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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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...
The Adjustment ...
Barely OK 88 Points 2011

It’s a romantic thriller. No wait, it’s a lame sorta scifi story that never really adds up. Pity, because the strong cast works well, with romantic leads Matt Damon and Emily Blunt demonstrating real chemistry.

How does a misfire like The Adjustment Bureau get made?

You can just see the…

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1 Reply
  • BrianSez – Regarding "Wick's Review":http://www.viewguide.com/m...
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...
Cosmopolis
Barely OK 66 Points 2012

The poster tells the tale. Robert Pattinson starring in a David Cronenberg movie of a Don DeLillo book is all you need to know about Cosmopolis. A deeply surreal fable about the evil rich as embodied by a soulless manqué sums it up. Oh yeah, bloody wounds get inflicted. It is a David Cronenb…

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WikChip Image Financial vampire in 4 wheel stretch ...
Me and Orson We...
Barely OK 66 Points 2008

Me and Orson Welles is a disappointing, amateurish effort from the heretofore redoubtable Richard Linklater. Sadly the writing and acting weigh down whatever directing talents Linklater brought to the production. Ironically, for a movie that celebrates acting, the acting is just OK.

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WikChip Image Welles as Brutus in the Mercury's 'Ca...
Down with Love
OK 83 Points 2003

Don’t expect a straight romantic comedy. Instead, Down with Love is a retro sex farce with a not-so-covert gay sensibility. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, to cite the great Seinfeld. It’s just that it becomes a bit tedious, notwithstanding strong central performances, impeccable …

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WikChip Image More clever and insistent than funny
1 Reply
  • Wick – Regarding "BrianSez's Review":/movie_reviews/2920-do...
Tower Heist
OK 71 Points 2011

Not especially funny or thrilling, Tower Heist does offer a proven cast of name actors and a topical story. In fairness, I viewed it on an airliner seatback screen. While seeing it in the theater is no longer an option, viewing it on a big flatscreen in a home theater may have stimulated a hi…

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WikChip Image More Murphy please, at least in this ...
The House on Te...
OK 66 Points 1951

The House on Telegraph Hill is a triumph of art direction. That’s good. It’s also unintentionally campy. That’s bad. The result is a just OK movie, yet one that belongs in the San Francisco Cinema Hall of Fame.

The views are marvelous. And the views are the thing with San Francisco real…

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WikChip Image Grt Views, Lrg House, fake Telegraph ...
The Visitor
OK 83 Points 2007

This modestly intriguing drama – about a disconsolate frump who befriends a sympathetic illegal alien – never catches fire, ultimately falling prey to a thin story, foolish outrage about a supposed injustice, and an insufficiently charismatic cast.

The movie’s highpoint – a joyful celebration …

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WikChip Image Fleeting joy in this downbeat movie.