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Fruitvale Station
Great 17 Points 2013

The true story of Oscar Grant is a bitter pill to swallow, in part due to the film’s focus on his struggle to pull away from his past and do better for himself, his daughter, and his family. History tends to keep a strong bond for better or worse and when it is compounded by prejudice, it can be…

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Four Christmases
Awful 66 Points 2008

Painfully unfunny. The movie starts off cute, then immediately goes into the can, with perhaps one humorous scene stuck somewhere in the middle. The premise of a self-absorbed yuppie couple getting emotionally tortured by their self-absorbed divorced families means that the humor is all based o…

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East of Eden
Great 66 Points 1955

Great American Movies based on Great American Novels reveal new insights at increasingly greater remove. Dating from 1955 and set in 1917, East of Eden is greatly insightful about the changes in America in the near half century between when it was set and made, and the half century plus between…

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WikChip Video James Dean, James Dean, James Dean!
Days of Wine an...
Great 66 Points 1962

Effectively two movies: the first, a boozy romp a la Mad Men; the second, a melodramatic horror of alcoholic insanity, complete with straight-jackets and padded rooms. The first is more fun. Isn’t it always, before ugly drunkenness spoils the party.

The bubbly opening reels are a San Franc…

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WikChip Video Charming, boozy romp till he litters ...
Dawn of the Pla...
Really Great 83 Points 2014

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a superior successor to 2011’s Great Ape Movie, the terrific Planet of the Apes reboot. An upgraded human cast rectifies the origin movie’s one significant flaw, while the ape acting – previously Bogart quality – has become downright Brando-esque. *#DawnOfA…

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WikChip Image Hail Caesar! The Great Ape Autocrat
1 Reply
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Coherence
Really Great 83 Points 2013

“God doesn’t play dice” said Einstein, but James Ward Byrkit does, entertainingly so in Coherence, one of the better low-budget SciFi movies in cinematic history. Heck, are any more more low budget than this?

I didn’t realize how geeky the whole thing was till saying the word Coherence at …

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WikChip Video Willow Glen's SciFi Thriller
Chasing Mavericks
Very Good 83 Points 2012

Live Like Jay or even Of Men and Mavericks would have been a better title than Chasing Mavericks. Plain old Mavericks would have been the most pure. Whatever the title, this soulful and occasionally thrilling movie isn’t for everyone, but it’s for lots more than just surfers. Lovers of…

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WikChip Image The famous cover shot of Jay Moriarity
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Bullitt
None Yet Points 1968
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
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  • BrianSez – Regarding "Wick's Review":http://www.viewguide.com/m...
Blindspotting
OK 66 Points 2018

Oaktown gets its closeup in Oakland-native Daveed Diggs’s Blindspotting. Diggs cowrote the movie with costar Rafael Casal, a Berkeley native. So they know the Town, including its many contradictions. Unfortunately, their film stumbles often, coming across as a clumsy imitation of Atlanta, Don…

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