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Movie Review: THE DEBT

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 09/11/2011

THE DEBT movie poster | ©2011 Focus Features

Rating: R Stars: Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, Ciaran Hinds, Jessica Chastain, Marton Czokas, Sam Worthington, Jesper Christensen, Romi Aboulafia Writers: Matthew Vaughn & Jane Goldman and Peter Straughan, based on the Israeli film HA-HOV written by Assaf Bernstein & Ido Rosenblum Director: John Madden Distributor: Focus Features/Miramax Release Date: September 2, 2011 Based on the 2007 Israeli film HA-HOV, THE DEBT moves fluidly between two timelines over thirty years apart. In 1997, Rachel Singer (Helen Mirren) and her ex-husband Stephan Gold (Tom Wilkinson) are jointly proud of their daughter Sarah (Romi Aboulafia), who has written a book about their heroic […]Read On »

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Movie Review: WARRIOR

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Morrison, Frank Grillo, Kevin Dunn Writers: Gavin O’Connor & Anthony Tambakis & Cliff Dorfman, story by Gavin O’Connor & Cliff Dorfman Director: Gavin O’Connor Distributor: Lionsgate Release Date: September 9, 2011 A movie about two brothers who haven’t seen each other for years, the younger not speaking to the elder and both estranged from their father, who both wind up competing out of financial necessity in the same worldwide mixed martial arts worldwide championship match sounds like it’s going to have its share of clichés and melodrama. WARRIOR does in […]Read On »

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Movie Review: CONTAGION

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 09/09/2011

CONTAGION movie poster | ©2011 Warner Bros.

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Jennifer Ehle, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Sanaa Lathan, Bryan Cranston, Enrico Colantoni, Anna Jacoby-Heron Writer: Scott Z. Burns Director: Steven Soderbergh Distributor: Warner Bros. Release Date: September 16, 2011 If there is a worldwide pandemic of a fatal disease, odds are good that it will play out fairly like what we see in CONTAGION. Director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter Scott Z. Burns have made a film that plays like a curious hybrid of a CNN special report and a zombie movie – minus the walking dead, of course, but […]Read On »

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Movie Review: SHARK NIGHT 3D

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 09/05/2011

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Chris Carmack, Katherine McPhee, Chris Zylka, Alyssa Diaz, Joel David Moore, Sinqua Walls, Donal Logue, Joshua Leonard Writers: Will Hayes and Jesse Studenberg Director: David R. Ellis Distributor: Rogue Release Date: September 2, 2011 First, a word about the title of SHARK NIGHT 3D. The movie is not necessarily in 3D. It is showing at a number of locations in the less pricey regular format. There are a few shots (mostly of bits of timber and objects flying through the air post-explosion) where it’s plain to see they’re designed for 3D, but on […]Read On »

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RIO is one of the Blu-ray and DVD picks this week

By PETER BROWN 09/04/2011

Your time is short. We know this. So in order to expedite your buying and Netflix decision making, we provide you with a list of the cool and not-so-cool titles coming out for movies, television and everything in-between. So put your feet up, grab some popcorn and check out this week’s selections. MOVIES RIO – A flightless macaw thinks he’s alone in the world – the last of his kind – but when he discovers there is another and it’s a she, he goes to Rio. There he meets a host of colorful characters that show him how to live […]Read On »

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NCIS: THE COMPLETE EIGHTH SEASON is one of the Blu-ray and DVD picks this week

By PETER BROWN 08/26/2011

NCIS Season 8 | © 2011 Paramount Home Entertainment

Your time is short. We know this. So in order to expedite your buying and Netflix decision making, we provide you with a list of the cool and not-so-cool titles coming out for movies, television and everything in-between. So put your feet up, grab some popcorn and check out this week’s selections. Television NCIS: THE COMPLETE EIGHTH SEASON – The most popular show on TV gears up for the next season beginning in September. In the meantime, you have the chance to take a look at what everyone loves about this show and why it is No. 1 with the […]Read On »

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Movie Review: DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN

DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK movie poster | ©2011 Film District/Miramax

Rating: R Stars: Katie Holmes, Guy Pearce, Bailee Madison, Jack Thompson Writers: Guillermo Del Toro & Matthew Robbins, based on the original teleplay by Nigel McKeand Director: Troy Nixey Distributor: FilmDistrict/Miramax Release Date: August 26, 2011 Audiences of a certain age have at least vague memories of the original 1973 TV movie DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK, written by Nigel McKeand, which featured Kim Darby as a young woman using the flash cubes on a Polaroid camera to combat evil, light-fearing creatures that lived in the chimney and under the fireplace of an old house. The new feature film […]Read On »

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Movie Review: GRIFF THE INVISIBLE

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 08/22/2011

GRIFF THE INVISIBLE movie poster | ©2011 Indomina Releasing

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Ryan Kwanten, Maeve Darmody, Patrick Brammall, Toby Schmitz, David Webb Writer: Leon Ford Director: Leon Ford Distributor: Indomina Releasing Release Date (U.S.): August 19, 2011 GRIFF THE INVISIBLE is liable to remind people of SUPER, KICK-ASS, SPECIAL, et al, in that it’s about a fellow in a superhero costume who wants to fight crime, but lacks superpowers. The movie is set in Australia and has two major twists. One, a la SPECIAL, is that Griff (Ryan Kwanten) believes he does have superpowers. The other really big twist is that, apart from the police worrying a little bit […]Read On »

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Movie Review: FRIGHT NIGHT

By SEAN ELLIOTT 08/19/2011

FRIGHT NIGHT (2011) movie poster | ©2011 Sony Pictures

Stars: Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, David Tennant, Toni Collette, Imogen Poots, Christopher Mintz-Plasse Writer: Screenplay by Marti Noxon Based on the story and film FRIGHT NIGHT by Tom Holland Director: Craig Gillespie Distributor: Touchstone Pictures & Dreamworks Pictures Release Date: August 19, 2011 I was too young to see the original FRIGHT NIGHT in theatres when it was released. I saw it like a lot of children of the 80’s, on VHS. I liked the original flick and thought it was fun and I had always loved Roddy McDowell, but I didn’t have any kind of deep attachment to […]Read On »

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YOUR HIGHNESS is one of the Blu-ray and DVD picks this week

By PETER BROWN 08/13/2011

YOUR HIGHNESS | © 2011 Universal Home Entertainment

Your time is short. We know this. So in order to expedite your buying and Netflix decision making, we provide you with a list of the cool and not-so-cool titles coming out for movies, television and everything in-between. So put your feet up, grab some popcorn and check out this week’s selections. Movies YOUR HIGHNESS – By all intents, YOUR HIGHNESS should be a complete disaster. Yet, it is at times hilarious. At times completely disgusting. At times not too shabby in the action department. Take Danny McBride’s Kenny Powers from EASTBOUND AND DOWN as a complete wimp and plop […]Read On »