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![]() Brad Pitt hits a triple with Moneyball and then unexpectedly steals home. His Billy Beane strides through the National Pastime like a corporate buccaneer – smart, swaggering, fun – before receiving a surprising comeuppance from his daughter, a child of divorce. Together the personal and profe…
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Brad Pitt swaggers standing still.
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![]() Small town BFFs get into big trouble in this high quality yet overlooked drama about disaffected youth. How disaffected? Both girls are from troubled households, though one has a good head on her shoulders. The other? A “cutter” and Mean Girl extraordinaire. Together they anchor a terrific i…
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Here comes trouble.
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![]() New addition to the boxing movie canon? Absolutely, complete with elemental title, elemental story and devastating performances. A female power story as much as a male one, Melissa Leo, Christian Bale and Mark Walhberg’s maternal-fraternal triangle pegs the meter for codependency. When Amy Ada…
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All in the (dysfunctional) Family
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Heroism and bravery have a new name, and that name is Ree. Just 17 years old, Ree’s as brave and heroic as any movie hero ever. Played by stellar newcomer Jennifer Lawrence, her quest – Winter’s Bone being a quest movie – is so virtuous and she’s so intrepid, so true, that you know she’s boun…
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"Talking just causes witnesses."
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![]() Doubly fascinating and deeply touching, this HBO-made biopic rises well above run-of-the-mill TV movies, especially those derided as disease of the week. While deftly produced and acted, it largely shines due to the singularity of its subject, a noble pioneer in two important realms. “Dr. T…
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Well done trailer, well done movie.
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Everybody’s damaged in Please Give. Most are awful, some sweet, all adrift. Misanthropic, it generates frequent laughs at the expense of these modern Manhattanites. Think a more seriously inclined Seinfeld – from the feminine side. Not that …
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Big sis Amanda Peet: Skin deep beauty
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![]() Deeply unsatisfying, notwithstanding the top-drawer talent that created it, this adaptation of a celebrated novel proves that some books should never make the heavenly transition to the silver screen. Shame on Peter Jackson – the Lord of the Ring…
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Sarandon was great, a rarity in this ...
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![]() An elemental movie that spills the beans about a spectacularly dishonest “sport,” The Wrestler makes few false moves, provides a showcase for Mickey Rourke’s instantly legendary performance, and proves to be an involving, affecting and punch-funny movie.
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The Thinker as The Wrestler
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![]() A woman on the edge propels the oh-so-smart drama in this almost too clever movie. The story turns back in on itself time and again, not fully revealing its convergence till the end. An ultimately satisfying twist does come, though not before we’re asked to hang in through lots of puzzlingly se…
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OK, not from the movie, but Jennifer!!
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![]() Very funny ensemble piece about a man and his family struggling to move beyond the long-ago death of his wife, Smart People deftly skewers the low EQ of some high IQ people.1 Dennis Quaid and Sarah Jessica Parker are perfectly serviceable in not very likable roles. Good thing Thomas Haden C… |