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B-
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Step Brothers
(2008)
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Dre Rivas
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It isn't even the funniest movie I've seen this year. But it sure made me laugh.
Posted Mar 30, 2019
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Downhill Racer
(1969)
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Amanda Mae Meyncke
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Several shots are positively astonishing when you consider that they are in no way manipulated or digitally altered, simply a man on skis flying down a hill with a 40-pound film camera in his hands.
Posted May 30, 2018
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The Loved Ones
(2009)
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Eric D. Snider
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Speaking of reusing old premises, The Loved Ones shows the right way to do it. In this outrageously creepy and entertaining.
Posted Jan 08, 2018
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Safety Last
(1923)
|
David Ehrlich
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The film’s contemporary feeling isn’t rooted in its immaculate presentation so much as it is Lloyd’s undaunted visual economy and the haplessly human nature of the Glass character, itself.
Posted Sep 21, 2017
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7/10
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Grand Piano
(2013)
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Jenni Miller
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Director Eugenio Mira manages to keep Grand Piano visually stimulating even when writer Damien Chazelle's script gets silly.
Posted Jun 09, 2017
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Veronica Mars
(2014)
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Jenni Miller
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Veronica Mars will definitely please the fans desperate to catch up with the residents of Neptune, but I feel certain it won't sate us for long.
Posted Jun 09, 2017
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The Railway Man
(2013)
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Jenni Miller
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The Railway Man holds great possibility but wanders off track.
Posted Jun 09, 2017
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9/10
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The Punk Singer
(2013)
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Jenni Miller
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It is a love letter to Kathleen Hanna, to feminism, and to the fans, but it's also just a damn good movie.
Posted Jun 09, 2017
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Rio 2
(2014)
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Jenni Miller
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Director Carlos Saldanha's love for his native Rio shines through, but that's not quite enough to save the messy, sprawling story.
Posted Jun 09, 2017
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5/10
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Adult World
(2013)
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Jenni Miller
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Adult World is more aggravating than endearing, although there's an interesting idea buried beneath all the cutesy plot details.
Posted Jun 09, 2017
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B+
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Quantum of Solace
(2008)
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Dre Rivas
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Go see Quantum of Solace. Not that you weren't going to anyway.
Posted Nov 02, 2015
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7.9/10
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The Fault in Our Stars
(2014)
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Kate Erbland
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The film has enough charm and humor to keep it appealing to a wide audience, and dumbing things down doesn't feel particularly smart or canny, and proves to be a minor distraction to an otherwise majorly entertaining feature.
Posted Jan 06, 2015
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8.1/10
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A Walk Among the Tombstones
(2014)
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Kate Erbland
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Frank's film is much more of a noir outing than a straight action feature, and Neeson slips right into the tone and feel of the hard-boiled detective offering.
Posted Jan 06, 2015
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8.2/10
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Oculus
(2013)
|
James Rocchi
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Praised on the festival circuit, it's got what it takes to succeed outside of that rarefied atmosphere.
Posted Jan 05, 2015
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7.2/10
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The Guest
(2014)
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Kate Erbland
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Wickedly entertaining.
Posted Jan 05, 2015
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8.3/10
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The LEGO Movie
(2014)
|
Kate Erbland
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Lord and Miller's sensibilities are continually clever, and The Lego Movie works hard to gradually deliver surprising payoffs to what seem to be throwaway bits.
Posted Jan 03, 2015
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8.2/10
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The Grand Budapest Hotel
(2014)
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Kate Erbland
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"The Grand Budapest Hotel" is not his grandest work yet, but it is one worth an extended stay.
Posted Jan 02, 2015
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A-
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Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale
(2010)
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Christine Champ
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Rare Exports also twists the season's staples with a morbidly merry, tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.
Posted Dec 14, 2014
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8.7/10
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Gone Girl
(2014)
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Kate Erbland
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Gone Girl is a rare bird: a tricky, weird mystery that benefits from people knowing its twist from the outset.
Posted Sep 29, 2014
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5.8/10
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The Boxtrolls
(2014)
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James Rocchi
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"The Boxtrolls" is a swing-and-miss for Laika; when you move forward with revolutionary techniques while standing still in terms of your themes, stories and settings, no amount of technical trickery or animation genius can bring the boring to vivid life.
Posted Sep 24, 2014
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4.8/10
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Two Night Stand
(2014)
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James Rocchi
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Charming but contrived, more slapdash than sexy and more interested in late-act reversals than real-life relationships, "Two Night Stand" isn't really going to scratch anyone's itchy spots, no matter how far it's willing to go in trying to do so.
Posted Sep 23, 2014
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7.6/10
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Jimi: All Is by My Side
(2013)
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James Rocchi
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If you're expecting all of Hendrix's familiar numbers, you'll be disappointed, but you're interested in the human being who made those hits, you'll find your sense of the new rewarded even as your sense of the familiar is let down.
Posted Sep 23, 2014
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3.9/10
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This Is Where I Leave You
(2014)
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Jordan Hoffman
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"This Is Where I Leave You" is the very definition of "not my cup of tea," but even making that allowance I can safely call it sub-par work.
Posted Sep 08, 2014
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9.5/10
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Nightcrawler
(2014)
|
Jordan Hoffman
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A fantastic, sleek and fun satire.
Posted Sep 06, 2014
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2.5/10
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The Judge
(2014)
|
Jordan Hoffman
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"Expendables 3" has fewer nauseating clichés than "The Judge."
Posted Sep 06, 2014
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3.2/10
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The Identical
(2014)
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Kate Erbland
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The music-heavy second half doesn't zip with much pizzazz, and even the film's many dips into song-and-dance fail to keep it moving along with anything resembling style. By its third act, things have flatlined.
Posted Sep 04, 2014
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8.2/10
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Wild
(2014)
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James Rocchi
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In a time when the desire for 'strong' female characters on-screen can often create perfect-but-plain parts for actresses to play, seeing a complicated female character on-screen here is even better.
Posted Sep 03, 2014
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7.5/10
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Rosewater
(2014)
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James Rocchi
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"Rosewater" marks the debut of a director whose brains and guts are the equal or the better of his eye and heart ...
Posted Sep 03, 2014
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6.3
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Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
(2014)
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James Rocchi
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The easy joke is that while many are touting "Birdman" for Best Picture, it's undoubtedly the front-runner for Most Picture. This is not a film in need of creativity, passion or energy; what it needed was restraint, consideration and direction.
Posted Sep 03, 2014
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7.9/10
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The Imitation Game
(2014)
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James Rocchi
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Strong, stirring, triumphant and tragic, The Imitation Game may be about a man who changed the world, but it's also about the world that destroyed a man.
Posted Sep 02, 2014
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7.4/10
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To Be Takei
(2014)
|
James Rocchi
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While there's pathos and tragedy here, there's also good humor and human strength.
Posted Aug 28, 2014
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6/10
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Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame to Kill For
(2014)
|
Jordan Hoffman
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In a Hollywood landscape where so much action cinema in plagued with sameness, I can not in good conscience give anything with this level of inspired design an entirely negative review.
Posted Aug 21, 2014
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3/10
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The Expendables 3
(2014)
|
Jordan Hoffman
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Banderas does some of his most charming work since his turn as the Nasonex Bee
Posted Aug 14, 2014
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3/10
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
(2014)
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James Rocchi
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"Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is designed to fill a pipeline, a matter of volume more than quality. It's bland, familiar, lazy and drunk on a deadly mix of nostalgia and unthinking adrenaline.
Posted Aug 06, 2014
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9.1/10
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Guardians of the Galaxy
(2014)
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Jordan Hoffman
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Behold! "Guardians of the Galaxy" is the type of movie where every second sentence starts with "behold!"
Posted Jul 29, 2014
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8.3/10
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Magic in the Moonlight
(2014)
|
Jordan Hoffman
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It isn't as showy or obvious as one of Allen's (many) masterpieces, but it is quite good and deserves your time and respect.
Posted Jul 18, 2014
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7.5/10
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Mood Indigo
(2013)
|
Jordan Hoffman
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Makes Wes Anderson's movies look like grim cinema verit in comparison.
Posted Jul 14, 2014
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9/10
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Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
(2014)
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Jordan Hoffman
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[A] heavy movie, even if it is hidden in the gorilla suit that is action-adventure entertainment.
Posted Jul 09, 2014
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7.4/10
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Earth to Echo
(2014)
|
Kate Erbland
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Combining some classic plot movements and plenty of modern trappings (just, like, a lot of cell phones), Earth to Echo is a sweet family film that has something for everyone.
Posted Jul 07, 2014
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5.9/10
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Tammy
(2014)
|
Jordan Hoffman
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[S]till better than "Identity Thief"
Posted Jul 01, 2014
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6.1/10
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Transformers: Age of Extinction
(2014)
|
Jordan Hoffman
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There are few pleasures in life like having your seat vibrate with the deep, resonant tones of Peter Cullen's Optimus Prime.
Posted Jun 26, 2014
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7.4/10
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Snowpiercer
(2013)
|
James Rocchi
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If the film has one element that never flags or falters, it's Evans.
Posted Jun 19, 2014
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4/10
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Jersey Boys
(2014)
|
Jordan Hoffman
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Defiantly dull
Posted Jun 18, 2014
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|
8/10
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22 Jump Street
(2014)
|
Jordan Hoffman
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...this will be the most "meta" movie ever made...
Posted Jun 08, 2014
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9.5/10
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Edge of Tomorrow
(2014)
|
James Rocchi
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It'd be easy to dismiss Edge of Tomorrow as just another blunt-force summer movie, but it's sharp as a scalpel in the deft hands of its makers, with the kind of smarts, wit, filmmaking and force too many other summer films can only dream of.
Posted Jun 03, 2014
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7.2/10
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X-Men: Days of Future Past
(2014)
|
James Rocchi
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It's a brilliant gameplan for a studio: Manipulate time and space to make the X-Men movies infinitely re-bootable, infinitely re-castable and assuredly profitable, until it sounds like, and is, a kind of prayer: Forever and ever, X-Men.
Posted May 22, 2014
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|
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The Rover
(2014)
|
Jordan Hoffman
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[A] dark, dreary and dull "Mad Max in Neutral"
Posted May 21, 2014
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6.9/10
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Lost River
(2014)
|
Jordan Hoffman
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Ryan Gosling wanted to make an art film and, despite some dull patches, pretty much succeeded.
Posted May 20, 2014
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8.8/10
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Foxcatcher
(2014)
|
Jordan Hoffman
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A thought-provoking and solid piece of work.
Posted May 19, 2014
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|
7/10
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Maps to the Stars
(2014)
|
Jordan Hoffman
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For a movie that has so many problems, it is one of the more watchable ones.
Posted May 19, 2014
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