Category: Action
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The Hunger Games 4, Mockingjay 2 (***) is grim and joyless
So if you are looking for things to blow up, expectant surprises to pop out or just plain misery to abound, you may like this film. If you want the same thing, but you want your daughter to feel like she can be a hero, better stick to The Force Awakens.
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Black Mass (**) is not moving
Someone messes up, they go for a car ride, they get whacked. Someone gets arrested, they talk (or don’t) they go for a car ride…you know.
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Deadpool (***1/2) is a refresher course
Deadpool – 2016 Director Tim Miller Screenplay Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Ryan Reynolds Starring Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, T. J. Miller, Gina Carano, Brianna Hildebrand, Stefan Kapičić, Leslie Uggams First off, there is nothing in Deadpool that approaches the visual spectacle of his first scene in the first Wolverine spinoff. You know the one, when he gets off of the…
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Spectre (***1/2) is unfinished business, all the time
Spectre – 2015 Director Sam Mendes Starring Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Andrew Scott, Monica Bellucci, Ralph Fiennes, Rory Kinnear Screenplay John Logan, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Jez Butterworth The Daniel Craig era of James Bond films have been marked with a higher personal stake, more viciousness and aside from Dame Judy Dench’s M, an entirely different cast…
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Sicario (****1/2): The depth of darkness
Villeneuve is one of the best directors alive. He his streak is 3 near-classics and counting. His sensibility is one of quiet observation. He allows the viewer to draw his own conclusions on what they are seeing, without pushing even subtly in any direction.
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The Revenant (***1/2): It’s mostly true…mostly
It would be one thing if the story played a little closer to Hang ‘Em High and a bit less artificially constructed as A Beautiful Mind. The Academy never gave any awards to the first movie, though. The original Glass just wanted his gun back from Fitzgerald. DiCaprio’s Glass has to have a victim-class son…
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The Hateful Eight (Roadshow Edition) ****1/2 is a study of balance
The Hateful Eight – 2015 Written and Directed by Quentin Tarantino Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Lee Horsley, Zoë Bell, James Park, Gene Jones, Dana Gourrier That actors save their best performances for Quentin Tarantino is certainly not a surprise. That he continues to pull new good actors from the fringes…
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Star Wars: The Force Awakens (***1/2) There’s always another weapon
Star Wars: The Force Awakens Director J.J. Abrams Starring Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Max von Sydow, Gwendoline Christie Screenplay by Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Arndt Everyone wants Star Wars to succeed. Heck if I had never seen the first film (Episode IV) at age 7, this blog wouldn’t…
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Creed (****): One step at a time, one round at a time…
Creed – 2015 Director Ryan Coogler Starring Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, Tessa Thompson, Phylicia Rashād, Tony Bellew, Graham McTavish Screenplay Coogler, Aaron Covington, Stallone As a tribute to a classic series, Ryan Coogler could not have taken a better angle. The thought of Rocky’s kid taking the throne was mercifully left in the garbage bin of history with the last proper entry in the…
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American Ultra (***): Stoned Identity
American Ultra – 2015 Director Nima Nourizadeh Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Topher Grace, Connie Britton, Walton Goggins, John Leguizamo, Bill Pullman, Tony Hale Screenplay Max Landis One of the least appealing aspects about Pulp Fiction is the way Tarantino cuts the legs off the ending about halfway through the film. Seeing that Vincent and Marsellus arrive in tact and uninjured from their…
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 