In films like 21 Grams, Biutiful, and Babel, he revels in the misery of his characters and then contrives to make them even more miserable. Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty of misery and pretentiousness in Birdman (which is subtitled The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) but its mostly psychosomatic—and often played for laughs, which is a new thing for Iñárritu.
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The ABCs of Death 2 moves quickly and most of it is ultimately very forgettable, but I still find myself drawn toward its desire to be different and truly artistic in its approach.
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Rating: Minor Rock Fist Up Jake Gyllenhaal delivers an intense, magnetic performance that is the highlight of Nightcrawler, the directoral debut from writer Dan Gilroy. The film follows Gyllenhaal’s Louis Bloom, a disconnected loaner who stumbles into the world of on-the-scene video journalism. Bloom is a quick study, as we witness him learn the seedy business […]
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The Two Faces of January brings three solid performances together to help a decent script turn into an hour and a half of quite entertaining film.
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The effortless chemistry of Murray and Lieberher are the main reason that, even at its most clichéd, St. Vincent mostly works.
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What is remarkable about The Vanishing is how, like Gone Girl, it reveals much about its central mystery fairly early on in the film. Unlike Gone Girl, it continues to deepen its characters and maintain a believable sense of dread that plays into its central conceit.
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Robert Downey Jr.’s new cinematic vehicle, gives the viewer just enough salt, just enough of the bile of family life, in an attempt to cover the overly manipulative and sentimental story. In spite of a remarkable cast, and a handful of exceptional moments, The Judge falls prey to the emotional wish fulfillment of most estranged father and son stories.
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A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA’s role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California.
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[Minor Rock Fist Up] “My muse is not a horse and i am in no horse race and if indeed she was, still i would not harness her to this tumbrel – this bloody cart of severed heads and glittering prizes. My muse may spook! May bolt! May abandon me completely!” The above letter was […]
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Buried somewhere beneath the button-pushing gender politics and all-too-convenient plot twists in Gone Girl, there are some mildly interesting points being made about modern marriage. But after two and a half hours of soapy ridiculousness that wouldn’t be out of place on TV’s The Bold and the Beautiful, the movie just seems like cruel and unusual punishment.
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A mother of a newborn baby is tormented by a demon attempting to hurt her child while skeptical father has no interactions with said demon. Add a dash of Satanic cult members, a priest, and an older woman who instantly understands of her predicament, mix thoroughly, and bake at 666 degrees until done.
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Out now in a new restored 4K digital restoration on Blu-ray from The Criterion Collection, this emotionally raw picture combines minimalistic acting, evocative framing, and unabashed melodrama for a timeless moviegoing experience.
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Can a horror movie that’s all atmosphere and zero coherent plot really satisfy? That’s the question I was left with once the credits started rolling on At the Devil’s Door. Writer/Director Nicholas McCarthy‘s take on the classic horror trope of selling one’s soul to the Devil oozes with dread and menace.
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There seems to be only three genres for young adult novels that get turned into films: dystopian future where all the kids are fighting for their lives, the standard issued vampire/werewolf love stories, and sick kids falling in love.
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The problem with Tusk unfortunately is not that its absurd premise can’t make a decent movie, it’s that Smith doesn’t have a screenplay to support more than, let’s say, 30 minutes of screen time.
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