Screen

Too many Ds

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When you remake a movie that originally starred Sylvester Stallone and Rob Schneider, it’s not a challenge to clear the bar that was set. Limbo-ing beneath it, however, would require a shrink-ray gun. So it is the faintest of all possible praises to say that Dredd 3D...

Hocus poking

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If you were to divide your ticket price by the number of semi-nude male pelvic thrusts in the faces of women spectators, each hump costs you less than a penny. At times during Magic Mike XXL, I felt like I needed a “horny translator.” That is to say, when Channing ...

Reel to reel | Week of December 12, 2013

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All is Lost Robert Redford is brilliant in his role as a nameless man who must survive after his sailboat sinks leaving him lost at sea. Rated PG-13. At Colony Square. The Armstrong Lie In 2008, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (We Steal Secrets: The ...

‘Armored’: Terrible tough guys

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Ever wonder what kind of guy drives an armored car full of cash? Yeah, I never did either, but that’s the environment that Armored presents us with: a bunch of edgy, tough-guy losers who somehow have ended up as employees of Eagle Shield Security...

Special effects addicts only

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If you’re a fan of special effects and seek entertainment on the big screen, a few hours of escape and some righteous butt-kicking and loud explosions, and if you’ve already enjoyed Transformers and have forgiven Michael Bay for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen...

Bland, flavorless cheese

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Sand dunes at sunset, summer lovin’ (had me a blast!), a third-act medical crisis and a clutch of letters designed to be read aloud in voice-over: Another month, another adaptation of a Nicholas Sparks romance. This month’s is called The Last Song, starring Miley ...

On her own terms

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Amy Schumer tries everything. Especially when it comes to shooting a one-night stand for her movie...

Mastering the mob mentality

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In 1997 Sicilian-born filmmaker Marco Amenta made an hour-long documentary about Rita Atria, the young woman who risked her life by ratting out various members of the Sicilian mob — including members of her own family — pulling the strings and the triggers in the ...

The dreaded ’20’

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It´s a close call, given the lousiness and the scolding tone of much of her material, but Anna Faris survives What’s Your Number? with eccentric comic charm intact. Dumb film; smart comedienne...

Poorly timed gun fetishization

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Slipping into a funk while watching half of Los Angeles get shot up in the second half of The Green Hornet, I was struck by the sheer unluckiness of this film’s timing...

All the president’s meh

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Although he may still be a panty dropper to the baby boomer set, Robert Redford looks like he needs a good nap. The bags under his eyes are scene-stealing, uncredited supporting actors in The Company You Keep, a ’70s-style thriller about investigative journalism that...

Alexander Payne’s sweet stakes

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I like Alexander Payne. I really do. His ability as a director to mine for subtle laughs others would leave buried is as pleasant as his now-signature genre of “middle-aged-and-older men having muted epiphanies.” I guess I just miss the Citizen Ruth/Election-era ...