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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...
Elegy
Great 66 Points 2008

Ben Kingsley gets in much deeper than planned after seducing a much younger Penélope Cruz in Elegy. Isabel Coixet’s movie comes by its sexual fixations via pedigree: Phillip Roth’s novel The Dying Animal. Think of it as Portnoy’s Complaint, the When I’m 64 rendition – "Will you still nee…

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WikChip Video Ben Kingsley seduces Penélope Cruz
Cloverfield
Really Great 125 Points 2008

Big fun on the big screen, if your idea of fun runs to state-of-the-art SciFi fright fests. Worthy of its tremendous buzz, Cloverfield combines a War of the Worlds monster attack with Blair Witch Project immediacy. Put it this wa…

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3 Replies
  • Randy – As do I... I think this ought to be a pretty good...
  • Randy – Haha yes! And the year has just begun! Amazing.
  • Randy – WHOA!!!! Look at Cloverfield! Hahaha! It took the da...
Mad Men
None Yet 0 Points 2007
Reign Over Me
Good 84 Points 2007

Perfect music, emotionally loaded material and an attractive production can’t rescue this manipulative 9/11 movie’s cliche characters. Like outcasts from writer-director Mike Binder’s Mind of a Married Man show and an Adam Sandler arrested-development movie, they never go beyond their essentia…

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WikChip Image Aspirational Inspiration for the Movie
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.
American Gangster
Really Great 123 Points 2007

Denzel and Crowe at the top of their games, combined with a compelling (if familiar), interesting and assured story make this an almost perfect gangster movie, just shy of the Godfathers and Goodfellas….

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Rumor Has It
OK 66 Points 2005

More drama than comedy makes Rumor Has It more trouble than it’s worth, especially for a middle-aged dude like me. Romcoms are good when they’re funny and sexy. Rumor Has It nails sexy but wiffs funny.

Jennifer Anniston is more irritated than comedic, yet still sexy as hell. Thus, this "c…

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WikChip Video Great Bit by 2 Great Stars
Beyond the Sea
Good 83 Points 2004

The Peter Principle personified: Kevin Spacey reached his level of incompetence by writing, directing and starring in Beyond the Sea, a surreal biopic of Bobby Darin. The starring part was mostly fine.

The writing and directing parts, not so much.

Darin’s terrific songs make the movie an…

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WikChip Image Kate Bosworth models Sandra Dee
1 Reply
  • BrianSez – Regarding "Wick's Review":http://www.viewguide.com/m...
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...