Category: 3 Stars
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The Ides of March: Guess what – Campaigns are dirty as politics are
The Ides of March – 2011 Directed by George Clooney Starring Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Marisa Tomei, Jeffrey Wright, Evan Rachel Wood, Jennifer Ehle Written by Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willmon, based on Farragut North by Beau Willmon Back in the late 80’s, in the Washington primary for the Republicans, a…
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Margin Call: It wasn’t brains that got me here, I assure you that
Margin Call – 2011 Written and Directed by J.C. Chandor Starring Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Penn Badgley, Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons, Demi Moore, Simon Baker, Stanley Tucci, Mary McDonnell, Aasif Mandvi What can one say when a movie starts off by laying off 86% of a floor and that is seen as a minor issue…
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Straw Dogs is scenic, tense and illogical
Straw Dogs – 2011 Written and Directed by Rod Lurie based on the film by Sam Peckinpah Starring James Mardsen, Kate Bosworth, Alexander Skarsgård, James Woods, Dominic Purcell, Laz Alonso, Willa Holland, Walton Goggins, Rhys Coiro “She was askin’ for it,” one of the most controversial statements in Western Civilization, seems the rallying cry for the…
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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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Our Idiot Brother is a younger, dippier Dude.
Our Idiot Brother – 2011 Directed by Jesse Peretz Starring Paul Rudd, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, Elizabeth Banks, Adam Scott, Kathryn Hahn, Rashida Jones, Hugh Dancy, Steve Coogan, T.J. Miller, Shirley Knight Written by Evgenia Peretz, David Schisgall An interesting thing for me about Our Idiot Brother is that I spent the entire movie thinking that…
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Crazy Stupid Love has plenty of all three
Crazy Stupid Love – 2011 Directed by Glen Ficarra and John Requa Starring Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Kevin Bacon, John Carroll Lynch, Marisa Tomei, Analeigh Tipton Written by Dan Fogelman This is the kind of movie, made so many times in Hollywood, The Big Chill, Parenthood, Love Actually and Valentine’s Day…
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Cowboys & Aliens only because it has Harrison Ford.
Cowboys & Aliens – 2011 Directed by Jon Favreau Starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, Clancy Brown, Keith Carradine, Noah Ringer Written by Damon Lindelof, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby based on Cowboys & Aliens by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg Harrison Ford has strolled into old age…
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Cool Papa E Reviews The Movies of Todd Phillips, backwards
The Hangover, Part II – 2011 Written by Scot Armstrong, Craig Mazin and Todd Phillips Starring Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Ken Jeong, Paul Giamatti Synopsis Second verse, same as the first, only this time it takes place in “Thighland,” Helms character is getting married and his future brother-in-law is the one getting married.…
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John Carpenter’s The Ward has plenty going for it, even if he’s working with a pedestrian script
John Carpenter’s The Ward – 2011 Directed by John Carpenter Starring Amber Heard, Mamie Gummer, Danielle Panabaker, Laura-Leigh, Lyndsy Fonseca, Mika Boorem, Jared Harris, Susana Burney, Dan Anderson Written by Michael and Shawn Rasmussen The best of John Carpenter is among the best films of the late 70’s and early 80’s. Halloween, Assault on Precinct…
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 