Category: The Twenty-First Century
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Everest [2015] ★★★
It hurts to watch “Everest”. I have never seen a more powerful story about mountain climbers and I can’t count how many times the movie forced the audience to look away. Director Baltasar Kormakur, his actors and cinematographer outdid themselves to bring this gripping story to the screen, and they have much to be proud of. The reenactment of the…
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The Runner [2015] ★½
Nicolas Cage in yet another paycheck movie, this time as a politician accused of corruption in the aftermath of the BP oil spill in 2010. The result is a boring, confusing mess from start to finish. Pains me to say this but I don’t think we’ll ever see Nic Cage in a decent movie again. Face…
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Black Mass [2015] ★★★½
Maybe you’ve heard the internet buzz about “Black Mass” being Johnny Depp’s comeback movie. Maybe you’ll think so too if you’ve seen “Mortdecai” and/or last year’s horrible “Transcendence“. Despite the gangster theme (Depp has been there before in “Donnie Brasco” and “Public Enemies), “Black Mass” is one terrific movie. The opening scene sets the mood:…
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American Ultra [2015] ★★
I have no faith in myself to speak coherently about this silly farce. But I do have faith in Jesse Einserbeg. Yes, I liked “Zombieland” and “The Social Network” that much and I’m eager for his next, “Batman Vs Superman” with Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill. Ok so here are the facts: Einsenberg goes crazy in “American Ultra”…
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We Are Your Friends [2015] ★½
Like you needed a movie called “We Are Your Friends” to confirm the fact that Zac Efron’s career will never take off. Efron plays Cole, a struggling DJ in California trying to pull it off in the music industry. Writer director Max Joseph bathes this cheesy mess with unnecessary drama. What’s the use? If you can’t figure…
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Ricki And The Flash [2015] ★★½
Here’s the thing about Meryl Streep: I can watch her in almost anything. And now at 66, she’s still constantly looking for new, challenging roles. “Ricki and the Flash” won’t win her a 4th Oscar, but she’s completely convincing and mesmerizing as an 80’s-style rock-and-roller who performs cover versions of familiar hits with her longtime band at…
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The Transporter Refueled [2015] ★★
Alright folks let’s play a fun game called “Can you tell the Transporters movies apart?”. Probably not. So to make things easier, Hollywood replaced Jason Statham with the much younger Ed Skrein as former special-ops mercenary Frank Martin. His latest mission? Help a femme-fatale and her three partners get revenge against a sinister Russian kingpin. Not an…
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Southpaw [2015] ★★★
You’d think with movies like “Rocky”, “Cinderella Man”, Million Dollar Baby” and “The Fighter”, Hollywood would run out of good boxing stories to tell. Hold on tight. “Southpaw” is a beast of a movie, an emotional roller coaster that threatens to go off the rails, but never does. Director Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”, “The Equalizer”), working from…
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Trainwreck [2015] ★★½
As much as I like Judd Apatow and his comedies (from “Knocked Up” to “This is 40”), I didn’t fully appreciate his latest effort. “Trainwreck” is frustratingly uneven and drags at 125 minutes . Luckily, the movie never runs on sitcom empty. How could it, with a terrific cast, led by Amy Schumer as a highly sexual woman…
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Hitman: Agent 47 [2015] ★★
I may sound like a party pooper but didn’t we agree that Hollywood should stop making movies based on famous video games? “Super Mario Bros”, “Resident Evil”, “Silent Hill”…to name a few. Then there’s “Hitman”. The first attempt goes all the way back to 2007. The movie opened to mostly toxic reviews; in short: fans…
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Vacation [2015] ★½
As if we needed a “Vacation” reboot. The 1983 original starring Chevy Chase wasn’t exactly Shakespeare, but it was funny and entertaining enough. The new one, starring Ed Helms as a family guy who decides to take his wife (Christina Applegate) and two sons on a “fun” road trip to “Walley World”, has nothing much to…
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Fantastic 4 [2015] ★½
Don’t let the success of other superhero movies tell you that Hollywood can’t fuck up. For that, get a load of “Fantastic 4”, a new example of how NOT to make a comic book movie unless you want to screw things up. Terrible CGIs, horrible acting, cheesy writing (was it written by a 10 year…
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The Gift [2015] ★★★
Aussie actor Joel Edgerton couldn’t have picked a better vehicle to explode his proper skills as a loner who can’t seem to let go of the past. Edgerton also directs Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall, who play a wealthy married couple who have moved from Chicago to Los Angeles for a fresh start. Things go crazy weird when Simon bumps…
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Irrational Man [2015] ★★★
It’s difficult to dislike Woody Allen’s latest movie. It isn’t one of his best, and I’ll admit it doesn’t feel as fresh or original as “Crimes and Misdemeanors” or even “Match Point”, but it has all the right ingredients to make you fall for it. The great Joaquin Phoenix is well cast as Abe Lucas, an…
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The Man From U.N.C.L.E [2015] ★★★
Caught between James Bond and this year’s surprise hit “Kingsman”,”The Man From U.N.C.L.E” is an elegant combo of action, espionage and comedy that breathes exciting new life into the spy genre. Adapted from a TV series that aired from 1964 to 1968 and directed by Guy Ritchie with the same “anything-goes” ingenuity he brought to “Snatch” and…
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Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation [2015] ★★★
I’m a sucker for the Mission Impossible movies. And I do believe that, unlike many series, this one has actually improved with each new installment ever since MI3 hit theaters back in 2006. Director J.J Abrams reinvigorated the concept back then and Brad Bird followed it up with the incredibly entertaining “Ghost Protocol” a few…
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Inside Out [2015] ★★★½
Far too many contemporary animated movies are like fast food, easily digested and just easily forgotten. Then there’s the folks at Pixar, who never fail to impress me. Their latest feature, “Inside Out”, is an amazing achievement, for a variety of reasons. It’s a breathtaking ride into the realm of pure imagination. Its story isn’t easily encapsulated, and…
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Ted 2 [2015] ★★½
The first “Ted” caught me off-guard. Instead of a silly film about a talking teddy bear, director and co-writer Seth MacFarlane raised the bar by leaving out the cuteness and focusing on the hardcore hilarity. And he found just the right actors to knock it out of the park. In short: I was instantly hooked. The movie was…
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Ant-Man [2015] ★★★
It’s about time that a tiny superhero got to kick dirt in the face of the other heroes in the Marvel universe. I’m talking about Scott Lang (Paul Rudd, well cast), a small-time thief who just got out of prison. He can’t seem to find a decent job, his friends are all crooks, and his wife…
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Pixels [2015] ★★½
If you grew up playing Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Centipede and other arcade games, then “Pixels” is probably the movie event of the year for you. I mean who wouldn’t want to see all these characters on the big screen? And the movie gave me a lot to cheer for: a fresh concept and clever…
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