Category: Drama
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Liberal Arts: Radnor is no Woody Allen, Thank God
Liberal Arts – 2012 Written and Directed by Josh Radnor Starring Radnor, Elizabeth Olson, Richard Jenkins, Allison Janney, John Magaro, Zac Efron, Elizabeth Reaser As a 35-year-old college admissions officer in New York, Josh Radnor has the face that crosses most people after they’ve been gone from college for long enough to realize that this is all…
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Trouble with the Curve: No middle ground
Trouble with the Curve – 2012 Directed by Robert Lorenz Starring Clint Eastwood, Amy Adams, Justin Timberlake, Matthew Lillard, John Goodman, Robert Patrick, Scott Eastwood, Jay Galloway Screenplay Randy Brown Early on, there is a scene where baseball men are talking in the organizational offices of the Atlanta Braves. The discussion is revolves around whether Gus Lobel (Eastwood)…
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Forgotten Gem: Cool Hand Luke is the man
Cool Hand Luke – 1967 Director Stuart Rosenberg Starring Paul Newman, George Kennedy, Strother Martin, Dennis Hopper, Wayne Rogers, Jo Van Fleet, J.D. Cannon, Clifton James, Harry Dean Stanton, Lou Antonio, Morgan Woodward, Joe Don Baker, Ralph Waite, Joy Harmon, Anthony Zerbe, Luke Askew Screenplay Donn Pearce, Frank Pierson “Sometimes nothin’ is a pretty cool hand.” In many…
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Seeking a Friend for the End of the World): Just end it already
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World – 2012 Writer and Director Lorene Scafaria Starring Steve Carell, Kiera Knightley, William Peterson, Melanie Lynskey, Adam Brody, Derek Luke, Connie Britton, Patton Oswalt, Rob Corddry, Martin Sheen, Nancy Carell, Mark Moses, T.J. Miller Okay, so it’s the end of the world and everybody is acting nuts. Except Dodge…
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Hope Springs a subtle reminder of the need to grow together
Hope Springs – 2012 Director David Frankel Starring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell, Jean Smart, Mimi Rogers, Elisabeth Shue, Ben Rappaport, Marin Ireland, Becky Ann Baker Screenplay Vanessa Taylor I always thought that separate beds in a marriage was a fiction of television. Of course Ozzie and Harriet could not be seen in the sack together.…
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Your Sister’s Sister is sophisticated and boring
Your Sister’s Sister – 2012 Written and Directed by Lynn Shelton Starring Emily Blunt, Rosemary DeWitt, Mark Duplass Indy Rule #2 – Opening dialogue for 5 minutes is meant to replace a lack of money in the budget for any special effects. Indy Rule #431 – The tough guy in an independent film is the guy who…
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Sparkle shine and fade
Sparkle – 2012 Directed by Salim Akil Starring Jordin Sparks, CeeLo Green, Whitney Houston, Derek Luke, Mike Epps, Tamela Mann, Carmen Ejogo, Tika Sumpter, Omari Hardwick Screenplay Mara Brock Akil, Howard Rosenman based on the film screenplay by Joel Schumacher and Rosenman The first vision of Whitney Houston in the remake of the 1976 film, Sparkle is breathtaking. Not…
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CPE, Em and El: Forgotten Gem – Akeelah and the Bee is bravely facing a new world
Akeelah and the Bee – 2006 Written & Directed by Doug Atichison Starring Keke Palmer, Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Curtis Armstrong, J.R. Villareal, Sean Michael Afable, Erica Hubbard, Lee Thompson Young, Julito McCullum Akeelah: Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves, Who…
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Magic Mike: Typical story made special by Soderbergh and Horn
Magic Mike – 2012 Director Steven Soderbergh Starring Channing Tatum, Cody Horn, Alex Pettyfer, Matthew McConaughey, Joe Manganiello, Matt Bomer, Olivia Munn, Kevin Nash Screenplay Reid Carolin Almost 1/3 of the way through Magic Mike, there is a point where Brooke (Horn) has just discovered where her brother Alex (Pettyfer) has been working. She does her best to…
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Coriolanus: Shakespeare works best in its original Klingon
Coriolanus – 2012 Director Ralph Fiennes Starring Fiennes, Gerard Butler, Vanessa Redgrave, Brian Cox, Jessica Chastain, Paul Jesson, John Kani Screenplay John Logan based on the play by William Shakespeare Before I say anything else, I must say this: Coriolanus is nonsense. Out of context and out of its time, it is the square peg trying stubbornly to fit within…
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 