MovieSorter

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Woman on Top
Good 66 Points 2000

Penélope Cruz is always worth watching, even in a somewhat forgettable romcom. Fortunately, Woman on Top is primarily set in San Francisco, giving it a second draw for viewers like me. But that’s about it.

Her supporting cast can’t hold a candle to her, nor does the female empowerment script…

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WikChip Image BFFs who bathe together...
Lost in America
Good 66 Points 1985

Lost in America’s reputation exceeds its reality. Modestly funny in 1985, its four memorable scenes live on in the mind’s eye, but fail to sustain this mere 91 minute movie. Turns out its nest-egg wasn’t enough.

Not that it doesn’t have a great line here and there.

Don’t use “nest”! D…

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WikChip Video "Oh I know, you mean the $100,000 box."
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
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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...
The Blind Side
Very Good 86 Points 2009

A three hanky weeper of the best kind – uplifting and funny. I was fortunate to watch it in the darkened cabin of an overnight flight to London, otherwise the tears streaming down my face would have been noticeable to others. But a good man-cry

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WikChip Image Momma's Boy: The real Michael Oher
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
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