The word “bunraku” refers to form of Japanese puppet theater where the puppeteers, usually dressed in black, are visible on stage. “Bunraku” the film combines elements of classic samurai and cowboy films and sets it in a gunless future that feels more like an alternate past. The aesthetic feels both unique and familiar. While it […]
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Some movies get rushed through production and hit theaters mere weeks after the final frame of film is shot. Others, for a variety of reasons, go through multiple edits and end up sitting on the shelf for years. A Good Old Fashioned Orgy (which was filmed back in the Spring of 2008) is the latter. […]
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As a mediocre to dismal summer for films marked by remakes, reboots, and revisits comes to a close, “The Debt,” a movie chock full of the familiar – international espionage, maniacal Nazis, and beautiful counteragents – arrives in theaters. Can three Israeli operatives stationed in East Germany to hunt a notorious war criminal save the […]
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“The Devil’s Double” takes a healthy production budget and a compelling true story complete with a character in impossible psyche-ravaging situations, and manages to turn a sure win into a dud. Based on the life of Latif Yahia, the double for Saddam Hussein’s psychopathic son Uday, “The Devil’s Double” should have been a fascinating character […]
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I’m not sure that we needed remake of “Fright Night,” a “boy who cried vampire” horror flick that balanced both drama and comedy back in 1985, but in today’s mainstream horror market, a remake is about the only thing that will guarantee your film will be at least a mild hit. This new version, directed […]
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One Day is the type of movie that women are likely to enjoy far more than men. It has two likable stars, is less clumsy (in spots) than most romantic comedies, and wants desperately to be better on-screen than it is on the printed page. Sadly, the movie is nothing more, or less, than a […]
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“Sarah’s Key” tells two intertwined stories. The first takes place in present day Paris. Julia Jarmond (Kristin Scott Thomas), an American journalist, lives with her architect husband, Bertrand Tezac (Frédéric Pierrot). While they renovate an apartment that has been in Bertrand’s family since the 1940s, Julia, for one of her articles, investigates the infamous Vel’ […]
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Nick (Jesse Eisenberg), a mild mannered and lead-footed pizza delivery guy, has lost his way. While his friend Chet (Aziz Ansari) has finally landed full time employment as a Jr. High teacher, and Kate (Dilshad Vadsaria), the girl he’s in love with and Chet’s sister, just got an opportunity that will take her to Atlanta, […]
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Director Michael Rapaport has created a labor of love. “Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest” is the rare documentary that balances adoration and honesty as it takes the viewer on a journey through the career of the influential hip-hop crew, A Tribe Called Quest. The story begins in 2008 during […]
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It’s been 10 years since Tim Burton’s awful “Planet of the Apes” remake failed to reboot the early 70s sci-fi series, so this weekend the new movie “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” tries its hand with a semi-new origin story. The big surprise is that “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” is […]
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In it’s first few minutes, “The Change-Up” gives the viewer a glimpse of a CGI animated baby anus, which, as anticipated, shoots an incredible amount of crap into the surprised face of Dave (Jason Bateman), the exhausted father. When Dave opens his mouth to argue with his child’s backside, a final push fills his mouth […]
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“Crazy, Stupid, Love” may have one of the lamer and lazier titles given a film this year, but that is exactly the point. This film embraces many of the clichés of sexually driven romantic comedies, but in doing so comments on and critiques them. Just take a scene that occurs in the middle of the […]
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A good idea is just that, an idea. It may be chock-full of visual potential or hint at the possibility of an engaging story. Even if the idea is fantastic, there is an enormous chasm that stands between that idea and, in this instance, a well-crafted enjoyable feature film. Jon Favreau falls headlong into this […]
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Coming of age stories often come in two forms. Some explore the expansion and depth of a life just begun. Films like “My Life as a Dog” follow young adolescents as they blossom into a proto-sexual adulthood. The other type of coming of age story deals with the fleeting nature of life. In films like […]
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In the midst of the summer movie season, comic book movie exhaustion and action overload has started to weigh heavily on me. Do we really need another film about a dude in a crazy suit, who punches other dudes in crazy suits? Isn’t there an upper threshold for the number of these films that can […]
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