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Fingering two of society’s soft spots, Cyrus lampoons middle-aged singles looking for love and grown kids who’ve been emotionally indulged their entire overly-protected lives. Plus it generates plenty of LOL moments in the offing. Score. John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill deliver great performa…
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Snow White and the Two Dorks
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![]() 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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Moviestar Masterclass: De Niro & Norton
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![]() 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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Solid acting enlivens a solid novel
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![]() Lots of pretty people delivering razor sharp comedy atop an idiotic premise makes for a very good movie. The central conceit of Our Idiot Brother – Paul Rudd’s absurdly guileless fool, a.k.a. the Idiot Brother – gets just this side of tedious however. Fortunately the whole thing is more than a…
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Elizabeth Banks: Uptown Gorgeous
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![]() Comedies get no respect, so perceptively intelligent movies like Wanderlust get discounted by the critics. Never mind that it’s continuously clever, even if only sporadically LOL. The LOLs do come however, some hitting various parts of the audience and some slaying everyone. When a Big One…
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Justin Theroux's 2-faced manipulator
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![]() Dumb & Dumber. And dumbest. The Farrelly Brothers’ Three Stooges movie is funny, funnier, funniest. Well not really, but plenty enough for fans of the original. (Like me. What’s it to ya’) Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk. Hello. Hello! HELLO! Their silly depression-era S&M comedy gets dropped into t…
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Kate Upton: Cheesecake with your Stoo...
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![]() Anyone who’s dealt with an elderly parent will be charmed by Robot & Frank, a gentle and deft SciFi comedy. Perhaps the best Alzheimer’s movie yet, though the A Word is never mentioned, it carries an emotional kick that leavens it in the end, elevating it to more than just a lark. The gre…
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Teaching a robot to pick a lock
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![]() Cliches are rarely so well calibrated as in Trouble with the Curve. Crusty father, chip-off-the-ol’-block daughter, minor league baseball, small towns, hot dogs, roadhouses, and on and on. BTW, those hot dogs are of the ballpark and ballplayer varieties, with one of the latter played by Justin …
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Heartwarming
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![]() Portraying religious faith amidst tragic hardship is a lot of weight for a mainstream movie to carry. Fortunately Life of Pi features visual wonders and frequent grace notes to lighten the load, resulting in an exhausting if moving cinematic experience. The movie is taken from the celebrate…
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Boy, Tiger, Whale: Wondrous
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![]() True stories bear a burden when they get turned into movies. Stay true to the story and the movie will be less than spectacular. Punch it up and get accused of selling out. Lay the Favorite falls prey to the former as it recounts a real young woman’s underground education. The indomitable…
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Formidable Wife: Catherine's Tulip
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