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![]() 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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Infamous crime family, charismatic movie
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![]() Who’s Next fans – and who’s not – will be delighted by this 50 minute documentary. More celebratory than insightful, it also suffers from a few omissions. However it’s all good when Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey and John Entwistle marvel at how their benchmark album came into existence. Long…
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Genius at work with his synthesizer
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![]() Ultra-smart, psychic, but troubled opium smoking and laudanum ingesting inspector Aberline (Johnny Depp) leads us through this dark adventure of the hunt for Jack the Ripper. This is Victorian London at its worst, filthy streets, filthy harlots, crazy medical procedures, and even crazier results… |
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![]() Clint Eastwood does U.S. history – again, here essaying one of the 20th Century’s most consequential Americans. There were times during J. Edgar when it seemed to warrant a 4 Star Great, but couldn’t maintain it, falling back in the end to a respectable 3 Star Good. Thus, history buffs and fa…
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Handsome Couple, and Mother
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![]() 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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Kate Bosworth models Sandra Dee
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![]() Admirable and interesting, this retelling of the first major battle of the Vietnam War nonetheless can’t escape the overall drag of that war’s outcome, and in fact the similar outcome of the Battle of Ia Drang depicted in the movie. Still, the …
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3 Medals of Honor from this battle
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![]() I’d call Zulu Dawn “the Little Bighorn of South Africa.†If ever there was a cause more unjust – it was the British attempt to oust the Zulus from their territories in South Africa – despite the fact they were honoring an agreement to stay away. And, as this is a true story, I’m not spoi…
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![]() Message-movies that dramatize real world events start with two strikes against them. The message they promote likely doesn’t resonate with everyone. And they have to hew to an often humdrum storyline. Thus Made in Dagenham is a pleasant surprise, quirky instead of humdrum, not heavy-handed… |
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![]() Hard hitting documentary that shows how greed, corruption, and status quo created the great financial meltdown of the past three years. In easy to understand language, the film shows how finanancial institutions engaged in reckless behavior that could have easily been prevented, creating the eco…
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![]() Ashton Kutcher leads an impressive cast to tell the story of an impressive Steve Jobs. Those of us who hail from Silicon Valley have heard it all before – yet we all yearn to get closer to the real man behind the stories. Jobs gets us one step closer to his hippie and maniacal past, is brillian…
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