Paul Walker as Brian O’Conner in Furious 7. PHOTO COURTESY Universal Pictures There’s a great deal of anticipation surrounding James Wan’s Furious 7, the latest and posed to be the most lucrative installment in the greatest gearhead franchise in film history. Not only does the director have the unenviable task of trying to top the […]
Movies
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McFarland runs a winning course
Carlos Pratts as Thomas and Kevin Costner as Jim White in McFarland, USA. PHOTO COURTESY WALT DISNEY PICTURES Continuing their series of inspirational, true-life sports stories, Disney Pictures’ McFarland USA is a worthy addition to their cannon, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Miracle, The Rookie and Million Dollar Arm. To be sure, these are […]
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Son fails to cast a spell
Ben Barnes as Tom Ward and Jeff Bridges as Master Gregory in Seventh Son. PHOTO COURTESY Universal Pictures Sometimes bad movies happen to good actors. Such is the case with Sergey Bodrov’s Seventh Son, an adaptation of the first book in Joseph Delaney’s The Last Apprentice series – and likely the last. That’s too […]
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Violent: Much ado about little
Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac in A Most Violent Year. Like the only guy at a party who doesn’t get the joke, I’m wondering what it is about J.C. Chandor’s A Most Violent Year that I’m missing. Riding a wave of good reviews (the film is trending 90 percent positive on the Rotten Tomatoes website), […]
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Black or White a flawed but noble look at race
Jillian Estell as Eloise and Kevin Costner as Elliot Anderson in Black or White. PHOTOS COURTESY Relativity Media Much like American Sniper, Mike Binder’s Black or White is likely to draw a disparate number of responses, interpretations and criticisms as it deals with the issue of race relations, a subject in which people are passionate […]
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Paddington stuffed with charm
Michael Bond’s Paddington books were not a part of my childhood, so I went into Paul King’s big screen adaptation of these beloved English children’s stories blissfully ignorant. I’m glad, as it afforded me the pleasure of being pleasantly surprised throughout. “Charming” and “delightful” are overused descriptors where films of this sort are concerned, lazily […]
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Sniper’s aim is true
Kyle Gallner as Winston and Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle in American Sniper. PHOTOS COURTESY WARNER BROS. PICTURES His best and most-assured film since Invictus, Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper covers many themes the filmmaker has touched on over the course of his career. The devastating impact of violence, the importance of community and the irony […]
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Selma: A reminder of sacrifice and struggle
David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King Jr. and Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King in Selma. In life, and with releasing films, timing is everything and Ava DuVernay’s Selma could not have opened at a more opportune moment. Obviously set to coincide with the 86th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s birth, the producers of […]
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Chris Rock goes for broke with Top Five
Chris Rock as Andre Allen and Rosario Dawson as Chelsea Brown in Top Five. PHOTO COURTESY PARAMOUNT PICTURES As far as the movie world is concerned, 2014 will be remembered as the year in which things ended with an international bang and a corporate whimper. After having massive numbers of files hacked presumably by representatives […]
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Witherspoon and Vallee fully invest in powerful Wild
Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl Strayed in Wild. There are many ways that Jean-Marie Vallee’s adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s memoir Wild could have gone wrong. A story anchored more by internal struggles than external conflict, this is the sort of insular story that’s often difficult to present in a film, with directors often falling back on […]
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Spectacle, redemption propel Exodus
Christian Bale as Moses in Exodus: Gods and Kings. PHOTO COURTESY 20TH CENTURY FOX Director Ridley Scott is no stranger to bringing epic visions to the screen. From the sci-fi sagas Blade Runner and Prometheus to the grand ancient tales Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven, the filmmaker has consistently risen to the challenge of creating […]
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Bosses 2 a surprising improvement
Charlie Day, Jason Bateman and Jason Sudeikis in Horrible Bosses 2. PHOTO COURTESY WARNER BROS. PICTURES Though superhero films are doing their best to disprove this notion, it’s generally accepted that sequels are usually not as good as the movie that preceded them. I would argue that comedy sequels have an even harder time as […]
