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Joe Kidd
Great 66 Points 1972

The great Elmore Leonard wrote two kinds of scripts, great ones and, well, er, the great Elmore Leonard wrote one kind of script, not counting the two genres he wrote: Westerns and darkly funny crime dramas. Known more now for the latter, he was a modern master of the former, populating his hair…

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WikChip Video Guitar kicks in 40s into the Joe Kidd...
48 Hrs.
Great 66 Points 1982

Big time action-comedies kind of got started with Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in 48 Hrs. Big stars, big action, big laughs – big time. Walter Hill was an action guy, a Western action guy. Directing megahunk Nolte, with a never funnier Murphy, set in San Francisco, his big hit paved the way f…

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WikChip Video "New Sheriff in Town" Reggie Hammond
In Old California
Good 66 Points 1942

In Old California is a simpleminded recreation of Old Sacramento in 1848 and then 1849, made in 1942. A quasi-historical tale, it mostly exists to showcase John Wayne looking quite-the-dandy, from Boston even. The settings are the thing now: pre-49er San Francisco and then up the river to Old…

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WikChip Image John Wayne, the Boston Dandy
Croupier
Great 66 Points 1998

Sure bets usually aren’t. For those of us who like casinos and crime movies however, Croupier is a lock. With all due respect to Martin Scorsese, it arguably tops his Casino as the quintessential casino movie.

It centers on a croupier (_de…

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WikChip Video Slick Dealing & Chip Handling
Lock, Stock and...
Good 66 Points 1998

The biggest British movie of ‘98 was Guy Ritchie’s first ever, a very British one indeed. Much of the humor is how unintelligible most of the movie’s lowlifes are, Ritchie being a specialist in ultra vernacular comedy.

Three million Brits bought tickets. Frankly, that’s too much British com…

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WikChip Image Barry the Baptist ain't happy.
Joker
Perfect 66 Points 2019

You laughing at me!? That’s directed at society in general by Joker, the movie of the year if not the decade.

Todd Phillips has unleashed a monumental monstrosity on us, a movie that works on so many levels it requires an intellectual elevator to visit them all. Let’s peek in on a few, sha…

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WikChip Video Minutiae for Joker obsessives
The Guard
Very Good 66 Points 2011

The Guard touches perfection here and there, is otherwise mostly great, but gets held back by a merely OK screenplay. Fortunately a crafty Brendan Gleeson drives plenty of deadpan comedy for a very good movie.

So what if it’s not a classic. It’s got brilliant visuals, a handful of LOLs and…

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WikChip Image Dominique McElligott, r. Sarah Greene...
Seven Psychopaths
Great 66 Points 2012

Seven psychopaths, a Shih Tzu and an alcoholic screenwriter add up to a damn funny movie. Each psycho gets featured in a short within the larger movie, then gets additional screen-time based on how immediately expendable they are. As with horror-comedies, most are introduced just to get enterta…

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WikChip Image Walken's zenfully weird psycho
Killing Them So...
Very Good 66 Points 2012

Star power in service to dark humor makes Killing Them Softly an entertaining time at the movies, and will make it seem even more entertaining as an on-demand rental soon enough.

This second movie that Brad Pitt has made with director Andrew Dominik is crisply constructed and often funny, wh…

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WikChip Image Pitt: star power in service to dark h...
Jersey Boys
Very Good 66 Points 2014

This long movie is no longer than the smash stage show it brings to the Silver Screen. It just feels like it. Clint Eastwood apparently couldn’t come up with a way to transform the show for the screen, with middling results. I can’t think of a way either, but that doesn’t change the underwhelm…

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WikChip Video Jersey Boys @Tonys: This U can dance 2