a great comedy - it's a modern metaphor for the path to enlightenment.
Posted Jan 15, 2022
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3/4
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Zoolander
(2001)
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Betsy Bozdech
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While Zoolander the movie - like Zoolander the model - is a little light on brains, it definitely has its moments.
Posted Jan 15, 2022
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2.5/4
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Joe Versus the Volcano
(1990)
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Betsy Bozdech
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In many ways, Joe was ahead of its time.
Posted Jan 15, 2022
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2.5/4
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The Brothers
(2001)
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Betsy Bozdech
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Like its four heroes, The Brothers looks good, knows just what to say, and mostly means well - but still has its faults.
Posted Jan 15, 2022
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2/4
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Captain Corelli's Mandolin
(2001)
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Betsy Bozdech
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Without the deeper political, historical, and emotional contexts of the best-selling Louis de Bernieres novel the movie is based on, director John Madden's film ultimately doesn't carry enough weight.
Posted Jan 15, 2022
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4/4
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Monsters, Inc.
(2001)
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Betsy Bozdech
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A fun, fast-paced story with plenty of wit and brightly colored eye-candy.
Posted Jan 15, 2022
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2.5/4
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Wish Upon a Star
(1996)
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Betsy Bozdech
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All in all, you could definitely do worse in picking a movie for the "tween" set (hear that, Mary Kate and Ashley?).
Posted Jan 14, 2022
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1/4
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The January Man
(1988)
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Betsy Bozdech
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This star-studded, schizophrenic movie can't decide whether it's a thriller or a quirky comedy - so it bounces back and forth, and the result is a stilted, nearly unwatchable mess.
Posted Jan 14, 2022
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1.5/4
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Clockstoppers
(2002)
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Betsy Bozdech
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The best thing to do with Clockstoppers is to make like Zak: Put it into hypertime (aka fast-forward) until you get to the good parts.
Posted Jan 14, 2022
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4/4
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Judgment at Nuremberg
(1961)
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Betsy Bozdech
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One of American cinema's landmark dramas, as well as one of the most powerful courtroom dramas ever filmed.
Posted Jan 08, 2022
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4/5
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The Work of Director Michel Gondry
(2003)
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Dawn Taylor
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[Gondry's] ingenuity and technical acumen raise these works from mere promotional tools to cinematic art.
Posted Jan 21, 2010
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The Wasp Woman
(1960)
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Mark Bourne
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It's poorly written, cheesily acted, low-budget, and completely camp, but because it's Corman it's a touch ahead of its ilk thanks to some clever lines and flavorful directing. Utterly ridiculous but lovable.
Posted Sep 18, 2007
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The Giant Gila Monster
(1959)
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Mark Bourne
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Camp value is provided by a truckload of 1950s B-movie cliches and dreadful song breaks -- "The Gila Monster Crawl" among other "rock & roll hits" -- by its lead, Don Sullivan, who through this movie rose from nothing to complete obscurity.
Posted Sep 18, 2007
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Alfie
(1966)
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Mark Bourne
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What makes it work is charismatic Caine and the witty, intelligent script. Both work together to keep this remorseless bastard who uses and hurts women from being completely unlikable or unsympathetic.
Posted Jul 25, 2007
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3/4
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RENO 911!: Miami
(2007)
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Betsy Bozdech
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As always, the most impressive thing about Reno is the cast's stellar improvisational skills. All of them are completely committed to their characters.
Posted Jun 17, 2007
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Fantastic Voyage
(1966)
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Mark Bourne
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...our own human interior was revealed, like a Jacques Cousteau travelogue, in screen-filling vistas of surreal canals and chambers filled with floating psychedelia and the amorphous Jell-O colors of a Jimi Hendrix concert.
Posted Jun 03, 2007
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The Third Man
(1949)
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Mark Bourne
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It's a suspense-thriller-romance steeped in Hollywood's best influences and 'gimmicks,' yet it's crafted with enough looming European 'art-house' style to topple Fritz Lang into an existential funk.
Posted May 29, 2007
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1/4
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Epic Movie
(2007)
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Betsy Bozdech
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More a string of already-past-their-expiration-date gags based on big popcorn flicks than an actual film.
Posted May 21, 2007
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4/4
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Big
(1988)
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Betsy Bozdech
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Hanks has since aced plenty of other parts ... but he's rarely been as beguilingly charming -- and utterly convincing -- as he was playing a 12-year-old trapped in a grown man's body.
Posted May 06, 2007
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2.5/4
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Night at the Museum
(2006)
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Betsy Bozdech
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Kids who don't care about the finer points of cinematic storytelling (in other words, most of them) will certainly enjoy the film, as will older viewers with a taste for the fantastic.
Posted Apr 22, 2007
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3.5/4
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Notes on a Scandal
(2006)
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Betsy Bozdech
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An absorbing character study that successfully deals with the shades of gray that are part and parcel of real, messy, everyday life.
Posted Apr 15, 2007
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3.5/5
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The Prisoner of Zenda
(1937)
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Dawn Taylor
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Hope's tale of identical cousins, treachery, and adventure touches something in the cultural consciousness in the same manner as Shakespeare's plays.
Posted Apr 10, 2007
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4/5
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The Naked City
(1948)
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Dawn Taylor
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... a seminal work that's not to be missed.
Posted Apr 10, 2007
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2/5
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Fast Food Nation
(2006)
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Dawn Taylor
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Linklater's Fast Food movie covers all of Schlosser's bases, but is surprisingly anemic in its execution.
Posted Apr 10, 2007
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Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
(2006)
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Dawn Taylor
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Cohen uses his characters to point out our sacred cows, whatever they may be, and then shoot them with a well-placed dart.
Posted Apr 10, 2007
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Bedazzled
(1967)
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Mark Bourne
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...the duo's best film, Bedazzled brought the spirit of Swinging London plus impudent pokes at religion, politics, and pop culture itself to their new audiences.
Posted Apr 08, 2007
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3/4
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Volver
(2006)
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Betsy Bozdech
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Unlike so many of the characters Cruz has played [in Hollywood], Volver's Raimunda -- earthy, sensuous, confident, and capable -- feels like a real, lived-in woman.
Posted Apr 08, 2007
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2/4
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Happy Feet
(2006)
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Betsy Bozdech
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Happy Feet is a perfect example of a good concept that never quite figured out where it was going -- the story is uneven at best and virtually falls apart near the end.
Posted Mar 25, 2007
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3/4
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Peter Pan
(1953)
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Betsy Bozdech
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Plenty of charming moments and iconic characters ... but the story isn't anchored firmly enough in the land of fairy tale to avoid feeling dated a few decades down the line.
Posted Mar 18, 2007
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Captain Horatio Hornblower
(1951)
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Mark Bourne
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...holds its own against Russell Crowe's CGI expeditions from topsail to yardarm, and this one has more plot.
Posted Mar 05, 2007
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The Three Musketeers
(1948)
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Mark Bourne
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...enjoyable corn in the 'Classics Illustrated' tradition. You can't believe a minute of it, but neither can you ignore its rollicking bygone Hollywood charms.
Posted Mar 05, 2007
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Corridors of Blood
(1958)
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Mark Bourne
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...a musty but good-looking production, with Karloff splendid as the devoted surgeon pulled asunder by his own experiments and exploited by the underworld gang of tavern low-lifes who trick him into officializing their corpses-for-profit scheme.
Posted Mar 05, 2007
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The Haunted Strangler
(1958)
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Mark Bourne
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[Boris Karloff is] again near the top of his game as the best thing about this slow but effective Victorian who-actually-done-it.
Posted Mar 05, 2007
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The Atomic Submarine
(1959)
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Mark Bourne
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Even for a meager exploitation film, The Atomic Submarine isn't anything to brag about.
Posted Mar 05, 2007
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First Man Into Space
(1959)
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Mark Bourne
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Space Age hardware footage (including cockpit shots of Chuck Yeager) meets rampaging space-mutant theatrics.
Posted Mar 05, 2007
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2.5/4
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Keeping Mum
(2006)
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Betsy Bozdech
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The plot twists aren't exactly hard to ferret out, and the characters aren't particularly deep, but the actors give the movie enough charm to coast by on.
Posted Feb 26, 2007
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2/4
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Running With Scissors
(2006)
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Betsy Bozdech
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Heavy-handed soundtrack cues, vintage costumes, and rooms overflowing with props can't disguise the fact that the characters, for all their bizarre quirks, don't have much depth.
Posted Feb 11, 2007
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2.5/4
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Open Season
(2006)
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Betsy Bozdech
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Picks up enough once Boog and Elliot are actually in the wild that folks who are just looking for a little light entertainment will probably be amused enough.
Posted Feb 04, 2007
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2/4
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Idiocracy
(2006)
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Betsy Bozdech
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It's a pointed -- if cynical and somewhat bitter -- commentary on the state of society, but the story is thin and meandering at best.
Posted Jan 07, 2007
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2.5/4
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The Last Kiss
(2006)
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Betsy Bozdech
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Like the darker, more unsettling Closer, The Last Kiss ... gives its audience -- particularly those in relationships of their own -- plenty to think about.
Posted Jan 01, 2007
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Pandora's Box
(1929)
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Mark Bourne
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Give all due credit to Pabst, but Brooks pretty much single-handedly raises Pandora's Box above being just another doomed-bad-girl melodrama.... She makes Lulu unfathomable, a well that always has more to give. Therefore, so is the film.
Posted Dec 11, 2006
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Forbidden Planet
(1956)
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Mark Bourne
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...an enduring best-of-breed favorite, a CinemaScope spectacle that's terrifically entertaining, smartly written, memorably cast, briskly paced, and production-designed to the hilt.
Posted Dec 11, 2006
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4/4
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Little Miss Sunshine
(2006)
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Betsy Bozdech
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Michael Arndt's script is both poignant and hilarious, and the cast is uniformly strong.
Posted Dec 10, 2006
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2.5/4
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Ice Age: The Meltdown
(2006)
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Betsy Bozdech
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While not quite as fresh, charming, or focused as its predecessor, [this] is still a fine way to spend an hour and a half -- especially if you're a Scrat fan.
Posted Nov 19, 2006
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4/4
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A Fish Called Wanda
(1988)
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Betsy Bozdech
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A Fish Called Wanda manages to turn its merry miscreants into sympathetic characters -- which, in turn, is what makes the film succeed.
Posted Nov 19, 2006
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3/4
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Strangers With Candy
(2005)
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Betsy Bozdech
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Will resonate most with fans of the TV series, but even the uninitiated will enjoy its cracked sense of humor and jabs at teenage life.
Posted Nov 12, 2006
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