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Entries Tagged as '★★½'

Q (1982, Larry Cohen)

March 1st, 2010 · No Comments

Q is sort of ripe for a remake. Not because this version has shoddy special effects–while the film’s still effective with them, they look like something out of the 1925 Lost World–but because there are three great roles in the film and nearly a fourth.
Michael Moriarty’s top-billed and definitely gives the film’s most sensational performance […]

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Tagged: Larry Cohen· United Film Distribution Company· ★★½

Edge of Darkness (2010, Martin Campbell)

February 1st, 2010 · 1 Comment

One joke–just to start. One.
Was anti-Semitism a requirement for appearing in Edge of Darkness?
Ok. I’m done.
Mel’s return to the screen (pause–people actually saw Signs) tries hard to not be the return of a movie star. He’s got a lot of scars (the two on his forehead, are those really his?) and he’s balding and he’s got […]

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Tagged: Andrew Bovell· Danny Huston· Martin Campbell· Mel Gibson· Ray Winstone· Troy Kennedy-Martin· William Monahan· ★★½

The Hangover (2009, Todd Phillips)

January 22nd, 2010 · 3 Comments

Huh. Either blockbuster comedies are getting better or I’m getting stupider. The Hangover is actually a rather neat narrative–it’s kind of like Memento if Memento wasn’t like a concept episode of “Miami Vice.” There are some questions of the film’s sexual politics–apparently going to Vegas and carousing with strippers is okay for certain married men […]

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Tagged: Jon Lucas· Scott Moore· Todd Phillips· Warner Bros.· ★★½

Three Days of the Condor (1975, Sydney Pollack)

July 26th, 2009 · No Comments

The espionage genre has gotten so stupid over the last couple decades, it’s hard to even imagine how a mediocre entry could be good. Now, it’s watching the least worst. Three Days of the Condor is such a peculiar film, even though it’s wholly commercial–I mean, Dino De Laurentiis produced it.
It’s not just a spy […]

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Tagged: David Rayfiel· Faye Dunaway· James Grady· John Houseman· Lorenzo Semple Jr.· Max von Sydow· Paramount Pictures· Robert Redford· Sydney Pollack· ★★½

The Long Voyage Home (1940, John Ford)

April 2nd, 2009 · No Comments

John Wayne gets first billing in The Long Voyage Home, but the picture really belongs to Thomas Mitchell, Ward Bond and Ian Hunter. The film’s a combination slash adaptation of four one-act plays–which is somewhat clear from the rather lengthy sequences tied together with shorter joining scenes–and while Wayne gets one of his own, it’s […]

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Tagged: Dudley Nichols· Eugene O'Neill· John Ford· Ward Bond· ★★½

Tank (1984, Marvin J. Chomsky)

March 23rd, 2009 · No Comments

I wonder if the U.S. Army would like to get a movie like Tank out today. The movie’s politics are… well, they’re not hilarious, but they’re so blatant, it’s stunning. It’s a pro-Army film and an intensely anti-Georgia film. It likes Tennessee though. From Tank, a future cultural historian could surmise the residents of Georgia […]

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Tagged: C. Thomas Howell· Dan Gordon· James Garner· Marvin J. Chomsky· Universal Pictures· ★★½

Killer’s Kiss (1955, Stanley Kubrick)

March 19th, 2009 · No Comments

The chase scene in Killer’s Kiss, which occupies almost the entire third act, is a marvel. From the moment Jamie Smith jumps out the window and hits the pavement, the film leaps beyond the potential Kubrick has instilled it with until that point. Before, there’s a lot of great low budget filmmaking, there’s a lot […]

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Tagged: Stanley Kubrick· United Artists· ★★½

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