recent product reviews
Romeo + Juliet (1996)
Interesting concept, but not even a modern treatment is enough to make Shakespeare appealing to me.
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Warrior (2011)
A nicely paced, well-told, real story with real characters. This is a good fighting movie, probably the best since Rocky. Hardy, Edgerton, and Nolte all turn in Oscar-worthy performances. I find it interesting that the two quintessential American tough guys were played by non-Americans. A statement on the sad state…
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Unknown (2011)
It’s basically The Bourne Identity with Neeson reprising his role as a bad-ass from Taken. In the course of finding his true identity, some of the decisions Harris makes when interacting with others are dumb or unrealistic. Not knowing he was an agent, he would have been more inquisitive and…
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The Avengers (2012)
Fantastic action/effects and a pretty good story, if not a bit confusing for those not familiar with all of the backstories, particularly Thor’s. But it doesn’t take long to get up to speed on the characters. Through careful storytelling, their individual strengths and weaknesses are revealed in time. Great casting…
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Dying Young (1991)
A young Roberts good, and Scott’s performance a cancer patient is heartbreaking and courageous, but the story’s missing something. Is it too simple? Are the supporting characters and their relationships to the main characters underused and underexplored? There’s obvious drama with a dying man falling in love, but there’s potential…
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The Tree of Life (2011)
Long and meandering and cerebral, it’s stream-of-consciousness with a Steadicam. That’s Malick. Beautiful photography, together with thoughtful set design, careful exposure, and a moving camera really capture the time and place. Wonderful astronomy, geology, and biology effects. Great acting, or non-acting, from the kids. Pitt and Chastain are good, but…
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City Lights (1931)
People love this one, but it’s not one of Chaplin’s best, in my opinion. Modern Times weaves a good story with Chaplin’s physical comedy much more effectively. An unconventionally ambiguous ending for its time. Also not sure why it’s called City Lights.
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The Pianist (2002)
Any story about Jews in WWII Poland is going to be depressing. Relying on that as the source of the drama, and not the personal story of the main characters, is cheating. The story is all over the place. There are times when I’m not sure where Szpilman is, why…
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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 2,374 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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