Category: Ratings
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Total Recall remakes Mars into Australia
Total Recall – 2012 Director Len Wiseman Starring Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsdale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, John Cho, Bill Nighy, Dylan Scott Smith, Bokeem Woodbine, Screenplay Kurt Wimmer, Mark Bomback, based on the original script by Dan O’Bannon, Ronald Shusett based on the story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” by Philip K. Dick “If I’m not me, then who the hell am…
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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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Savages: Oliver Stone is just average weird
Savages – 2012 Director – Oliver Stone Starring Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Salma Hayek, John Travolta, Benicio del Toro Screenplay Don Winslow, Shane Salermo and Stone based on the Novel Savages by Winslow Somewhere along about 1994, Oliver Stone was lost to me. He’d been weird before that, with The Doors, and history-challenged JFK. Then came…
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The Watch shoots mostly blanks
The Watch – 2012 Directed by Akiva Schaffer Starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Rosemarie DeWitt, Richard Ayoade, R. Lee Ermey, Will Forte, Billy Crudup Screenplay by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Jared Stern A few weeks after the marketing campaign began for The Neighborhood Watch, a tragedy occurred in Florida that created a huge national stir. That…
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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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The Apparition: The only thing we have to fear is bad cinema
The Apparition – 2012 Written and Directed by Todd Lincoln Starring Ashley Greene, Sebastian Stan, Tom Felton, Juliana Guill, Luke Pasqualino, Suzanne Ford There are lots of dumb aspects to The Apparition: The acting: There are plenty of decent actors in the film. Felton spent the better part of a decade being one of the nemeses of Harry Potter.…
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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…
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 