Category: GENRE
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![The Big Wedding [2013] ★½](https://tlkabtmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/the-big-wedding-poster.jpg?w=1024)
The Big Wedding [2013] ★½
Four Academy Award winners were involved in this craptacular comedy. Four! Robert DeNiro, Susan Sarandon, Diane Keaton and Robin Williams. Time to weep. The plot? DeNiro and his crazy family are trying to survive a weekend wedding celebration, with disastrous consequences (pun intended). This embarrassing comedy wastes a talented cast in a laugh-less story. Gag after gag falls…
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The Host [2013] ★½
“The Host” is another soulless movie based on Stephenie Meyer’s book. I’ve never read it which means I can’t compare the details and nuances of that book and the film. But I can still review it. The needlessly long story involves Saoirse Ronan (“Atonement”, “The Lovely Bones”) as Melanie Stryder, one of the last humans alive until aliens insert…
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The Place Beyond The Pines [2013] ★★★½
Director Derek Cianfrance pours everything he knows about directing in “The Place beyond the Pines”. His movie messes with your head and then floors you. It’s that honest, that powerful. Describing the plot without giving too much away would be impossible. But you should know straight away that it’s a long, emotional ride. The movie is…
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![The Call [2013] ★★½](https://tlkabtmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/the-call-poster.jpg?w=540)
The Call [2013] ★★½
If you’re willing to pay money to see a movie in which Halle Berry plays a 911 operator who spends most of the time talking on the phone, then you know exactly what you’re in for. There’s no use complaining. What makes the movie a fun ride (and believe me it is entertaining) is the…
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3096 Days [2013] ★★½
“3096 Days” is the true story of Natascha Kampusch, the 10 year old Austrian girl who was snatched off the street by a stranger in 1998. Her kidnapper, Wolfgang Priklopil shut her in an underground room beneath his garage, telling her that the doors and windows were booby trapped and that her family had forgotten about her. The…
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Searching For Sugar Man [2012] ★★★½
This year’s Oscar winner for Best Documentary is the incredible story of a Mexican- American songwriter called Rodriguez, who failed miserably in America in the early 70’s but became a pop culture icon in South Africa where he found a huge audience. The sad thing is that Rodriguez had no idea he was a legend…
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Oblivion [2013] ★★
Here’s a hit and miss sci-fi film that leaves you wishing it was better than it is. Why? Because director Joseph Kosinsky (“Tron: Legacy”) wussies out on a sharp premise. Because he wastes a killer cast that’s ready to rock the shit out of it. Never happens. This is not to say that “Oblivion” doesn’t…
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Evil Dead [2013] ★★½
First things first: I’m a huge fan of the original “Evil Dead”, in which 5 friends traveled to a cabin in the mountains where they found evil spirits lurking around in the forest. The movie was shot on a tight budget, but still managed to provide a violent and gruesome experience. So in mind, nothing could…
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G.I Joe: Retaliation [2013] ★★
Sounds like fun. A sequel to the 2009 surprise “hit” based on the popular children’s toys and cartoons. Cool right? Not right. But here’s a little confession: I actually wanted this one to be good. Or at least decent. Or at least a reminder of what got us all fired up about the Joes in…
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The Incredible Burt Wonderstone [2013] ★★½
Steve Carell and Steve Buscemi as corny Vegas magicians. Jim Carrey as a wannabe magician. What’s not to like? “The Incredible Burt Wonderstone”, cheesy as it may sound, has a lot of genuine laughs. Too bad it doesn’t have enough to carry it over the finish line, a mere 90 minutes after it begins. Still,…
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The Croods [2013] ★★★
I had no idea what to expect from this animated feature, and to be honest , I thought the trailer was lame. So it’s with a great sense of relief and delight that I offer an enthusiastic review of “The Croods”. It has a neat premise and often breathtaking execution. What’s more, if you want…
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Olympus Has Fallen [2013] ★★
For about an hour, before the movie crashes and burns in a bonfire of exaggeration and stupidity overkill, “Olympus Has Fallen” shapes up as a fun ride. I’m not a huge fan of director Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day” was massively overrated in my opinion), but the guy knows how to pump the action pedal. Hell, he…
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Love And Honor [2013]
Dreadful movie set during the Vietnam War and starring Liam Hemsworth (“The Hunger Games”) and Austin Stowell as two soldiers who decide to return to America while on leave. Stowell wants to see the girl who dumped him before he shipped out, while Hemsworth finds himself connecting with a pretty “journalist” (Teresa Palmer). I hate the…
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Wadjda [2012] ★★★½
Can I tell you how thrilled I am that I got to see this movie? Part of the response comes from the excitement of discovery: a writer-director from Saudi Arabia,Haifaa Al Mansour, making her feature debut, and creating a movie that is both entertaining and thought provoking. The hype-meisters of moviedom have made it difficult to use words…
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Jack The Giant Slayer [2013] ★★½
“Jack the Giant Slayer” is far from the disaster it’s been made out to be in some circles…nor is it a wonderful achievement. It has enough visual effects and production values for three movies, but not enough story material, which is one of its problems. But it does provide vigorous, eye-filling entertainment, and paves the way…
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Oz The Great And Powerful [2013] ★★★
How you react to this film will have a lot to do with your expectations. I didn’t expect a work of genius. In fact, I approached it with caution, worried that Sam Raimi’s touch layered on top of L. Frank Baum’s surreal material would create a kind of overkill. I’m happy to report that I was pleasantly surprised.…
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Identity Thief [2013] ★★
I wouldn’t call “Identity Thief” a great comedy, but I had a lot of fun watching Melissa McCarthy, who effortlessly commands the screen and proves once again that she’s a real comedian. As an employee at a financial business in Denver, Jason Bateman is cast in the role of straight man, and while he’s good, the main reason…
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Side Effects [2013] ★★★
The most satisfying movie of the year so far is a thriller from Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh who says this is the last film he plans to direct. Damn shame. “Side Effects” is both clever and entertaining with surprises you don’t see coming (I mean it). Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns, who previously worked together…
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Mama [2013] ★★½
It has a spooky atmosphere, a wicked story and a solid performance by Jessica Chastain as a woman who is trying to solve the mystery of how her boyfriend’s nieces survived in the wilderness for five years and why they still seem to be haunted by a menacing ghost they call “Mama.” No fair revealing more…
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