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Tropic Thunder (2008): C
Big budget, big stars, big concept – surprisingly little payoff. Tropic Thunder delivers extravagant set pieces and a raft of superstars, yet somewhere along the line, director/co-writer/star Ben Stiller forgot to concoct material that might elicit more than a mild chuckle. To an even greater extent than Zoolander, Stiller’s latest double-duty effort in front of…
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Linkage
August is winding down, meaning that the studios are dumping their garbage into theaters before the fall awards season begins. As a result, this latest collection of reviews is short on positivity… Now Playing: Death Race (Slant magazine) The Longshots (Slant magazine) The House Bunny (Slant magazine)
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Link Quickie
I’ve been so busy finishing up reviews for this blog – including my latest ones, found below, for Hamlet 2, Rogue and Sukiyaki Western Django – that I haven’t had time to do a link round-up. Until now, that is. Now Playing: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Slant magazine) Mirrors (Slant magazine) The Sisterhood of…
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Back to Reality
Remember when this year’s summer movie season suddenly, surprisingly featured a raft of intelligent, exciting films? Well, that time has now past, as this week’s main release – The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor – is typical summer crapola. I’m off to the beach next week, so updates around here will be sparse. But…
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Two-Step
Not counting my thoughts on The X-Files: I Want to Believe (posted below), I’ve only got two new published reviews for this Friday. And both films are well-worth the time of any moviegoers suffering from The Dark Knight fatigue. Now Playing: Step Brothers (Slant magazine) Man on Wire (Cinematical) UPDATE: The Order of Myths (Cinematical)
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Hype, Justified
Though I stand by my original criticisms, I’ve grown increasingly fond of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. His immensely anticipated follow-up, The Dark Knight, needs no such qualifications. It’s flat-out great, and – let me also note – worth catching in IMAX, if at all possible. Friday: The Dark Knight (Slant magazine) Felon (Slant magazine) Transsiberian…
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Pre-Knight Roundup
The Dark Knight screens tomorrow, so that review won’t be up until later this week. In the meantime, though, I’ve got this somewhat belated batch. Enjoy. Now: Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008) (Slant magazine) The Exiles (Slant magazine) Diminished Capacity (Slant magazine) Harold (Slant magazine) Later: Red (Slant magazine) Year of the…
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Wanted…and Left Wanting
Lots of new reviews for this Saturday evening – most of them negative – including my thoughts on this weekend’s big action film Wanted (which underutilizes a fierce Angelina Jolie), as well as the July 4th weekend tentpole release, Hancock (which only pretends to be unconventional). Happy Independence Day, all. Now Playing: Wanted (Slant magazine)…
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Back on Track
No more NBA playoff-related excuses – it’s time to get these blog posts up-and-running on time once again. For now, here’s a belated link dump, full of new review goodness. Now Playing: Expired (Slant magazine) Coming Soon: Made in America (Slant magazine) Elsa and Fred (Slant magazine) Finding Amanda (Slant magazine) Beautiful Losers (Slant magazine)…
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17 on the 17th!
