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Drive away
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"Speed Racer, the popular cartoon, races his way onto the big screen. Speed Racer is a fantastical, whirling, spinning, psychedelic abomination with almost no plot, horrific sets and one-liners that would be rejected by Laffy Taffy. Speed Racer (Young: Nicholas Elia, Old: Emile Hirsch) grew up wanting to race cars and looking up to his racecar driving brother, Rex Racer (Scott Porter). At the first chance he got, Speed became a professional race car driver. Heading up the crew is Pops (John Goodman), Speed and Rex’s father. Rex is tempted by money to leave his father’s team and live the life of luxury by joining a larger racing team. My husband and I have been playing a free race car game called TrackMania. We’ve become addicted. You fly off ramps, go upside down and avoid obstacles. It is fun because it is just realistic enough to be believable but novel enough to be fun. Movies have to find that same mix of novel and realistic. Andy and Larry Wachow ... " [More]
Lovely
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"The Visitor strings together unlikely events in the lives of a professor and his visitors. Remarkably sincere and touching, the unimaginable events feel natural. Awkward Connecticut economics professor Walter Vale (Richard Jenkins) has essentially checked out from his job, his personality and his life. Walter is forced by circumstance to return to his abandoned New York City apartment. When he returns he meets Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and Zainab (Danai Jekesai Gurira), who have taken up unauthorized residence in his apartment. Tarek and Zainab teach Walter to live again, to come out of his shell and remind him how unfair life can be. Writer and director Thomas McCarthy wrote all of the characters in The Visitor with almost contradictory personality attributes which gives them each a complex humanity. McCarthy wrote Walter Vale painfully dull and bumbling but it was Richard Jenkins who also makes Walter charming and heart breaking. In nearly every setting, Jenkins both makes the ... " [More]
So funny I peed myself a little
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"An isolated child and victim of bullying, a young British boy creates the Son of Rambow in his head and is encouraged to put his vision on film. Unbelievably funny, insanely charming and blissfully irresistible, Son of Rambow will make you smile, reminisce and live your childhood again. Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner), pure, innocent, and adorable, has been segregated from the rest of 1980’s British society as a member of the strict religious group The Brethren. The Bretheren have strict rules, one of which is a ban on any T.V. viewing. When hiding at another boy’s house Will is exposed to a pirated version of Rambo: First Blood, the Son of Rambow, an ass kicking child hero, is born. The class bully, Lee Carter (Will Poulter), sees Will’s Son of Rambow doodles and encourages him to make it into a movie. A French exchange student (Jules Sitruk) shakes up the school and the lives of both Lee and Will. Much hilarity ensues, child antics, funny stunts and hilario ... " [More]
Almost Takes Off
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"A genesis story, Iron Man answers the question, “Where did Iron Man come from?” Laughter dots the super hero backdrop that is visually fun to watch but lacks the lift off to be a classic super hero movie. Like the wise one says, “necessity is the mother of invention” and Tony Stark’s mother birthed the crude chrysalis of Iron Man in a cave in Afghanistan. While demonstrating the Jericho Missile, spoiled, womanizing, arrogant weapons manufacturer and brilliant engineer Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr. ) is kidnapped by the Ten Rings terrorist group led by Raza (Faran Tahir). He is seriously injured during the attack. They hold him captive with a kidnapped doctor, Yinsen (Shaun Toub), who saves him from further death by attaching a device to his chest. Yisen and Tony work together to escape alive. Instead of recreating the missile for the terrorists, Tony develops the beginnings of Iron Man, emotionally and mechanically. Iron Man is studded with e ... " [More]
Horton Hears A who - Fun, excep ...
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"I LOVE DR. SEUSS. (Ok, now that everyone knows the obvious, on to the review.) Horton Hears a Who is the animated cinematic adaptation of Dr. Seuss’ universally loved book about an elephant who believes people are people, no matter how small. With the exception of the actor who plays the main character, Horton Hears a Who is a touching film with real heart. While teaching his small jungle students on day, Horton (Jim Carrey) hears what can best be explained as a small voice floating through the air. He realizes it is coming from a speck, at the mercy of the wind. With great care Horton catches the speck on a clover. With a little ingenuity, Horton is able to communicate with the mayor of the Whos, the people on the speck. When the crusty know it all Kangaroo (Carol Burnett) finds out about Horton’s “discovery” she is quick to insult and berate him. Undeterred, Horton sets off on a quest to save the people on the speck from his world. Writers K ... " [More]
Flawless - Hardly
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"High-heel shoes and Cigarette star in the diamond heist snoozer Flawless. Cigarette’s performance is smokin’ but it couldn’t save the movie from its ridiculously illogical and uneven script or from the likes of the other performances. Flawless? - there couldn’t be a worse name for this movie. London Diamond Company owns the diamond trade all over the world. Rotund, greedy diamond executives keep the entire supply of diamonds in the vault in the basement. Laura Quinn (Demi Moore), assisted by her sidekicks Cigarette (Marlboro Light) and High-heel (Jimmy Choo), is a negotiation manager who gets passed over numerous times for a better job. After the last time she got passed up, Mr. Hobbs (Michael Caine), the night janitor, offers her the opportunity to stick it to the man by stealing a thermos full of diamonds. What Laura Quinn doesn’t know will hurt her. To call the writing in Flawless atrocious would be like calling Bill Gates a man of comfort ... " [More]
Nanking
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"Nanking The Raping of Nanking isn’t a figure of speech to the people in Nanking. Narrated by actors but made of primarily of firsthand accounts by survivors of the Nanking atrocities, Nanking is bound to educate, enlighten and horrify. In 1937, long before the Americans entered World War Two, the Japanese invaded China. They bombed most of Nanking. The rich people fled like rats from a fire, leaving the poor and infirmed to fend for themselves. Missionaries from all over the white world decided to stay during the attack to provide a refuge and place for medicine, food and shelter to those people left behind. They started a safe zone in hopes the Japanese would respect it and the poor people of Nanking would be safe. They did not. It is estimated during that time that 20 thousand rapes occurred in less than six weeks and 200 thousand people were killed in the same time. Many of the murders and rapes were done in front of family members in particularly brutal fashion ... " [More]
surprising mix of horror and hu ...
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"I Am Legend got my heart racing, and breaking. A surprising mix of horror and humanity, I Am Legend works in ways drama and horror don’t alone. A cure for one of humanity’s most horrific diseases is welcomed as an amazing advancement for medicine. The miracle drug came with unexpected side effects, photosensitive zombification. Military doctor Robert Neville (Will Smith) works to try to cure the problem. He finds himself alone in New York City with only his dog, Sam, and swarms of infected. Together they try to find a cure for the disease, try to survive and try not to succumb to the extreme loneliness. It’s challenging when you have no dialogue to hide behind, or to explain how you are feeling to truly get the point across. Will Smith does a fair amount of dialogue-free acting. There is a scene with his dog about half way through the movie when he looks completely naked, emotionally. I was touched by the scenes with his family and his dog, scared f ... " [More]
It's Silver
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"Set in an alternate universe where souls live outside the body as demons, The Golden Compass is no children’s movie. Graphic violence, beautiful special effects and dark, rich plot lines are far too dark for a child. Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) is sent off by her uncle to a boarding school. While she is there she runs amuck, lying and creating general mischief with her friend Roger (Ben Walker), until he is kidnapped. Her uncle, Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) raises eyebrows when he bucks the Magisterium, the religious authority in their world, and sets off to study a forbidden substance, Dust. So enraged by the fact that he would commit serious acts of heresy, the Magisterium sends Marisa Coulter (Nicole Kidman) to collect Lyra and keep an eye on her while they hunt her uncle. What the Magisterium doesn’t know is Lyra has the last Alethiometer, a truth telling device. Lyra meets an ice bear named Iorek Byrnison (Ian McKellen) and an aeronaut Lee Scoresby (S ... " [More]
All sizzle, no sausage
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"Beowulf, the classic tale finally brought to animated life. Like an untended cookie jar, Beowulf has a beautifully tempting outside but when you reach your hand in all you get is crumbs under your fingernails. Rowdy King Hrothgar’s (Anthony Hopkins) kingdom is visited by an unspeakable monster, Grendel. Grendel (Crispin Glover) runs amuck, ripping people limb from limb for no reason more than drinking and merriment. King Hrothgar offers any hero who can kill Grendel half his country’s wealth. Intrigued by glory and wealth, self-important Beowulf and fourteen of his men come from across the sea to kill Grendel. Beowulf doesn’t know that glory and wealth won’t be the only thing he gets. Each of the animated characters looks just like the actor who plays him. At first I thought this would be annoying but after a while, I think it was the better choice. Instead of Anthony Hopkins’ face popping into my mind while he’s talking, my focus is on ... " [More]
For men and women
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"No Country for Old Men introduces us to ruthless killer Anton Chigurh and his gruesome air gun. A fascinating murder, phenomenal writing, and obvious attention to the visual details, No Country for Old Men is a truly adult horror drama. Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is hired to go after Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) when Moss stumbles across, and steals, two million dollars in drug money. Sherriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) follows Chigurh across Texas, trying to stop the killing. Chigurh’s demented nobility makes him ruthless in his pursuit. Moss’s greed makes him desperate to hang on to the money. Sherriff Bell always seems to be one step behind. The story is simple, but the execution is bold, in your face, and captivating. The characters are simple and uncomplicated but not feeble. They remind me of modern design; the beauty is in the simplicity. You don’t have to spend much time wondering what a character is going to do, you’ve pretty much fi ... " [More]
Lions for Lambs: All lamb, no ...
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"Lions for Lambs examines the consequences of American apathy, fear mongering, and willful, mindless submission to the drum beat laid out by those whose only tool for change is the hammer of war. While the themes are timely and meaningful, Lions for Lambs lacks resonance to make a stabbing point about our current military, political and media situation or poignant enough to make a more historical point about dispassion by citizens. Senator Jasper Irving (Tom Cruise) calls reporter Janine Roth (Meryl Streep), to take an entire hour to explain his new plan for winning the war in Afghanistan. Timidly and politely, Roth tries not to repeat her personal mistake when covering the run up to the Iraq War. The soldiers involved in the new plan, Earnest Rodriquez (Michael Peña) and Arian Finch (Derek Luke) are confronted by unexpected danger and left on a freezing mountain with only each other. Earnest and Arian’s former college professor Stephen Malley (Robert Redford) tr ... " [More]