Category: Movie Reviews
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I Don’t Have A Vote: Cool Papa E Picks The 84th Oscars
2012 Academy Awards Please don’t let this be the year that the gimmicky French film wins. I would prefer that the real masterpiece that took place in Paris, France take home the gold. The rush to crown The Artist as Best Picture feels a little like the time we anointed Brokeback Mountain the movie of our times. If it…
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The Big Year is a good idea if money is no object
The Big Year Extended Edition – 2011 Directed by David Frankel Starring Steve Martin, Jack Black, Owen Wilson, JoBeth Williams, Brian Dennehy, Dianne Wiest, John Cleese, Joel McHale, Tim Blake Nelson, Jim Parsons, Rashida Jones, Anjelica Houston, Rosamund Pike, Anthony Anderson, Corbin Bernsen, Kevin Pollak, Al Roker, Stephen Weber Written by Howard Franklin Steve Martin, Jack Black and…
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Moneyball is the Die Hard 2 of Baseball Movies
Moneyball – 2011 Directed by Bennett Miller Starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt, Casey Bond, Kerris Dorsey Written by Aaron Sorkin There is a point early on in Moneyball, where Billy Beane, as played by Brad Pitt, is listening disgustedly to the assortment of old men who are supposed to be…
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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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Courageous is not flashy, but it will get you home
Courageous – 2011 Directed by Alex Kendrick Starring Alex Kendrick, Ken Bevel, Kevin Downes, Ben Davies, Robert Amaya, members of the Sherwood Baptist Church Written by Alex and Stephen Kendrick Sherwood Baptist Church, in Albany, Georgia has a line on something here. Taking the cue from the success of The Passion of the Christ, The Chronicles of Narnia…
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50/50 has heart, humor and a healthy outlook on life
50/50 – 2011 Directed by Jonathan Levine Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Anjelica Houston, Bryce Dallas Howard, Serge Houde, Matt Frewer, Philip Baker Hall Written by Will Reiser 50/50 is a story of based upon writer Will Reiser’s bout with cancer, but it accomplishes more than that. As Adam Lerner (Levitt) journeys through his…
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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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Drive starts out in the fast lane; ends up in the ditch
Drive – 2011 Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn Starring Ryan Gosling, Albert Brooks, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Ron Perlman, Christina Hendricks, Oscar Isaac Written by Hossein Amini based on Drive by James Sallis There is a scene at the beginning of Drive that is as clever as any car chase I have seen. Acting as driver for a…
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Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part I: Watching Grown Men Cry
Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 – 2011 Directed by Bill Condon Starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattison, Taylor Lautner, Billy Burke, Dakota Fanning, Ashley Greene, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Kellen Lutz, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Anna Kendrick, Sarah Clarke Written by Melissa Rosenberg based on the novel by Stephanie Meyer There is a point after Bella (Stewart) has…
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 