Category: 3/4
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The Iceman [2013] ★★★
Michael Shannon is on a roll: “Revolutionary Road”, “The Runaways”, “Take Shelter”, “Man Of Steel”. He’s a movie star with real acting talents, on full display in “The Iceman”. He deserves major recognition for playing notorious contract killer Richard Kuklinski, who murdered 100 men before his arrest in 1986. “I dub cartoons for Disney” he tells…
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Despicable Me 2 [2013] ★★★
It’s always difficult to cook up a sequel to a successful movie. But the folks at Universal Studios have managed to pull it off. “Despicable Me 2” feels fresh, funny and entertaining even if if the element of surprise is gone. The first movie was a huge hit, as it introduced the unlikeliest of villains/heroes…
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Pacific Rim [2013] ★★★
Granted, Guillermo del Toro’s “Pacific Rim” is not a work of art like his Oscar-winning Pan’s Labyrinth. But his latest Hollywood blockbuster sure is a surprise package of fun, fright and stunning visuals. For starters, it pays homage to such classic era monsters movies as “Godzilla” (1954). The director may be working off a borrowed…
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World War Z [2013] ★★★
I’m a bit late coming to this movie (blame it on surgery), but having heard good buzz I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into it. I can’t call “World War Z” a feel good movie. In fact, you won’t want to be feeling anything after seeing this Zombie apocalypse. But you won’t be able…
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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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Monsters University [2013] ★★★
Not every sequel (or prequel) works. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why director Dan Scanlon and his colleagues at Pixar put so much effort into “Monsters University, to validate its existence. It’s that love for animated films, along with creativity and seemingly boundless imagination, that makes this prequel so good. The movie’s strongest asset is definitely…
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Man Of Steel [2013] ★★★
Take a hike Brandon Routh, there’s a new Superman in town, and he’s younger, fiercer and stronger than ever before. Producer Christopher Nolan, who wrote the script with David Goyer, shows us a Superman caught in the act of inventing himself. The Man of Steel that Henry Cavill plays so potently in this fresh take is still discovering…
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Epic [2013] ★★★
I said this once and I’ll say it again: I don’t ask a lot from animated features. As long as they’re entertaining, colorful and funny, I’m hooked. Chris Wedge, the director who brought us “Ice Age” and “Robots” has done it again with “Epic”. Here is an enjoyable, good-looking, funny animated feature destined to capture…
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The Great Gatsby [2013] ★★★
Months before its release, everyone was already talking about Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby”. So expectations were high, perhaps a bit too high. Early reviews however have been inordinately pissy and there’s no doubt that the movie is too long at 142 minutes, too reliant on its own visual experience in the first half hour…
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Trance [2013] ★★★
Danny Boyle follows up “Slumdog Millionaire” and “127 Hours” with this juicy, mind bending thriller. He and his screenwriters have crafted the kind of twisty tale we don’t see very often nowadays. James McAvoy plays Simon, a London auctioneer who teams up with art thief Franck (Vincent Cassel, as good as always) to steal Goya’s masterpiece, “Witches in…
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![Iron Man 3 [2013] ★★★](https://tlkabtmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/20130423184409iron_man_3_theatrical_poster.jpg?w=864)
Iron Man 3 [2013] ★★★
Just when you wanted to forget all about the ”Iron Man” franchise (yes, part 2 sucked), along comes this primal blast of a second sequel, a potent reminder of what jazzed us about the first “Iron Man” film and the Marvel comics that inspired it. Must have been really hard coming up with a second sequel to a movie everyone…
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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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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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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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Seven Psychopaths [2012] ★★★
I don’t care how much you think director Martin McDonagh is working you over with “Seven Psychopaths”, his first movie since 2008’s “In Bruges” (terrific movie by the way). And I don’t care how many annoying film critics complain that McDonagh doesn’t yet know his way around a camera. “Seven Psychopaths” is literate, lively cinema. A bit…
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The Sessions [2012] ★★★
John Hawkes and Helen Hunt are worth the price of admission to “The Sessions” all by themselves, as far as I’m concerned. That the film is so smart and entertaining is icing on the cake. Many moviegoers are most comfortable with cookie-cutter films that give them what they expect. I didn’t know what to anticipate from “The Sessions“, but…
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Hitchcock [2012] ★★★
What do you say about a movie that introduces the master of suspense as you’ve never seen him before, proves once again that Helen Mirren is one of the finest actresses alive and launches a charm assault that is damn near irresistible? I say, see it. Director Sacha Gervasi has crafted a delightful movie about, of all…
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This Is 40 [2012] ★★★
If you want to hate on Judd Apatow’s “This is 40” then go ahead. But get ready to be drowned out by the sound of laughter from the rest of us. Yes I laughed. Then I laughed some more. I’ll admit there’s something sitcom-trite about the setup. Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) from “Knocked Up”…
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Les Misérables [2012] ★★★
Tom Hooper’s flawed but frequently dazzling “Les Misérables” is a hot-blooded musical fantasia full of songs, songs and more songs. There’s barely any spoken dialogue so basically everyone sings for nearly three hours without giving us a chance to take a deep breath! If this isn’t your cup of tea, now’s your chance to run for the…
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Jack Reacher [2012] ★★★
Call it cheesy, call it bullshit, call it whatever you want, but gotta admit: “Jack Reacher” is one heck of a vehicle for its leading star Tom Cruise, and he makes the most out of it. I couldn’t care less about it when I first saw the trailer and some folks I spoke to told…
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