Category: MUST-SEES
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Selma [2014]
“Selma” mesmerized me from start to finish. It is everything a film about a towering figure like Martin Luther King ought to be: majestic and emotional, respectful but not worshipful. It manages to humanize a historical figure without diminishing him in any way, thanks to director Ava DuVernay’s sure hand, a superior screenplay by Paul Webb, and an…
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![The Best Movies of the Year [2014]](https://tlkabtmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/best-movies-of-2014-post.png?w=1024)
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Whiplash [2014] ★★★½
Movies about music are so easy to get wrong. Yet “Whiplash” gets it wittily, thrillingly right. It turns the familiar into something bracingly fresh and funny. It’s intense, clever and brilliantly acted by its two leads, Miles Teller and J.K Simmons who gives the performance of his career. Written and directed by the gifted Damien Chazelle , from…
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The Imitation Game [2014] ★★★½
Everything adds up- just like a perfectly solved mathematical equation- in “The Imitation Game”, a fantastic movie about the life of Alan Turing, the man who helped crack the notorious German enigma code during World War II (and ultimately won the war). This is one of the best biographies I’ve seen in a long time; It puts…
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Foxcatcher [2014] ★★★½
I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about “Foxcatcher” ever since Bennett Miller won the best director prize at this year’s Cannes festival. Now that’s it’s finally here, this brilliant and devastating drama starring Steve Carell (in a role of a lifetime), Mark Ruffalo (in one of his best performances) and Channing Tatum can…
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Interstellar [2014] ★★★½
The mind-blowing movie event of the year arrives just in time to hold back the flow of Hollywood junk that’s been infesting the multiplex for a while now. “Interstellar”, written and directed by the visionary Christopher Nolan, will be called many things, starting with “Inception” meets “2001: A Space Odyssey” meets “The Grapes of Wrath”. But “Interstellar” glows with…
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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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I Am A Fugitive From A Chain Gang [1932] ★★★★
Fantastic drama/film noir based on Robert E.Burns’ autobiographical story about an innocent man (a fantastic Paul Muni) who accidentally gets mixed up in a robbery that lands him ten years on a chain gang where they treat prisoners like dirt. The story is so powerful and well told that you find yourself rooting for the poor…
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Seven Chances [1925]
Slapstick comedy at its best. Legendary silent movie star Buster Keaton plays a man who will inherit a fortune ($ 7 million to be specific)… if he’s married by 7:00 that evening! Delightfully winning, beautifully shot silent comedy mixes slapstick and verbal jokes in a winning combination. If you’re discovering silent cinema, this gem is…
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X-Men: Days Of Future Past [2014] ★★★½
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” is everything a comic book movie could hope to be: smart, original, exciting and funny. It is vastly superior to all the previous installments, and not just because it draws on one of the most admired stories in the series. Screenwriter Simon Kinberg has used the time travel concept as…
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The Grand Budapest Hotel [2014] ★★★★
The dumb rap against the brilliant Wes Anderson is that his movies (From “Rushmore” to “Moonrise Kingdom”) all hit on similar themes and techniques. Damn him. And damn Scorsese and his obsession with gangsters. And what’s with Tarantino and violence? My point is, an artist can spend a lifetime developing personal themes and deepening their…
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Captain America: The Winter Soldier [2014]
Yes! Yes! Yes! We have a winner. Apologies if I’m fangirling, but how can I not? Marvel sequels are usually a tricky business, which means I couldn’t care less about “Iron Man 2” and “Thor: The Dark World“. By that standard, the Captain America sequel should follow in their footsteps. Not this time. “Winter Soldier”,…
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The Past [2013] ★★★½
Writer/Director Asghar Farhadi made a strong impression with his Oscar winning feature “A Separation” a couple of years ago. His latest movie, “The Past”, isn’t an Oscar contender this year but that’s no reason for you to skip it. Much like his previous film, “The Past” dramatizes a credible situation and holds you in its…
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The Best Movies of the Year [2013]
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Dallas Buyers Club [2013] ★★★½
After years of watching Matthew McConaughey waste his talent on mediocre movies (“Ghosts of Girlfriends Past”? Really?), it’s a pleasure to finally see him sink his teeth into a challenging role. In “Dallas Buyers Club”, he plays Ron Woodroof, the homophobic man who gets diagnosed with HIV and finds himself with just 30 days to…
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Her [2013] ★★★½
Yes, this is the movie where Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with a machine. No, this is not a movie you should rush to avoid. Screenwriting this smart, inventive and passionate is a rare species these days. So all praise to Spike Jonze, who wrote and directed his most original film since 1999’s “Being John…
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The Wolf Of Wall Street [2013] ★★★½
You don’t need to know shit about Wall Street to sink your teeth into this beast of a movie. Martin Scorsese is the man, the most exciting director of his generation, with such classics as “Raging Bull”, “The King of Comedy”, “GoodFellas” and “Casino” to prove it. Here’s the downside: any hint of dissatisfaction from…
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12 Years A Slave [2013] ★★★½
Every once in a while, movie buffs look for movies that push them out of their comfort zones into uncharted territory. “12 Years A Slave”, the latest masterpiece from director Steve McQueen (“Hunger”, “Shame”) is such a movie. It’s a cinematic triumph that defines the American Slave Trade. Chiwetel Ejiofor delivers a bold and brilliantly immersive…
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