Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews

Month: July 2014

  • Divergent aims low, but hits the mark

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    Divergent – 2014 Director Neil Burger Starring Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson, Zoë Kravitz, Miles Teller, Tony Goldwyn, Maggie Q, Kate Winslet, Ansel Elgort Screenplay by Eva Daugherty, Vanessa Taylor, based on the book by Veronica Roth  Divergent is another movie covering the ever-increasing line of books made for younger readers, but enjoyed by…

  • Bad Words: Finally Bateman is not the nice guy

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    Bad Words – 2013 Director Jason Bateman Starring Jason Bateman, Kathryn Hahn, Rohan Chand, Ben Falcone, Philip Baker Hall, Allison Janney Screenplay by Andrew Dodge  Black comedy is an all or nothing venture.  You either have to go into it with total disregard or settle for School of Rock territory.  It’s not that the latter category is a loser, it just doesn’t…

  • Transcendence: We, Frankenstein

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    Transcendence – 2014 Director Wally Pfister Starring Johnny Depp, Rebecca Hall, Paul Bettany, Kate Mara, Cillian Murphy, Morgan Freeman, Cole Hauser, Clifton Collins, Jr. Screenplay Jack Paglen Transcendence is the kind of film that tries to answer the question about man’s want to supersede the limitations of human frailty.  The path taken is a transfer of consciousness of Dr. Will Caster…

  • Snowpiercer gets to the heart of the matter

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    Snowpiercer – 2013 Director Boon Joon-Ho Starring Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Go Ah-sung, Jamie Bell, Alison Pill, John Hurt, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, Ed Harris Screenplay Joon-Ho and Kelly Masterson  An inadvertent addition to the growing trend of movies going straight to video on demand, Boon Joon-Ho’s Snowpiercer, along with Mike James’ Roger Ebert opus, Life Itself have forever changed my mind on the value…

  • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Haven’t they already Risen?

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    Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – 2014 Director Matt Reeves Starring Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee Screenplay Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, Amanda Silver Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a contemplative work that changes everything about the original while giving a stronger set of characters.…

  • Transformers: The Age of Extinction: Remember Chicago?

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    Transformers: Age of  Extinction – 2014 Director Michael Bay Starring Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Kelsey Grammer, Sophia Myles, Li Bingbing, Titus Welliver, T. J. Miller, John Goodman, Ken Watanabe Screenplay by Ehren Kruger Alright, let’s get this thing over with.  It’s bad, yes.  There are the customary Michael Bay touches here.  The slightly…

  • Forgotten Gems: The Bucket List has life spilling over the edges

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    The Bucket List – 2007 Director Rob Reiner Starring Morgan Freeman, Jack Nicholson, Sean Hayes, Beverly Todd, Rob Morrow, Alfonso Freeman Screenplay Justin Zackham Rob Reiner is a remarkable director.  He has a knack for making things simultaneously funny and poignant.  The Bucket List may be his finest work.  Everyone talks about a bucket list since this movie…

  • The Grand Budapest Hotel: Having a story to tell can do wonders

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    Grand Budapest Hotel – 2014 Written and Directed by Wes Anderson Starring Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Edward Norton, Mathieu Amalric, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Léa Seydoux, Jeff Goldblum, Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Tony Revolori Wes Anderson films inspire a groundswell of apathy from me.  Often his work feels like Jazz to me, a form of art given much credit, even…

  • Life Itself is a story of success wrestled from a life of obscurity

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    Life Itself – 2014 Director Steve James Featuring Roger Ebert, Chaz Ebert, Martin Scorsese, Werner Herzog, Ava DuVernay, Gregory Nava, Marlene Iglitzen, Errol Morris, A.O. Scott, Richard Corliss, Ramin Bahrani Screenplay based upon Life Itself by Roger Ebert There is a scene in Life Itself where we see Roger Ebert taking a walk during a vacation with one of his step-grandchildren,…

  • Non-Stop has Characters, Heroes

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    Non-Stop – 2014 Director Jaume Collet-Serra Starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy, Michelle Dockery, Nate Parker, Jason Butler Harner, Anson Mount, Lupita Nyong’o, Linus Roache, Corey Stroll Screenplay John W. Richardson, Chris Roach, Ryan Engle Non-Stop is the kind of movie that is full of surprises.  It has the burden of a premise that we’ve seen many times before, most notably in Passenger 57, Executive Decision,…