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The Upside Review: Down with Mediocrity

Deirdre Crimmins — Fri, 11 Jan 2019 13:00:16 +0000

The Upside is a pandering mashup of nearly every scrap of emotional shorthand in a cinematic dustbin. Though the effect is not wholly unpleasant, it’s dull, disingenuous, and just as funny as a polite joke from a cashier to pass the time at the checkout counter. The Upside is an English language adaptation of the...

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Now Streaming: Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams

Josh Zyber — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 13:00:38 +0000

Nominally based on writings by the late author of ‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ (better known for its movie adaptation, ‘Blade Runner’), Amazon’s anthology sci-fi series ‘Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams’ is perhaps more likely inspired by the success of Netflix’s ‘Black Mirror’. Unfortunately, the first season is frustratingly erratic in quality. Considering that...

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‘Last Flag Flying’ Review: Talkin’ War with Linklater

Philip Brown — Wed, 22 Nov 2017 17:00:42 +0000

During the press tour for ‘Last Flag Flying’, Richard Linklater liked to crack a joke about how this is as close to a war film as he’ll ever make. He’s not wrong. Though the movie doesn’t contain any scenes shot on a battlefield much less any combat, the long series of rambling conversations about military...

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‘Power Rangers’ Review: Go-Go Goofy Nonsense

Philip Brown — Thu, 23 Mar 2017 20:00:28 +0000

Of all the pop culture products of the 1990s to make a comeback, ‘Power Rangers’ is one of the least deserving. The original serialized action figure commercial was never particularly good. But ’90s kids love nostalgia, so now here’s that ‘Power Rangers’ blockbuster you wanted. It still ain’t good, but at least it’s watchable this...

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‘Why Him?’ Review: Charming Bickering

Philip Brown — Thu, 22 Dec 2016 17:00:24 +0000

‘Why Him?’ isn’t exactly the most creative comedy to come along in a while. In-laws feuding with young lovers is a comedy cliché that dates back to around the time someone first noticed slipping on a banana peel had laugh potential. However, as far as big lumbering studio comedies go, you could do far worse...

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‘The Infiltrator’ Review: Breaking Scarface

Philip Brown — Tue, 09 Aug 2016 19:00:19 +0000

It was inevitable that Bryan Cranston would find himself playing a collection of cardboard gangster types following the success of ‘Breaking Bad’. That’s just how typecasting works. At least it took a while before audiences were treated to his first deeply mediocre crack at the faux ‘Scarface’ bat. ‘The Infiltrator’ comes with all the bad...

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Weekend Roundtable: Most Undeserving 2016 Oscar Nominees

Josh Zyber — Fri, 19 Feb 2016 20:00:35 +0000

The Oscars are just a week away. As happens most years, some of the nominees for this year’s Academy Awards are less deserving of awards and praise than others. Like some of these, for example. Mike Attebery I had high hopes for ‘Steve Jobs‘. Even after its somewhat tortured production, I thought the film stood...

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‘Kung Fu Panda 3’ Review: Third Time’s Fine

Philip Brown — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 20:00:10 +0000

The ‘Kung Fu Panda’ series has always been far better than it had any right to be. Hinged on a simple cartoon premise (cute animal who has no business learning martial arts becomes master, d’awww…), it’s filled with such wit, heart and visual invention that each chapter managed to easily surpass expectations. The third entry,...

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‘Trumbo’ Review: Entertaining Bio-Swill

Philip Brown — Wed, 25 Nov 2015 15:00:41 +0000

‘Trumbo’ attempts to dive into the complicated life of an important figure in Hollywood history, while also serving up easy-to-swallow drama for the award-bait crowd and qualifying as a comedy too. That’s quite a bit for a movie that ultimately lands as light entertainment to pull off. Indeed, ‘Trumbo’ frequently sags under the weight of...

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TIFF Journal: ‘Trumbo’

Philip Brown — Wed, 16 Sep 2015 19:00:00 +0000

Hey! Here’s a 2015 bio-pic about Hollywood overcoming adversity, so I guess we’re officially in awards season! Fortunately, this is actually a decent one thanks to a deft sense of humor from all involved. You just have to accept all the melodrama and cheese as inherent traits of the genre. Bryan Cranston stars as Dalton...

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SteelBook Alert: The One Who Knocks

Josh Zyber — Wed, 15 Oct 2014 16:00:02 +0000

As the home video studios focus their efforts on DVD and digital streaming, TV content on Blu-ray is getting to be rare enough in itself these days. For a TV show to get collectible SteelBook releases, it has to be a property with a considerable following. UK retailer Zavvi is counting on fans of ‘Breaking...

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Collect All Monsters! Win ‘Godzilla’ 2014 on Blu-ray!

Josh Zyber — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 13:00:33 +0000

He’s smashed his way from Tokyo to San Francisco, and now he’s ready to stomp into your living room. We have a spare Blu-ray copy of this summer’s new blockbuster hit ‘Godzilla’ to give away, and it can be yours easily. To win a copy of the Blu-ray, all you have to do is participate...

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