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Bad title, good movie
Forty-five minutes or so into Tower Heist, the question arises: Is this movie with the title of purest generica — was “Stealing Money” taken? — truly good, or simply less bad than most of what director Brett Ratner has done previously...
Mastering the mob mentality
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 ...
Reel to reel | Week of August 16, 2012
AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY Ai Weiwei is China’s most famous international artist, and its most outspoken domestic critic. At Chez Artiste and Century. — Landmark Theatres THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN Peter Parker gets a new look (and an origin story) in this Marvel remake ...
Not in the Zone
Matt Damon stars in Green Zone as Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller, who is increasingly frustrated by the pointless missions he’s sent on, finding empty warehouses where intel has pinpointed weapons of mass destruction. Leading the government conspiracy is Clark ...
Review: ‘Lone Ranger’ is Kemosloppy
Good news, Washington Redskins! For one glorious weekend in the summer of 2013, your unapologetically racist franchise mascot is not the most grotesque pop culture representation of Native Americans! One can only imagine owner Dan Snyder pounding copious shots of “...
Short but sweet
For decades, the Oscar for short film was the ignored stepchild of the Academy Awards. In times of limited distribution, the question was never which short film deserved the award most, but rather which nominee had been viewed by the most judges. The award was a ...
Reel to reel | Week of July 5, 2012
ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER No more sensitive, sparkly vampires — Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter takes bloodsuckers back to their grisly origins as terrifying monsters. In the film’s universe, Southern slave owners are vampires, and President Lincoln is the one...
Light tone, dark topic
Some films are at once disappointing and successful, worth seeing despite the limitations of their source material...
