MovieSorter

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Minions
Pretty Bad 66 Points 2015

Minions aren’t just evil, they’re bad, or at least their movie is bad. It’s a children’s movie and I’m an adult, sure. But other kiddie pix work for parents as well as kids, and not just those from Pixar.

Part of the problem is that the villain is more ridiculous than scary and isn’t funny a…

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The Lady in the...
Pretty Bad 66 Points 2015

Even the great Maggie Smith can’t save The Lady in the Van. Let’s repeat: Dame Maggie can’t save it! Perhaps that’s because she plays an angry old woman who’s beyond saving, sad as that common sight is.

Disclosure: I saw The Lady in the Van on the little tilt-down screens of a 737. It kind…

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WikChip Image Dame Maggie gets wasted.
The Man Who Kne...
Really Great 66 Points 2015

Harry Potter echoes throughout The Man Who Knew Infinity, the biopic of Srinivasa Ramanujan, a math wizard from humble circumstances who rose to prominence at an opulent and august English institution. Set in the ornate halls of 1910s-era Trinity College, it profiles an amazingly able – and rea…

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WikChip Video Who was Ramanujan? Math Wizard
Frank
Very Good 66 Points 2014

Tragically hip alt-rock crosses over into madness in the under-titled Frank, about a charismatic band leader and his devoted bandmates. Here’s the thing: Frank wears a large fake head, all the time.

Starting in Britain, Frank’s band brings on a guileless recruit before decamping for Ireland,…

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WikChip Image Frank plays guitar.
The Imitation Game
Very Good 83 Points 2014

A father of computer science and nerdy war hero makes a fine subject for a rather dreamy biopic. Oh yeah, Alan Turing was also a persecuted gay man, back when homosexuality was criminalized in Great Britain. The Imitation Game thus has several storylines running through it, perhaps explaining w…

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WikChip Image The real Alan Turing, with a rare smile
Queen and Country
None Yet 0 Points 2014
Kingsman: The S...
Great 83 Points 2014

The same brilliant, depraved and amoral crew who brought us Kick-Ass have now delivered Kingsman: The Secret Service, another comic take on a well-trod movie topic. James Bond movies are the inspiration this time. The result is tremendously entertaining, albeit as sordid as it is sleek. And i…

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WikChip Video Samuel L. Jackson talks Evil Genius
Lambert & Stamp
Really Great 66 Points 2014

The Who get deconstructed in the cheeky documentary Lambert & Stamp, about Kit Lambert & Chris Stamp, the fifth & sixth members of the band. Whimsy, rockstar excess, sex and drugs and money, lots of money, inform the stories that get exuberantly recounted by Pete Townshend, Roger Daltry, Chris …

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WikChip Video Kit accuses Pete of vanity.
Jack Ryan: Shad...
Very Good 83 Points 2014

The hero of many a Tom Clancy story gets rebooted in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, a more than competent action thriller. Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Keira Knightley and Kenneth Branagh are much more than competent as its starring quartet, allowing the movie to draw from a deep well of moviestar…

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WikChip Image Branagh the Dir employs a killer villain
1 Reply
  • Wick – Regarding "BrianSez's Review":http://www.viewguide.c...
Edge of Tomorrow
Perfect 83 Points 2014

Terrifically well-conceived SciFi Fantasy is rare. Add an ageless superstar in a role ideal for his particular set of skills, opposite a beautiful screen-queen making her buffed-up action debut, in a 3D production up to the challenge of visualizing time travel and interplanetary war, and you’re …

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WikChip Image Emily & Tom howling at Comic-Con
1 Reply
  • Wick – Regarding "BrianSez's Review":http://www.viewguide.c...