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Director Danny Boyle’s first feature film since 127 Hours (2010), the sleek and sexy but slightly flawed psycho-thriller Trance is Inception by way of Billy Wilder’s Charade. An occasionally too-convoluted slice of neo-noir, it is nevertheless a fun ride that reminds us to be careful when digging into dark questions, lest we be unfortunate enough … Continue reading
An alarmist tale of the inherent amorality and apathy lurking in the cyber-world, Disconnect tells what we already know in a way we’ve already seen. Henry Alex Rubin’s Crashian ensemble drama bites off more than it can via three interlinked plot threads: a grieving woman (Paula Patton) and her emotionally distant husband (Alexander Skarsgard) become the … Continue reading
The remake of Sam Raimi’s cult classic The Evil Dead is, well, actually kinda surprisingly not bad. There — we said it, and the statement is either heresy or a relief, depending on one’s feelings on the subject. After all, fans have been split over the merits of the project ever since it was announced; … Continue reading
A sprawling tale of fathers and sons told across generations, Derek Cianfrance’s The Place Beyond the Pines aims high, compromises rarely, and falters just a little. Cianfrance and co-scripter Ben Coccio (Zero Day) structure their novel-like tale as a triptych of sorts, beginning with an impressive tracking shot that opens the film and introduces Luke … Continue reading
At best, G.I. Joe: Retaliation is preferable to its predecessor, in the sense that a raging hangover is preferable to a case of the bubonic plague. Originally scheduled for release last June, it was reportedly pushed back nine months so that it could be converted to 3-D and so that extra footage of Channing Tatum … Continue reading
Die Hard in the White House with a little 24 and even some Under Siege thrown in for good measure, Olympus Has Fallen is possible the dumbest of the big, dumb, and loud action movies released so far this year. (G.I. Joe: Retaliation opens next week, however.) Action films by their very nature require us … Continue reading
The art house equivalent of a Girls Gone Wild video, bad-boy auteur Harmony Korine’s Spring Breakers offers a mock-morality tale disguised edgy nihilism, albeit one hobbled with an anemic narrative and mind-numbing repetition. That it’s generated as much pre-release buzz as it has is due to its two gimmicks: James Franco’s performance as a Svengali gangsta/wannabe … Continue reading
There is a lot of smoke and mirrors and sleight of hand involved with The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Don Scardino’s comedy about the rise, fall, and re-invention of a vain and supercilious stage magician. Unfortunately, most of it is used to dress up an underdone story. The story begins with a quick flashback to 1982, where … Continue reading
Director Sam Raimi’s trademark kitsch is sadly reined in for the choppy but diverting prequel Oz the Great and Powerful, and for the most part so is the heavy-handed eye candy that has become par for the course for this sort of material. (See: Tim Burton’s take on Alice in Wonderland — or better yet, don’t.) There are … Continue reading
Despite what the commercials would have you believe, Dwayne Johnson’s crime drama Snitch is not an action extravaganza; rather, Johnson, director Ric Roman Waugh (Felon), and co-screenwriter Justin Haythe (Revolutionary Road, The Clearing) have created a slow-burning character drama that ditches the tired fantasy of a righteous one-man army single-handedly righting a litany of wrongs … Continue reading
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