Category: Mystery / Thriller
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Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is good, old-fashioned, Anglo-Saxon hi-jinks
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – 2011 Directed by Tomas Alfredson Starring Gary Oldman, John Hurt, Mark Strong, Colin Firth, Ciarán Hinds, Toby Jones, Benedict Cumberbatch, David Dencik, Tom Hardy, Kathy Burke, Simon McBurney Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan based on the novel by John le Carré There is a intimidation brought on by the specter of a bunch…
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Martha Marcy May Marlene is our idiot sister done in a smart way
Martha Marcy May Marlene – 2011 Written and Directed by Sean Durkin Starring Elizabeth Olsen, John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, Hugh Dancy, Brady Corbet, Maria Dizzia, Julia Garner, Louisa Krause So, communal life is not for you…or is it? Martha Marcy May Marlene (MMMM) starts off with its protagonist (Olsen) looking to escape the life she was living in…
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Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is artistically recreated
The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo – 2011 Directed by David Fincher Starring Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Robin Wright, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård Screenplay Steven Zaillian From the moment it was revealed that David Fincher was going to remake the 2009 Swedish original of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, mixed feelings abound. The first run through was…
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Tower Heist is Eddie Murphy closer his best days, but not much else
Tower Heist – 2011 Directed by Brett Ratner Starring Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda, Téa Leoni, Casey Affleck, Judd Hirsch, Matthew Broderick, Michael Peña, Gabourey Sidibe Screenplay by Ted Griffin, Jeff Nathanson There is something sharp and very clean about a Brett Ratner film. There never seems to be any sort of litter, refuse or debris anywhere on the…
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Dream House is almost as good as the story surrounding the movie
Dream House – 2011 Directed by Jim Sheridan Starring Daniel Craig, Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz, Martin Csokas, Elias Koteas, Taylor and Clair Geare Written by David Loucka The director and stars of Dream House balked at promoting the film, essentially due to the way the movie was cut after its test screenings. What’s more, Rachel Weisz and Daniel…
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The Thing is a good compliment to the classic
The Thing – 2011 Directed by Matthijs van Heijningen Jr. Starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Joel Edgerton, Ulrich Thomsen, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Eric Christian Olsen, Jørgen Langhelle Written by Eric Heisserer So the word has it that this movie sucked. The box office receipts seemed to confirm this. Still, being a fan of Joel Edgerton (he of the wonderful move, Warrior) and so…
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Texas Killing Fields: Has the pedigree, but gets lost in the hills
Texas Killing Fields – 2011 Directed by Ami Caanan Mann Starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Sam Worthington, Chloe Grace Moretz, Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, James Hebert, Stephen Graham Written by Don Farrarone In watching the trailer, one gets the brooding sense of foreboding that was present in Fincher’s classic, Zodiac. Investigators (Worthington, Morgan and Chastain) looking seriously…
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Forgotten Gem: Exotica – Ballad of the sad strip joint
Exotica – 1994 Written and Directed by Atom Egoyan Starring Mia Kirshner, Bruce Greenwood, Elias Koteas, Sarah Polley, Victor Garber, Arsinée Khanjian, Don McKellar “Love The made love in the mountains, they made love in the streams, They made love in the valleys, they made love in their dreams. But when they were finished there was nothing to…
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Abduction: Who stole John Singleton?
Abduction – 2011 Directed by John Singleton Starring Taylor Lautner, Sigourney Weaver, Lily Collins, Jason Isaacs, Alfred Molina, Maria Bello, Michael Nygvist Written by Shawn Christensen The story for many in this film had to do with Lautner and his prospects outside of the Twilight series. In the grand scheme of things, we can call…
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 