Category Archives: Film

The Weekender: ‘Bullet’ train to heck

IN THEATERS: Warm Bodies (PG-13) Starring Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich Written for the screen and directed by Jonathan Levine I may be alone in this, but this could be one of those rare early-year gems that proves not … Continue reading

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The Weekender: Walking in ‘Memphis’

IN THEATERS: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (R) Starring Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Famke Janssen Written by Tommy Wirkola & Dante Harper Directed by Tommy Wirkola I keep waiting for Renner to reveal this is all just a joke, but … Continue reading

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The Weekender: ‘Stand’ in the place where you live

IN THEATERS: Mama (PG-13) Starring Jessica Chastain, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nélisse Written by Neil Cross and Andrés & Barbara Muschietti Directed by Andrés Muschietti It’s January, which means it’s time for more bottom-shelf PG-13 horror. Some adopted girls are harboring … Continue reading

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My Dream Oscar Ballot 2013

UPDATE: I saw Life of Pi on Friday night, so I had to make some changes. I’ll stick with the Academy’s format for this, which means I have to refrain from listing Best Animated Feature, Best Foreign Language Film and … Continue reading

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The Weekender: Saved by ‘Zero’

IN THEATERS: Gangster Squad (R) Starring Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Sean Penn Written for the screen by Will Beall Directed by Ruben Fleischer Man, this movie cannot catch a break. First, the ending had to be reshot after the Aurora … Continue reading

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Reactionary Tale: Oscar Nominations 2013

Well, that was certainly interesting. Plenty of nominations no one saw coming along with some snubs no one would have guessed. I correctly predicted just two categories: Best Actress and Best Visual Effects. I went four for five in eight others … Continue reading

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2012 in Review: Box Office Report

SURE-FIRE HITS – The Kings of the Box Office *The Avengers ($623 m) The Dark Knight Rises ($448m) The Hunger Games ($408m) The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2** ($286m) Between the numbers: The upside is that all these movies … Continue reading

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2012 in Review: The Worst Films

This being my first year as a full-fledged critic (as opposed to just occasionally going to screenings), I finally saw enough films to make a full bottom ten. There was a lot of crap to sift through before we got … Continue reading

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Final Oscar Picks 2013

So here we are. Another year down in one of the tighest races in recent memory. So many great films will be forgotten, but many more will be honored. Here’s who I think will be nominated Thursday morning. As before, … Continue reading

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2012 in Review: Special Awards – Film

BEST ONSCREEN TREND Depressing dramas hidden inside movies advertised as crowd-pleasers Denzel, Liam Neeson, Batman and Bruce Willis all had movies this year that you thought would give you an adrenaline fix. Psych! Sneaky marketers advertised exactly what you wanted, … Continue reading

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