Reviews

Movie Review: AMERICAN HUSTLE

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN 12/15/2013
AMERICAN HUSTLE movie poster | ©2013 Sony Pictures

Rating: R Stars: Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence, Louis C.K., Michael Pena, Alessandro Nivola Writers: Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell Director: David O. Russell Distributor: Columbia Pictures Release Date: limited, December 13, 2013; wide, December 20, 2013 It’s hard to do a good story about con artists. The con has to be plausible, the players have to be engaging, and the payoff has to be something that neither the marks nor the audience see coming. AMERICAN HUSTLE is a great example of the genre, piling twist upon twist, mentioning about halfway through which […]Read On »


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Movie Review: THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG movie poster | ©2013 Warner Bros. / New Line / MGM

Rating: PG-13 Stars: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, Orlando Bloom Writers: Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson & Guillermo del Toro, based on the novel THE HOBBIT by J.R.R. Tolkien Director: Peter Jackson Distributor: Warners/New Line/MGM Release Date: December 13, 2013 On one level, filmmaker Peter Jackson and his loyal companions have a problem uncommon in book-to-film adaptations. Most of these require that large chunks of the source material be removed or at least condensed and altered to fit into a running time […]Read On »


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CD Review: THE COUNSELOR soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER
THE COUNSELOR soundtrack | ©2013 Milan Records

After such impressive scores as the majestic haunting of THE AWAKENING and the entrancingly downbeat crime drama BLOOD, the prolific English composer Daniel Pemberton finally gets a major Hollywood score for fellow Brit Ridley Scott’s THE COUNSELOR. It’s a gig that lands Pemberton once again on the wrong side of the law, and south of the border as a suave legal eagle gets in way over his head in the Mexican drug business. But that doesn’t mean that Pemberton can’t have black-humored fun with the bloodshed at hand with a nice big helping of Spaghetti Western music. It’s an ironic, […]Read On »


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CD Review: RISING SUN (Limited Edition) soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER 12/14/2013
RISING SUN soundtrack | ©2013 Kritzerland Records

Where most Hollywood “Asian” movies usually kowtowed Orientals into secondary positions below the American actors (though mixed up a bit in this case with the brogue of Sean Connery and the urban cool of Wesley Snipes), we can credit RISING SUN director Philip Kaufman for bringing some level of authenticity to this thriller’s cultural melange by hiring Toru Takemitsu for his sole Hollywood film. One of Japan’s most revered movie composers for his work on KWAIDAN, WOMAN IN THE DUNES and RAN, Takemitsu’s sole work truly stands out for his mastery of the distinctly American genre form known as film noir. […]Read On »


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TV Review: BONES – Season 9 – “The Spark in the Park”

By RACHEL REITSLEFF 12/13/2013
Richard Schiff in BONES - Season 9 - "The Spark in the Park" | ©2013 Fox/Patrick McElhenney

Stars: David Boreanaz, Emily Deschanel, Michaela Conlin, Tamara Taylor, TJ Thyne, John Francis Daley, Pej Vahdat, Richard Schiff, Mark Derwin, McKinley Freeman, Cherami Leigh, McKayla Maroney, Laura Niemi, Bonnie Root, J. Michael Trautmann, Steve Monroe, Nancy Stone Writer: Emily Silver, series created by Hart Hanson, based on the life and writings of Kathy Reichs Director: Chad Lowe Network: Fox, Fridays @ 8 PM Airdate: December 6, 2013 On BONES, many episodes are devoted to the brilliant but socially baffled Brennan (Emily Deschanel) learning how other people see the world. Few episodes are given over to people who share Brennan’s way […]Read On »


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CD Review: STANDING UP soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER
STANDING UP soundtrack | ©2013 Varese Sarabande Records

Brian Tyler is best known for blowing stuff up real good in such might-makes-right scores as THE EXPENDABLES, IRON MAN 3 and THOR: THE DARK WORLD. Easily one of his most deliriously bombastic entries in this action field was for D.J. Caruso’s action thriller EAGLE EYE, which makes their new collaboration on “Standing Up” all the more surprising and powerful. For this story of two decidedly non-testosterone kids who run away from bullying at their summer camp, Tyler and Caruso show that real strength lies from within. It’s a lesson that the composer spells out with one of his most […]Read On »


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TV Review: SOUTH PARK – Season 17 – “The Hobbit” – Season Finale

By CARL CORTEZ 12/12/2013
Wendy and Butters in SOUTH PARK - Season 17 - "The Hobbit" | ©2013 Comedy Central

Writer: Trey Parker Director: Trey Parker Network: Comedy Central, airs Wednesday nights Original Telecast: December 12, 2013 After the three-park SOUTH PARK epic that took on Black Friday, GAME OF THRONES and the videogame console wars between PS4 and XBOX ONE, the series gets back to basics with a great season finale “The Hobbit.” When SOUTH PARK does satire right, it’s dead on and this episode tackles the poor role models young girls have from the likes of heavily Photoshopped celebrities like Kim Kardashian. It all starts when cheerleader Wendy tries to give heavy-set and ugly Lisa Berger a pep […]Read On »


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CD Review: I, THE JURY soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER
I, THE JURY soundtrack | ©2013 La La Land Records

If authors Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler gave their investigators Sam Spade and Philip Marlowe some small amount of hard-bitten class, Mickey Spillane was all about putting the dick into his private with the beyond hard-broiled investigator Mike Hammer. While he’d prove his barely ironic name in such envelop-pushing film iterations as KISS ME DEADLY and the Spillane-starring GIRL HUNTERS, none caught the character’s sleazy magnetism like 1982s I, THE JURY. As written by exploitation maestro Larry Cohen (HELL UP IN HARLEM) and played with five o’clock shadow cockiness by Armand Assante, the hyper-violent, sexed-up JURY was a soupcon of […]Read On »


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TV Review: ARROW – Season 2 – “The Scientist”

By EGAN BRUMLEY 12/11/2013
Grant Gustin as Barry Allen in ARROW - Season 2 - "The Scientist" | ©2013 The CW/Cate Cameron

Stars:  Stephen Amell, Katie Cassidy, Paul Blackthorne, Susanna Thompson, Willa Holland, David Ramsey, Emily Bett Rickards, Manu Bennett, Colton Haynes, Celina Jade, Summer Glau, Caity Lotz, Kevin Alejandro, John Barrowman Teleplay by:  Andrew Kreisberg & Geoff Johns Story by: Greg Berlanti & Andrew Kreisberg Director: Michael Schultz Network: The CW, airs Wednesday Nights Original Telecast: December 4, 2013 ARROW’s transformation into a show that inhabits a pure comic book universe is largely complete with this week’s episode, “The Scientist.”  The titular scientist is Barry Allen (Grant Gustin), who fans of DC Comics will recognize as the secret identity of “The […]Read On »


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CD Review: JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL soundtrack

By DANIEL SCHWEIGER
JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL soundtrack | ©2013 Kritzerland

Kritzerland has released such singing-dancing cult movie numbers as THE GHASTLY LOVE OF JOHNNY X and label founder Bruce Kimmel’s own FIRST NUDIE MUSICAL. But if they’ve put out one soundtrack, and film that’s long overdue for GLEE-like enthusiasm, then it’s JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL. I’d certainly never heard of it before watching this beguiling production as part of a teen throwback night at LA’s Cinefamily theater. As a member of The Class of 1983, this 1978 feature gave me a beguiling rush that recalled the rush of seeing GREASE for the first time that very same year. For both productions […]Read On »


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