Reviews BARNEY’S VERSION. Based on Canadian author Mordecai Richler’s final novel, published in 1997 (he died in 2001), Barney’s Version is the story of a garrulous, not particularly attractive and often irritating Barney (Paul Giamatti in what is his best role to date) who, unaccountably it would seem, manages to hook up with some very […]
Charlie Myers
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Epic Failures
REVIEWS: THE EAGLE. Epics have been a major genre almost from the beginning of film history, the earliest being imports from Europe. The best known from the silent era are probably Birth of a Nation and Intolerance from D.W. Griffiths, both released before 1920. The form seemed to have reached its high point with all […]
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Past: Tense
Previews: JUST GO WITH IT. Adam Sandler teams up with long-time collaborator director Dennis Dugan (Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy) in a rom-com co-starring Jennifer Aniston. Sandler plays a bachelor plastic surgeon whose method of bedding girls is to pretend to be unhappily married. When he meets a schoolteacher who seems to be “the one” (Brooklyn […]
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Jason Statham Is Not Gay
Previews SANCTUM. A group of hot-shot spelunkers gets more than they bargained for when they explore “the mother of all caves.” Inspired by the near-death experience of co-screenwriter Andrew Wight, who found himself trapped in an underwater cave. Shot in 3-D using the Fusion Camera System developed by James Cameron for Avatar. 103m. Rated R […]
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Gender and Genre
Previews THE RITE. “Inspired by true events” and based on Matt Baglio’s book The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist. A young seminary student (Colin O’Donoghue) goes to the Vatican and learns from an older priest (Anthony Hopkins) that demonic possession is for real. 98m. Rated PG-13 for disturbing thematic material, violence, frightening images […]
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A Ring-a-Ding King
Previews NO STRINGS ATTACHED. Rom-com from veteran director Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters, Legal Eagles, Dave) stars Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher as old friends who vow to have a strictly sexual relationship, no strings attached. Not hard to guess where things go. 110m. Rated R for sexual content, language and some drug material. Starts Friday at […]
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Witch Kitsch
Previews THE GREEN HORNET. Seth Rogen (Knocked Up, Superbad, etc.) stars as The Green Hornet, a millionaire playboy turned crime fighter in a story (co-written by Rogen) loosely based on the old radio/TV serials. With sidekick Kato (Taiwanese musician/actor/superstar Jay Chou) the Hornet battles criminals including a powerful Russian mobster (Christoph Waltz). Rogen and director […]
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Charlie’s Top 10
Previews SEASON OF THE WITCH. Medieval actioner directed by Dominic Sena (Gone in 60 Seconds, Swordfish) centers on a pair of knights (Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman) who come back from the Crusades to find their homeland in the grip of the Plague and some evil force. Could it be the fault of the […]
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The Fighter: Knockout!
Previews TRUE GRIT. The Coen brothers’ adaptation of Charles Portis’ 1968 Western novel stars Jeff Bridges as drunken, one-eyed U.S. Marshal “Rooster” Cogburn (the role played by John Wayne in the 1969 film). He’s enlisted by young Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) to kill Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), the scoundrel who murdered her father. A Texas […]
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The Plame Game
Previews TRON LEGACY. Sequel to the 1982 Disney video game flick Tron has Jeff Bridges returning as Kevin Flynn, a vid-game creator who disappeared into a digital world he’d created, leaving a young son behind. When his grown-up son Sam (Garrett Hedlund) finds out where he is decades later, he too enters the game on […]
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Knife Beats Rock
Opening THE TOURIST. Johnny Depp is Frank, a tourist visiting Venice who meets the lovely Elise (Angelina Jolie) and gets pulled into a world of intrigue. German director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck won a “Best Foreign Film” Oscar for his brilliant debut, The Lives of Others. 103m. Rated PG-13 for violence and brief strong language. […]
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Drug Rep Romance
OPENING THE WARRIOR’S WAY. The debut of Korean writer/director Sngmoo Lee looks like a stylized Asian samurai movie crossed with a spaghetti western. South Korean superstar Jang Dong-gun stars as Yang, a master swordsman who refuses a crucial order to kill a baby who is the last survivor of a rival clan. Yang flees to […]