This review originally appeared in video format on KTKA-ABC, and KSNT-NBC: Kansas First News. Loosely based on the true story of eight Christian monks who cared for the poor and sick in Algeria in the early 1990s, the smash hit from France “Of Gods and Men,” directed by Xavier Beauvois, is now out on DVD […]
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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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The germ of the idea for “30 Minutes or Less” may have come from a tragic true story of a pizza delivery driver forced to rob a bank with a bomb strapped to his chest, but this raunchy new comedy isn’t going for realism. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. This is big, broad humor […]
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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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When Kansas City singer/songwriter Phillip Bradley was chosen to appear in a documentary about buskers who perform on the streets and subway platforms of New York City, he didn’t know what to expect. He headed to Manhattan, slept on a friend’s couch and took his music to the people of New York while a film […]
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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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This review of new Blu-ray/DVDs of “Limitless” and “Take Me Home Tonight”originally appears on KTKA-49. “Limitless” is new out on Blu-ray and DVD this week, and it stars Bradley Cooper as an unmotivated man who takes a pill that allows him to finally live up to his utmost potential. Suddenly, he’s finished his book in […]
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This review of “Cowboys and Aliens” originally appears on KTKA-49. The new movie “Cowboys and Aliens” is a perfect example of truth in advertising. The title says it all. There are cowboys and there are aliens. And that’s about it. Taking the title of the 2006 graphic novel that it’s based on and none of […]
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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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