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Movie Review: CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 08/02/2011

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Jonah Bobo, John Carroll Lynch, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon Writer: Dan Fogelman Directors: Glenn Ficarra & John Fuqua Distributor: Warner Bros. Release Date: July 29, 2011 Let’s begin by saying some good things about CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE. It has a top-notch cast and the screenplay by Dan Fogelman is mostly well-structured, except for one whopping pivotal issue that is never satisfactorily explained. However, the film bogs down in its details (and lack thereof) and the growing realization that we don’t particularly like or believe in any of the characters. […]Read On »

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Movie Review: COWBOYS & ALIENS

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 07/29/2011

COWBOYS & ALIENS final poster | ©2011 Universal Pictures

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, Noah Ringer, Keith Carradine, Walton Goggins, Clancy Brown Writers: Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman & Damon Lindelof and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby, screen story by Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby and Steve Oedekerk, based on Platinum Studios’ COWBOYS & ALIENS by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg Director: Jon Favreau Distributor: Universal Pictures Release Date: July 29, 2011 After seeing if scary, human-hating extraterrestrials fit best in deep space, Antarctica or small-town America, COWBOYS & ALIENS flings them into the Old West. It’s a surprisingly good fit, […]Read On »

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Movie Review: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 07/22/2011

CAPTAIN AMERICA - final movie poster | ©2011 Marvel Studios/Paramount Pictures

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Sebastian Stan, Tommy Lee Jones, Hayley Atwell, Dominic Cooper, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones Writers: Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely Director: Joe Johnston Distributor: Paramount Pictures Release Date: July 21, 2011 There’s nothing terribly wrong with CAPTAIN AVENGER: THE FIRST AVENGER as these things go. Chris Evans is likable and puts conviction into the title role, one Steve Rogers of Brooklyn, who desperately wants to enlist and fight for his country during WWII. Alas, Steve doesn’t meet the U.S. Army’s health requirements, but he is ultimately brought into an experimental unit. Thanks to a […]Read On »

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Movie Review: WINNIE THE POOH

By SEAN ELLIOTT 07/16/2011

WINNIE THE POOH - 2011 movie poster | ©2011 Walt Disney Pictures

Stars (voices): John Cleese, Jim Cummings, Brad Luckey, Craig Ferguson, Jack Boulter, Travis Oates, Kristen Anderson-Lopez, Wyatt Dean Hall, Tom Kenny Writer: Stephen J. Anderson, Clio Chiang, Don Dougherty, Don Hall, Brian Kesinger, Nicole Mitchell, Jeremy Spears Based on the works of A.A. Milne & Ernest Shepard Director: Stephen J. Anderson & Don Hall Distributor: Walt Disney Pictures Release Date: July 15, 2011 If you have fond memories of WINNIE THE POOH as a child, before Disney tried to re-invent him with several different types of marketing schemes, you will enjoy the return to formula that Disney Studios has done […]Read On »

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Movie Review: HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 07/14/2011

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 poster - Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort | ©2011 Warner Bros.

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Helena Bonham Carter, Robbie Coltrane, Warwick Davis, Tom Felton, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon, Ciaran Hinds, John Hurt, Jason Isaacs, Matthew Lewis, Gary Oldman, Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith, Julie Walters, Bonnie Wright, William Welling, Evanna Lynch Writer: Steve Kloves, based on the novel by J.K. Rowling Director: David Yates Distributor: Warner Bros. Release Date: July 15, 2011 You can tell Warner Bros. feels they have something special on their hands with HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 from the very beginning. It’s rare (if not unheard of) for the studio […]Read On »

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Movie Review: ZOOKEEPER

By CARL CORTEZ 07/08/2011

Stars: Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, Leslie Bibb, Ken Jeong, Donnie Wahlberg, Joe Rogan Writers: Nick Bakay & Rock Reuben & Kevin James and Jay Scherick & David Ronn based on a story by Jay Scherick & David Ronn Director: Frank Coraci Distributor: Sony/MGM Release Date: July 8, 2011 There have been bigger messes than ZOOKEEPER, which is one of the few nice things that can be said about this umpteenth talking animal movie. That said, one of the biggest problem with the film is that it’s a film clearly geared toward children but it has no idea of how to […]Read On »

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Movie Review: HORRIBLE BOSSES

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN

HORRIBLE BOSSES movie poster | ©2011 Warner Bros./New Line

Rating: R Stars: Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Julie Bowen, Donald Sutherland Writers: Michael Markowitz and John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein, story by Michael Markowitz Director: Seth Gordon Distributor: Warner Bros./New Line Release Date: July 8, 2011 Just in case you don’t remember STRANGERS ON A TRAIN, the 1951 Alfred Hitchcock movie based on the Patricia Highsmith novel, HORRIBLE BOSSES provides a name check. If you have that confused with the 1987 parody version, THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN, that gets name-checked as well, with a helpful differentiation between the […]Read On »

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Movie Review: LARRY CROWNE

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 07/01/2011

LARRY CROWNE movie poster | ©2011 Universal Pictures

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Cedric the Entertainer, George Takei, Bryan Cranston Writers: Tom Hanks & Nia Vardalos Director: Tom Hanks Distributor: Universal Pictures Release Date: July 1, 2011 There are some movies that are perfectly sound in premise and execution, yet they can only get major studio production/release if they have powerhouses at the wheel. Happily for LARRY CROWNE, Tom Hanks as co-writer/director/star is as powerful as they come in the film industry, which is why this modest, genial comedy with dramatic elements comes to us well-produced (so it looks good without being unduly slick) […]Read On »

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

By PETER BROWN

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 SUCKER PUNCH – SUCKER PUNCH is like one movie-length music video. A slew of unnecessary action sequences combined with a whole lot of hot babes that are dressed scantily but never really show anything to whet the appetite. It tries to be too clever in giving us […]Read On »

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Movie Review: TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 06/28/2011

TRANSFORMERS - DARK OF THE MOON final poster | ©2011 Paramount Pictures

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Patrick Dempsey, Tyrese Gibson, Alan Tudyk, Peter Cullen (voice), Hugo Weaving (voice), Leonard Nimoy (voice) Writer: Ehren Kruger Director: Michael Bay Distributor: Paramount Pictures Release Date: June 28, 2011 Director/producer Michael Bay promised that TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON, the new third film in the saga of the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons based on the Hasbro toys, would have a better story than its immediate predecessor, TRANSFORMERS 2. In some ways, DARK OF THE MOON delivers on Bay’s words. Screenwriter Ehren Kruger comes […]Read On »

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