recent product reviews
Real Steel (2011)
Not horrible. Pulls many of the same strings as Rocky. Goyo is actually pretty good. Olga Fonda is a knockout.
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Wet Hot American Summer (2001)
Some humorous underacting, and a few funny lines. A lot of good nostalgia humor from an impressive cast of young comic actors. Rudd nails it. A veil of weak Saturday Night Live humor cheapens the whole thing just a bit.
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3 Idiots (2009)
A revelry of piss, suicide, musical numbers, crying, and bad comedy. Any attempt at drama is killed by some combination of the aforementioned. With so many swings in mood, it’s hard to appreciate the story. Humor comes in the form of slapstick, childish insults, and carnival music. And when the…
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Network (1976)
A look at the self-consciousness of television in the 70’s, how mass media sensationalism has corrupted and ruined us, and the state of the corporate-driven world. In these respects, the film was way ahead of its time. Today, we need a similar comment on the Internet. Also an interesting comment…
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Once Upon a Time in America (1984)
A Leone epic, but the length of the movie is also epic and the pacing is excruciatingly slow. I know there was controversy about how this film was cut by American studios, and cutting things out indiscriminately is not the right thing to do, but I know that there is…
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The Expendables 2 (2012)
With an improved story, some heart, more tongue-in-cheek humor, and snappy lines, this one’s better than the first. Willis and Schwarzenegger surprisingly good in action roles. Jet Li’s brilliant but hardly in the movie at all. Why? Yu is good, but I would have liked more action from her to…
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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Craig is solid in the lead, and Mara fills some big shoes with a courageous performance. But why does everyone pull off a Swedish accent except Craig? Casting choices aside, this film doesn’t have much that is original. The same story (albeit with some slight changes), style, and intensity are…
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U2: Elevation 2001 Live from Boston (2001)
Documentary-like concert footage, with simple shots of the performers and few shots of the crowd. Not much pizzazz. Much of the footage suffers from resolution and/or focus issues. The Bono cam is cool but hardly used. The tour’s flashy video is hardly integrated at all. The only creative license seems…
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127 Hours (2010)
Harrowing, emotional story and performance. For the first time, Franco really shows what he can do. Really uncomfortable to watch, but that just makes the ending that much more powerful. Great score, editing, and photography, especially considering the small space where most of the story took place. Boyle knows what…
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Another Earth (2011)
It’s fine having a weird main character, but when everyone is weird, or if everyone acts as if the main character is not being weird, it doesn’t work. When people do not act and react in realistic ways, the story is not realistic. And I won’t even get into the…
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I'm a photographer, web developer, travel enthusiast, and movie buff living in Alexandria, Virginia, USA.In the summer of 1993, I started writing reviews for every movie I saw and haven't looked back. I'm up to 2,371 reviews now. This makes me cool or a complete dork, depending on your perspective.
Some of these reviews contain spoilers, so if that bothers you, don't read!
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