Category: Movie Reviews
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Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is very nearly a classic
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark – 2011 Directed by Troy Nixey Starring Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, Bailee Madison, Jack Thompson Written by Guillermo Del Toro, Matthew Robbins based on the original story by Nigel McKeand Guillermo Del Toro has a fascinating sense of what makes something scary. Each of the films he has written and/or…
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Fright Night: Yelchin breaks even with yet another reboot
Fright Night – 2011 Directed by Craig Gillespie Starring Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, David Tennant, Imogen Poots, Toni Collette Written by Marti Noxon based on the original story by Tom Holland One of the first horror movies I remember watching alone as a teenager, the original Fright Night has always held a special place…
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Colombiana by another name, is The Professional, Part 2
Colombiana – 2011 Directed by Olivier Megaton Starring Zoë Saldana, Michael Vartan, Cliff Curtis, Lennie James, Callum Blue, Jordi Mollà Written by Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen When one considers that Luc Besson and prolific screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen first worked together on the movie, Leon: The Professional, it becomes increasingly obvious as to why Colombiana seems…
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CPE and Em: Mr. Popper’s Penguins is a pleasantly silly ride
Mr. Popper’s Penguins – 2011 Directed by Mark Waters Starring Jim Carrey, Carla Guigino, Angela Lansbury, Philip Baker Hall, Clark Gregg, Madeline Carroll, Maxwell Perry Cotton Written by Sean Anders, John Morris, Jared Stern based on the book by Richard and Florence Atwater Looking at Jim Carrey’s career, I am astonished to find that he hasn’t…
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Contagion: Elizabeth Bennet prevents the people of the world from becoming a bunch of zombies
Contagion – 2011 Directed by Steven Soderburgh Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Jennifer Ehle, Laurence Fishburne, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law, Bryan Cranston, Sanaa Lathan, Elliot Gould, Chin Han, John Hawkes, Demetri Martin Written by Scott Z. Burns It’s been a long time since I had given a second thought about Jennifer Ehle. After…
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Apollo 18: Let’s pretend it didn’t happen
Apollo 18 – 2011 Directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego Starring Warren Christie, Lloyd Owen, Ryan Robbins Written by Brian Miller For all of those who have heard that this movie is Paranormal Activity in space…don’t hold your breath. It’s not that good. It’s definitely not as good as the 2nd film, but it approaches the ending of…
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Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol: Chaplin, Chan, Cruise
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol – 2011 Directed by Brad Bird Starring Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Paula Patton, Simon Pegg, Michael Nyqvist, Vladimir Mashkov, Samuli Edelmann, Léa Seydoux Written by André Nemec, Josh Appelbaum There are some incredible visuals in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, taking one to some of the most picturesque landmarks in the world: Budapest, Moscow, Dubai, Mumbai…
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Forgotten Gem: Skateland: Remember when people responded to tragedy?
Skateland – 2010 Directed by Anthony Burns Starring Shiloh Fernandez, Ashley Greene, Brett Cullen, James LeGros, Taylor Handley, Haley Ramm, Heath Freeman, Melinda McGraw Written by Anthony Burns, Brandon & Heath Freeman, Justin Gilley, Nicholas Jayanty, Victor Moyers There was a point, about 4 hours after I got my first driver’s license, when I got into…
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CPE and Em: Dolphin Tale adds filler to a real story
Dolphin Tale – 2011 Directed by Charles Martin Smith Starring Harry Connick, Jr., Nathan Gamble, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, Ashley Judd, Morgan Freeman, Kris Kristofferson, Jim Fitzpatrick, Winter, Austin Stowell Written by Karen Janszen, Noam Dromi The last time I thought of Charles Martin Smith, he got blasted by a double barrel in an elevator while escorting the accountant witness…
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One Day: One wishes it to be over early
One Day – 2011 Directed by Lone Scherfig Starring Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess, Patricia Clarkson, Rafe Spall, Ken Stott Written by David Nicholls Early on, one gets a sense of the game they are being subjected to with One Day: what if we made When Harry Met Sally, but instead of making random check ins throughout…
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 