“The Black Dahlia” is an exciting and epic film noir from director Brian DePalma (“Carlito’s Way,” “Dressed to Kill”). This adaptation of James Elroy’s classic novel is a virtual movie making clinic from DePalma who fills each scene with intense and inspired camera work and vibrant performances from four of modern-day Hollywood’s finest up-and-comers. If […]
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George Reeves was an Average Joe. A struggling actor whose apparent suicide in 1959 suddenly made his unremarkable tale a whole lot more intriguing, Reeves reluctantly took the role of Superman on TV after a series of false starts at a serious movie career. The actor in a similar career slump these days who portrays […]
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Neil LaBute is the director responsible for dark themed movies like “Nurse Betty” and “Your Friends and Neighbors.” His latest effort “The Wicker Man,” is a remake of the 1974 horror film of the same name. LaBute’s up-close-and-personal style has made the new film an articulate psychological thriller that looks and feels contemporary, even while […]
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There’s something fascinating about magic again. In an era where computer-generated special effects can portray the most stunning of creatures or stunts, there is something exciting about watching a magician like Criss Angel or David Blaine leave onlookers in a state of shock by performing a trick right in front of their disbelieving eyes. It’s […]
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What in the hell happened with “Snakes on a Plane”? With one incredibly simple title phrase and some super-savvy advertising, all this movie had to do was make good on everyone’s ridiculously low expectations. Bring the snakes, the plane, and the funny (intentional or otherwise) and it could ascend to a seat at the big […]
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The standard sports movie cliché usually involves an underdog team faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles in their way. They look deep within themselves and, against the odds, pull out an unlikely victory. “Invincible,” the newest Disney sports film, more or less follows that formula with one exception. Vince Papale’s teammates don’t even want him on […]
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In the tradition of great sports hero films like “Rocky,” “Invincible” is predictably inspirational. The fantastic surprise is that it is a PG-rated Disney film that is both incredibly well-made and full of gritty realism. Not unlike “Good Will Hunting,” this is the story of a loyal pack of friends deeply bonded and living under […]
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If the quirky little indie comedy “Little Miss Sunshine” would have been made inside the Hollywood studio system, some studio executive somewhere would have suggested that the directors insert the Rolling Stones song “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” during the film’s cathartic finale. The title would have been changed to something more easily […]
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“Little Miss Sunshine” is absolutely spectacular. The road-trip genre and dysfunctional family genre are frequently used foundations upon which to build a script, but this movie breaks out of the cliché. The first feature from husband and wife directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris is armed with inspired characters and killer performances that have the […]
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Hollywood’s resident wild-card director and sometimes conspiracy guru Oliver Stone couldn’t have made a better movie to follow his previous feature. The epic misadventure “Alexander” could have sent a lesser director back to the minor leagues, feeling lucky to direct an episode of “Laguna Beach,” but classics like “Platoon,” “Wall Street” and “JFK” give studios […]
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Oliver Stone is the last person one would think of to direct a straightforward survival movie about the World Trade Center attack that is free of post-9/11 politics and full of religious empathy. Yet that’s exactly what the rabble-rousing director of “JFK,” the biggest government conspiracy film ever, has done. Whomever you think is responsible […]
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On rare occasions, films can be entertaining and at the same time have sociological implications that add weight. For instance, I viewed Michael Moore’s controversial film “Bowling for Columbine” – a movie about Americans and their guns – in a theater full of Canadians in Toronto. I also had an opportunity to see Stephen Spielberg’s […]
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Three cheers for the most unsung hero in comedy—the film editor! In the case of the newest improv-heavy Will Ferrell comedy “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby,” the MVP of the movie is most definitely editor Brent White. Just as he did with 2004’s “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy,” White had to choose […]
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I can remember distinctly the feeling I had…slipping on my white mesh shoes and straightening the white blazer over my pink polo, thinking to myself that if there was a way to make my exceptionally dorky ass cool…this has got to be it. It was the time of “Top Gun,” Pac-Man and “Footloose” and I […]
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Anyone going this weekend to see Michael Mann’s movie version of “Miami Vice,” the hugely popular television series that he executive-produced in the 1980s, may be shocked to find that about the only thing that ties the two together are the names of the two main characters. Sonny Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Jaimie […]
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