With a penchant for moody music, colorful imagery, decorated interiors, and splendidly unique cinematography, Wong Kar-wai brings those talents to a totally new genre for him with The Grandmaster.
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I hate to say this, but it's hard to get behind a movie with an unlikable main character. Call me a chipper optimist at heart, but, unless we are getting the classic "change of heart" story or a "you get what you deserve" comeuppance tale of returned karma, I feel like I waste my time trying to engage and get behind negative main characters.
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Beyond a few large leaps of over-convenient fictional story weaving, the film is a remarkable and powerful experience that everyone should see. A star-studded cast delivers a highly involving and endlessly interesting historical journey through America's quest for civil rights and racial equality. Academy Award winner Forrest Whitaker plays the title character of Cecil Gaines, a black White House butler whose 34-year tenure in the position spans eight Presidents.
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"Artful" and "low key" are the two adjectives being tossed around the most for Prince Avalanche and they fit the description. The trouble is "artful" and "low key" can be synonyms for "ponderous" and "boring."
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Many who will see The Spectacular Now are going to look on paper and see a 2013 Say Anything... That's great company for Ponsoldt's film to be mentioned in, but the comparisons are fair and unfair at the same time. Both films offer excellent high school romances that resonate and matter. There's no doubt about that, but the two movies couldn't be more different in time, purpose, and intention.
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BLIND SPOT REVIEW #2: Games
Going back and seeing the movies I should have seen or always wanted to see, but missed.
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If old-school, methodical, and intelligent science fiction like Alien and Moon are up your alley more than those blockbusters, Europa Report is a movie you need to seek out. You probably haven't even heard of it.
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Compared to everything else out there, Elysium is a step up, but isn't going to end 2013 as the best science fiction effort of the year.
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Lovelace plays its chipper hand of 1970's decadence like a Boogie Nights prequel.
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To its great credit, Drinking Buddies never settles for any of those obvious scenarios and twists. It takes a more elusive and challenging route once the couples combine on a double-date weekend at Chris's lake house. The mistakes, flaws, and opportunities you think are coming, because you've seen this kind of movie before, don't materialize like you think. Some don't materialize at all. The waters are murkier than first thought. If you prefer your movies predictable and formulaic, you've come to the wrong place. At the same time, it's still missing a bit of the charm it promised with its setup.
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I've had my eyes opened wider within the last two years to the increasing market of films that are using Video On-Demand (VOD) services to broaden their audience reach. So much of it makes sense and yet so few people know this new avenue and market for movies. Let me try to shed some light on it.
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