MovieSorter

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The Commitments
Very Good 73 Points 1991

The Commitments retains its charm some 25 years after it premiered, even as Ireland and the music world have changed dramatically in the intervening quarter-century. That charm stems from a can’t-miss combination of sweet soul music, quirky characters coming together in a band, and some real se…

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WikChip Video Irish take on sweet soul music
The Birth of a ...
Very Good 83 Points 2016

Why don’t slaves revolt? In the South two centuries ago, in the Warsaw ghetto during the Holocaust or even in Asia now? The Birth of a Nation helps answer that complicated question. Unfortunately the movie itself is complicated. Its creators apparently raped a woman while college students in 19…

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WikChip Image Nate Parker's movie: engaging & affec...
Why Him?
Very Good 66 Points 2016

Middle-America clashes with Silicon Valley as much as a dad clashes with a future son-in-law in Why Him? This makes for a funny movie, with lots of LOLs and a side-splitting scene or two. Yet, it would have been funnier with a stronger cast, starting with a better comedic lead than James Franco…

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WikChip Image James Franco owes Keegan-Michael Key
Blinded by the ...
Very Good 66 Points 2019

Bruce Springsteen songs drive Blinded by the Light, a helluva good concept, well played. That said, the film itself is somewhat cloying, more fanzine than Rolling Stone, albeit elevated by the Boss’s oeuvre.

The movie does a great job with some Springsteen songs, projecting the lyrics on wal…

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WikChip Video Cast & creators talk about Bruce
Knives Out
Very Good 66 Points 2019

What happens when a legendary detective drops in on the murder investigation of a major mystery writer? Rian Johnson’s latest complicated cinematic confection – Knives Out – is what happens. This Agatha Christy homage is loads of fun for nearly two hours. Unfortunately, it’s a 2 hour 10 minute …

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The Philadelphi...
Very Good 66 Points 1940

Call me crazy, but I find The Philadelphia Story inferior to Bringing Up Baby, its contemporaneous cousin. Katherine Hepburn’s comeback movie – the picture that cemented her status as a hit-making star – is a very fine romcom and an understandable member of seven American Film Institute all-t…

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WikChip Image Starburst: Grant, Hepburn, Stewart
Barney's Version
Very Good 83 Points 2010

I find self-loathing shmucks more annoying than interesting. So Barney’s Version – about a dissolute TV exec played by the redoubtable Paul Giamatti – surprised me by deepening into an affecting and intriguing drama in its third reel. Based on Mordecai Richler’s final novel, its literary pedig…

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WikChip Video Solid acting enlivens a solid novel
Stone
Very Good 83 Points 2010

De Niro and Norton’s moviestar masterclass combined with austerely beautiful filmmaking elevates a formulaic story that trades heavily in caricature. Often darkly funny, occasionally LOL so, Stone surmounts its insufficient title by proving itself an involving experience.

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WikChip Image Moviestar Masterclass: De Niro & Norton
Revolutionary Road
Very Good 83 Points 2008

A smug couple fights spectacularly over their narcissistic disappointments, with their immature worldview presented as the final word on family-centered suburban existence. Melodramatic, occasionally quite funny, flawlessly performed, supremely well made, Rev. Road is worth seeing if family tr…

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WikChip Image The classic novel behind the movie.
2 Replies
  • BrianSez – Yeah - maybe I was a bit liberal with that acting. M...
  • Wick – Regarding "BrianSez's Review":/movie_reviews/2707-re...
42
Very Good 17 Points 2013

42 gives us a part of baseball history that fans and non-fans alike should see. As much as it is a decent baseball story, it is an even better story about American history. This glimpse into how Jackie Robinson made his way from a Negro league to the Brooklyn Dodgers was more complex than a simpl…

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2 Replies
  • BrianSez – Regarding "BrianSez's Review":http://www.viewguide.c...
  • Wick – Regarding "BrianSez's Review":http://www.viewguide.c...