Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews

Category: Ratings

  • Transformers: The Age of Extinction: Remember Chicago?

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    Transformers: Age of  Extinction – 2014 Director Michael Bay Starring Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Nicola Peltz, Jack Reynor, Kelsey Grammer, Sophia Myles, Li Bingbing, Titus Welliver, T. J. Miller, John Goodman, Ken Watanabe Screenplay by Ehren Kruger Alright, let’s get this thing over with.  It’s bad, yes.  There are the customary Michael Bay touches here.  The slightly…

  • The Grand Budapest Hotel: Having a story to tell can do wonders

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    Grand Budapest Hotel – 2014 Written and Directed by Wes Anderson Starring Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Edward Norton, Mathieu Amalric, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Léa Seydoux, Jeff Goldblum, Jason Schwartzman, Jude Law, Tilda Swinton, Harvey Keitel, Tom Wilkinson, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Tony Revolori Wes Anderson films inspire a groundswell of apathy from me.  Often his work feels like Jazz to me, a form of art given much credit, even…

  • Life Itself is a story of success wrestled from a life of obscurity

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    Life Itself – 2014 Director Steve James Featuring Roger Ebert, Chaz Ebert, Martin Scorsese, Werner Herzog, Ava DuVernay, Gregory Nava, Marlene Iglitzen, Errol Morris, A.O. Scott, Richard Corliss, Ramin Bahrani Screenplay based upon Life Itself by Roger Ebert There is a scene in Life Itself where we see Roger Ebert taking a walk during a vacation with one of his step-grandchildren,…

  • Non-Stop has Characters, Heroes

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    Non-Stop – 2014 Director Jaume Collet-Serra Starring Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy, Michelle Dockery, Nate Parker, Jason Butler Harner, Anson Mount, Lupita Nyong’o, Linus Roache, Corey Stroll Screenplay John W. Richardson, Chris Roach, Ryan Engle Non-Stop is the kind of movie that is full of surprises.  It has the burden of a premise that we’ve seen many times before, most notably in Passenger 57, Executive Decision,…

  • 300 Rise of an Empire – Introducing the “B” Team

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    300 Rise of an Empire – 2014 Director Noam Murro Starring Sullivan Stapleton, Eva Green, Lena Headey, Hans Matheson, Rodrigo Santoro Screenplay Zack Snyder, Kurt Johnstad 300 Rise of an Empire is a story, starting with the Battle of Marathon and concluding with the Battle of Salamis.  This is before, during and after the Battle of Thermopylae which is the focus of the…

  • The Lego Movie: Applied to our lives like so much Kragl

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    The Lego Movie – 2014   Directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller Starring (voices) Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman Screenplay Lord and Miller Where the heck did this film come from?  They’ve been releasing Lego movies for years straight to DVD, and for some reason, someone got the extremely bright idea to apply…

  • 22 Jump Street: Does Blanche do heroin?

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    22 Jump Street – 2014 Directors Lord and Miller Starring Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum, Peter Stromare, Ice Cube, Amber Stevenson, Jillian Bell, Wyatt Russell Screenplay Michael Bacall, Oren Uziel, Rodney Rothman Conventional wisdom tells us the story about most sequels, and it tells even more about those who review sequels.  Many sequels are made on some sort of auto…

  • Grudge Match is as tired as it seems

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    Grudge Match – 2013 Director Peter Segal Starring Robert De Niro, Sylvester Stallone, Kevin Hart, Alan Arkin, Kim Basinger, Jon Bernthal Screenplay Tim Kelleher, Rodney Rothman It’s been so long since Stallone has been in a film that seemed unguarded of actor’s egos, one has difficulty picturing him going through the editing process with each of the actors, saying, “Do you think…

  • Gambit loses the bet

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    Gambit – 2012 Director Michael Hoffman Starring Colin Firth, Alan Rickman, Cameron Diaz, Tom Courtenay, Stanley Tucci, Cloris Leachman Writers Joel and Etan Cohen Gambit is a film who’s pedigree and history is more interesting than the film itself.  It’s not for lack of trying, but the original Shirley MaClaine and Michael Caine film nominated for 3…

  • The East is inspired nonsense

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    The East – 2013 Director Zal Batmanglij Starring Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgård, Ellen Page, Patricia Clarkson, Jamey Sheridan Screenplay Batmanglij and Marling In the life of a young, independent filmmaker, you only get so many chances.  Batmanglij has been working with Brit Marling since they went to Georgetown together.  Their work together has created enough interest with the film The Sound…