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Arbitrage
Barely OK 66 Points 2012

Second-rate performances by first-rate stars in a second-rate thriller with a heavy-handed political agenda make Arbitrage a third-rate movie. Don’t believe the praise it’s received from the Mainstream Media. They’re in love with writer-director Nicholas Jarecki’s politics more than his movie…

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WikChip Image The movie's lone shining star: Tim Roth
1 Reply
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The Impossible
OK 17 Points 2012

Starts out with a big splash (pun intended) of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Big waves, lots of confusion, and a tremendous amount of human suffering. If this weren’t billed as a true story, I would have dismissed what happened next as too circumstantial and fabricated. The movie quickly evol…

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1 Reply
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Rust and Bone
Great 66 Points 2012

The good news about Rust and Bone is that it’s not about an orca trainer’s accident. It’s about her recovery. In any case, hers is only half the story, the rest being about an oafish stud with a small child in tow. What happens to father and son is tougher to take than what happens to her – …

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WikChip Image Communing Mammals: Human and Orca
A Late Quartet
Very Good 69 Points 2012

A Late Quartet is a pleasant surprise, a little movie getting its main airplay nowadays at 30,000 feet. Tune in when it comes on if you appreciate intelligent interpersonal drama, with relatable adults working through the consequences of a lifetime of decisions, mistakes and challenges. Four …

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WikChip Image Colleagues, Family, Lovers: Complicated
1 Reply
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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
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
Too Big to Fail
Barely OK 66 Points 2011

The NY Times’ take on the banking crisis endgame gets reenacted in this made-for-HBO docudrama. Notwithstanding the Big Lie told in the middle, the movie otherwise seems to competently essay the mechanics of the fall of Lehman Brothers, AIG and the imposition of TARP.

The Big Lie comes when t…

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WikChip Image Tim Geithner: Mr. Too-Big-To-Fail him...
Jiro Dreams of ...
OK 66 Points 2011

The legendary chef behind a Michelin Three Star sushi restaurant gets profiled in Jiro Dreams of Sushi. Indeed, Jiro Ono does dream of sushi, and has for most of his 85 years.

Unfortunately his BioDoc is too subtle for its own good, even given its zen subject. It also focuses as much on Ji…

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WikChip Image Jiro's Dreamy Sushi
Moneyball
Great 95 Points 2011

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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WikChip Image Brad Pitt swaggers standing still.
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  • BigdaddyDave – Thank you Wick!
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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...