MovieSorter

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Butter
Pretty Bad 66 Points 2012

Butter is rancid, a comedy devoid of laughs and full of bile. No LOLs, no guffaws, not even a single smile gets triggered by its steady stream of condescension. Mean spiritedness in a comedy can work, so long as the movie brings the laughs. If it’s unfunny, then it’s just smug, catty and mean…

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WikChip Image A figment of Hollywood imagination
Blue Jasmine
Great 86 Points 2013

Cate Blanchett transfixes in Woody Allen’s superior dramedy Blue Jasmine. Playing the Jasmine of the title, Blanchett goes from Park Avenue socialite to broken vixen in a performance that masterfully oscillates between elegance and rawness. That last almost assures her an Academy Award nomina…

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WikChip Image The great Cate in Chanel & pearls w ...
4 Replies
  • Wick – Regarding "BrianSez's Review":http://www.viewguide.c...
  • Tripod – Regarding "Tripod's Review":http://www.viewguide.com...
  • Wick – Regarding "Tripod's Review":http://www.viewguide.com...
  • BrianSez – Regarding "Wick's Review":http://www.viewguide.com/m...
Blood Father
Really Great 66 Points 2016

An awkward title is about the only thing wrong with Blood Father, a terrific piece of pulp fiction starring a never better Mel Gibson. Bad Dad would be a better title, what with Bad Moms all over the multiplexes right now. That said, this dark…

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WikChip Video Mel knows AA meetings from real life.
Birdman (or The...
Really Great 83 Points 2014

Birdman touches many cinematic erogenous zones, making it a guilty treat – a smart one – for cinephiles. Alejandro Iñárritu’s showbiz takedown is also the best theatrically-set movie since, well, maybe forever. OK, not forever, but probably since All About Eve

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WikChip Video Such a Tease
Being Flynn
None Yet 0 Points 2012
Begin Again
Very Good 83 Points 2013

Begin Again is a low-key treat for grownups in need of a quality Date Night Movie. More a music romance than a people romance, music lovers and especially musicians will find in it a true bonus: Great Music!

Mark Ruffalo & Keira Knightly are terrific separately and have great chemistry toge…

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WikChip Video Lost Stars: Now this is a perfect song.
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
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
  • BrianSez – Regarding "Wick's Review":http://www.viewguide.com/m...
Ant-Man and the...
Great 66 Points 2018

Ant-Man and the Wasp is the first superhero movie to equally feature men and women, with the Wasp being Marvel’s first featured female superhero. As pop culture iconification goes, that’s pretty marvelous.

Equality’s great and all, but fortunately it’s not the only reason to recommend *Ant-M…

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WikChip Video This is how it's done.
Animal Kingdom
Good 66 Points 2010

Charismatic, disorienting and brooding, Animal Kingdom presents the truthy tale of an infamous crime family, including their murder of two Melbourne cops. The brooding gets a bit much by the third reel, weighing down what would otherwise be a great true-crime movie.

The charisma comes from …

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WikChip Video Infamous crime family, charismatic movie