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Cyrus
Very Good 88 Points 2010

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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WikChip Video Snow White and the Two Dorks
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  • Wick – Well fellows, I'm odd man out. While BigD gave it a...
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
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
Our Idiot Brother
Very Good 88 Points 2011

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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WikChip Image Elizabeth Banks: Uptown Gorgeous
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Wanderlust
Very Good 66 Points 2012

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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WikChip Image Justin Theroux's 2-faced manipulator
The Three Stooges
Very Good 83 Points 2012

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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WikChip Image Kate Upton: Cheesecake with your Stoo...
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Robot & Frank
Very Good 66 Points 2012

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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WikChip Image Teaching a robot to pick a lock
Trouble with th...
Very Good 83 Points 2012

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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WikChip Video Heartwarming
Life of Pi
Very Good 83 Points 2012

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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WikChip Image Boy, Tiger, Whale: Wondrous
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Lay the Favorite
Very Good 66 Points 2012

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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WikChip Image Formidable Wife: Catherine's Tulip