Category: thriller
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The Boy Next Door [2015] ★
Ain’t it funny when someone like Jennifer Lopez tries to give her acting career another shot when we all agreed that it ended back in 2003? In “The Boy Next Door”, she hits rock bottom (take that, “Gigli”), playing a 40-something high school teacher who has a one night stand with the “boy” next door (played by…
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Taken 3 [2015] ★
Ripping off “The Fugitive” and pretty much every single action thriller ever made, Liam Neeson has sadly saved the worst for last. “Taken 3” (or “Tak3n”) is 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent desperation. At 109 minutes, it’s almost 20 minutes longer than its crappy predecessor. Which means you’ll have to suffer even more before the credits start…
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Repentance [2014] ★½
Forest Whitaker was so good in his Oscar winning performance in “The Last King Of Scotland” so why did he go and spoil everything with a cheesy thriller that buries him in endless clichés? I’d call this turd “Misery” meets “Psycho” but that would insult those movies. Much like “No Good Deed” (another movie you should avoid), “Repentance” doesn’t move…
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Diabolique [1955] ★★★★
Henri-Georges Clouzot’s most notorious film is still terrifying almost 60 years later. An unmerciful school master (Paul Meurisse, terrific) is murdered by his long suffering wife (Vera Clouzot) and mistress (Simone Signoret). But then strange things start to happen. Haunting, exciting thriller will you keep you guessing at every turn, right through the unforgettable finale. Hailed…
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Gone Girl [2014] ★★★½
Not only did David Fincher have to sweat out making his directing return following “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” by adapting Gillian Flynn’s 2012 best seller, he also cast Ben Affleck in the leading role. Ballsy. So here’s the deal: His film sneaks up, messes with your head and then floors you. You can’t shake it. It’s…
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A Walk Among The Tombstones [2014] ★★½
Formulaic as though it may be, “A Walk Among The Tombstones” is wildly entertaining: a whodunit thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat…at least for a while. It’s also a great vehicle for Liam Neeson, who plays private detective Matt Scudder, a character originally created by mystery writer Lawrence Block in a series of…
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No Good Deed [2014] ★½
If you’re wondering why most studios dump their worst movies in September, buy a ticket to see “No Good Deed”, the latest crap from director Sam Miller. Meanwhile, here’s a memo to Taraji P. Henson: You were so good as Queenie in “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” , so why’d you go spoil everything with a cheesy…
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3 Days To Kill [2014] ★★
Luc Besson movies tend to be, well not so great. If you’re still enthused about his 1994 film “Leon”, my apologies. I’m not. In his latest film, directed by McG, Kevin Costner plays an international spy who tries to build a closer relationship with his family when he is diagnosed with a terminal disease. The…
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In Fear [2013] ★★½
Two people find themselves lost in a maze of backwoods roads. If you ask why, “In Fear” is so not the movie for you. Logic goes south the minute Tom persuades his girlfriend Lucy to go on their first weekend getaway as a couple. Bam! They’re lost in a maze for nearly 90 minutes. And…
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Reasonable Doubt [2014] ★½
In this boring thriller, district attorney Dominic Cooper (a decent actor) commits a fatal hit and run after a night of drinking. When Clinton (Samuel L. Jackson), a man who lost his wife and child in a deadly home invasion, is charged with killing the man Dominic struck, the lawyer works hard to convict the…
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Non-Stop [2014] ★★½
In “Taken”, Liam Neeson played a former CIA operative who was able to outsmart a sex trafficking ring when his daughter was kidnapped. Audiences (including me) responded well to his take-charge character. His latest film, “Non-Stop”, by Spanish director Jaume Collet-Serra (who previously worked with Neeson on “Unknown”) casts the always watchable actor in a…
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Grand Piano [2013] ★★½
Ok, the movie is pretty similar to 2002’s “Phone Booth”, in which Colin Farell was trapped in a booth by a sniper. In “Grand Piano”, we’re in a concert hall and Elijah Wood plays a world class pianist who finds himself forced to play flawlessly or have his wife gunned down by a madman. What’s…
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Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit [2014] ★★½
While everyone is busy with Oscar nominations, “Jack Ryan” sneaks into theaters in time to remind us that January releases don’t have to be strictly terrible (I’m talking to you, Hercules). Yes, it’s a routine spy thriller. Yes, three actors have already played the same role in the past (Alec Baldwin in “Hunt for Red…
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Carrie [2013] ★★
There are cellphones and YouTube videos in this reboot of Stephen King’s “Carrie”. But basically audiences will mostly divide along two lines: those who think director Kimberly Peirce (“Boys Don’t Cry”) has no business remaking Brian De Palma’s 1976 movie, and those who never heard of De Palma’s controversial take on Stephen King’s novel. Your…
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Paranoia [2013] ★½
In a year of crappy movies, “Paranoia” wins the award for stupidest thriller I’ve seen in quite a while. It takes a bunch of talented people (with the exception of Liam Hemsworth who’s just awful to watch), drops them in a quicksand of clichés and watches them sink. That would be Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman…
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Killing Season [2013] ★½
Some people think Robert De Niro and John Travolta in one movie would be a kick to watch. Not a chance. “Killing Season” defines the word “boring”. Travolta, with an Eastern European accent, a shaved head and bizarre, ugly facial hair plays a member of the Serbian Scorpions. In a lousy prologue, we learn that he…
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Stoker [2013] ★★★
If you’re not interested in what Wentworth Miller (“Prison Break”) and director Chan Wook Park (“Oldboy”) are cooking up, you’re missing out on one of the weirdest movies of the year. “Stoker” is also an ode to Hitchcock’s “Shadow of a Doubt”, in which a young girl bonds with her serial killer uncle (yikes!). The title…
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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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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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Broken City [2013] ★★
“Broken City” should have and could have been a lot better. I mean just the idea of Mark Wahlberg playing a cop who is used then discarded by the mayor (Russell Crowe) sounds like a dream popcorn movie. But the movie, directed by Allen Hughes (“From Hell”, “The Book of Eli”) goes down in a sea…
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