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REVIEW: “Philomena”
When making a movie based on an emotionally-charged true story there are certain obstacles and temptations that filmmakers must avoid. Time after time we’ve seen movies succumb to dizzying melodrama...
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REVIEW: “The Purge”
We all have traditions that we look forward to each year: Christmas, Mothers Day, birthdays, opening day of the baseball season, the Purge. Well, at least that’s how it is in 2022 America. What is the...
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REVIEW: “The Place Beyond the Pines”
The title may make it sound like a high-minded ethereal exercise, but “The Place Beyond the Pines” is actually an ambitious movie that is one part cautionary tale and one part complex family drama. The...
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REVIEW: “Prince Avalanche”
Good luck trying to classify David Gordon Green’s “Prince Avalanche”. Green directed and wrote the screenplay for this odd little independent film that is part drama, part comedy, and part offbeat...
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REVIEW: “Play Time”
“Playtime” may be one of the most difficult movies to categorize or review and it may be a difficult movie for some people to process. French filmmaker Jacques Tati is known for focusing more on people...
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REVIEW: “Prisoners”
There isn’t an ounce of Hollywood spectacle or flash in “Prisoners”. Instead Canadian director Denis Villeneuve (in his American movie debut) creates an intense and methodical thriller rooted in an...
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REVIEW: “The Purge: Anarchy”
The first “Purge” movie was a strange mixture of intriguing ideas and wasted potential. It was built upon an absurd concept, but one that could have been explored in an assortment of compelling ways....
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REVIEW: “Paddington”
“Paddington” is a film that was never on my radar, that is until I noticed the waves of positive reviews coming from overseas. Suddenly I found myself paying attention to its United States debut. The...
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REVIEW: “Pompeii”
I’ve always thought that the story of Pompeii was prime material for a big budget motion picture. Without getting too deep into the history, Pompeii was a Roman city nestled at the base of Mount...
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2015 Blind Spot Series –“Paris, Texas”
From the film’s first scene we know that “Paris, Texas” is something unique. A sprawling overhead camera combs a sparse desert landscape to the ominous twanging of an acoustic guitar. The camera...
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2015 Blind Spot Series: “The Pride of the Yankees”
The are some actors who are forever connected to their movie characters and you can’t fathom anyone else in the role. Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones. Marlon Brando as Vito Corleone. Jon Heder as...
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REVIEW: “Phoenix”
It seems that any movie that deals with the Holocaust, either directly or indirectly, automatically assumes a special level of scrutiny. Undoubtedly the solemnity of the subject matter comes into...
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REVIEW: “Le Passé” (“The Past”)
Asghar Farhadi is without question one of my favorite working filmmakers. Watching a Farhadi film is unique. He doesn’t make movies intended as escapes. He offers intense examinations filled with truth...
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2016 Blind Spot Series: “Paths of Glory”
It was 1957’s “Paths of Glory” that first placed Stanley Kubrick among cinema’s prominent directors. It was his first true commercial success and critics praised it for its bold and unflinching...
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REVIEW: “Play Time”
“Playtime” may be one of the most difficult movies to categorize or review and it may be a difficult movie for some people to process. French filmmaker Jacques Tati is known for focusing more on people...
View ArticleClik here to view.
REVIEW: “Prisoners”
There isn’t an ounce of Hollywood spectacle or flash in “Prisoners”. Instead Canadian director Denis Villeneuve (in his American movie debut) creates an intense and methodical thriller rooted in an...
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REVIEW: “Poltergeist” (2015)
The popular practice of remaking movies, all kinda of movies, has proven to be more than a fad. That’s unfortunate. There doesn’t seem to be movie that modern filmmakers won’t try to remake. The horror...
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REVIEW: “The Purge: Election Year”
There wasn’t much subtlety in the political messaging of the first two Purge movies. There isn’t a hint of it in the third installment “The Purge: Election Year”. In fact this film is so laughably...
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REVIEW: “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”
I saw the trailer for “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” several times in the theater. The responses from the audiences were always the same – completely quiet until the end when the title popped up....
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REVIEW: “Point Break” (2015)
“Point Break” is a tough one to figure out. Putting aside the obvious answer (m-o-n-e-y), I’ve wondered why someone would even attempt to remake Kathryn Bigelow’s 1991 cult classic. Could a...
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