Sunday, January 27, 2013

The Deep Blue Sea (2011)

Rating:  6.5

Comments:  With a bit of extra attention and focus, this one rewards with a realistic, somewhat deep, and often blurry study of desire, love, and emptiness.

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Friday, January 25, 2013

Baghead (2008)

Rating:  7.5

Comments:  Provided unique takes on some common horror themes, and presented them with concision, smooth execution and a cool low budget feel.  Very enjoyable and well done all around.  Will definitely check out more from Jay and Mark Duplass.

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Monday, January 21, 2013

Safe House (2012)

Rating:  6.5

Comments:  Nothing too groundbreaking or special, but good all around spy infused action and excitement.

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Rosemary's Baby (1968)

Rating:  7.5

Comments:  A classic which uses a much more subtle approach to disturbing its viewers that you'd typically find with current day horror movies.  I found this to be a very welcome change, although I can imagine it was far more jarring to its viewers in 1968.

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Sunday, January 20, 2013

Higher Ground (2011)

Rating:  7.5

Comments:  A very solid directorial debut for Vera Farmiga that does a nice job of blending mild humor with religious introspection and the ups and downs of life.

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Friday, January 18, 2013

We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011)

Rating:  5.0

Comments:  Tilda Swinton put forth a tremendous performance, however, the story felt a bit forced and over-dramatized, which took away from the overall experience for me.  Of course, that should not in any way discount the very real and very serious nature of the tragic theme this movie covers.

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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Michael Jackson's This Is It (2009)

Rating:  8.5

Comments:  Lots of great and moving footage that thoroughly entertains and effortlessly reminds the viewer how talented an artist and performer Michael Jackson was.

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Monday, January 14, 2013

Repulsion (1965)

Rating:  5.0

Comments:  From the perspective of depicting the spiraling madness of the lead character, it is very effective and quite disturbing.  Perhaps that should have been enough, but in the end it just felt like something was missing.

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Sunday, January 13, 2013

A Woman Under The Influence (1974)

Rating: 6.0

Comments:  The subject matter, pace, and length made for a somewhat difficult watch, but Gena Rowlands performance makes it worth checking out.

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Saturday, January 12, 2013

Jack Reacher (2012)

Rating:  7.5

Comments:  While the somewhat slow pace conjured some doubt along the way, when all was said and done I found this one to be very satisfying and enjoyable.  Cruise's take on the tough, rogue upholder of justice was unique and convincing, and Robert Duvall added an extra spark of fun and humor.

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(T)

Friday, January 11, 2013

Django Unchained (2012)

Rating:  7.5

Comments:  All the over-the-top violence, humor, excess and length that one would expect from Quentin Tarantino. The dialog and the performances from Christoph Waltz and Jamie Foxx were standouts.

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(T)

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Jigoku (The Sinners Of Hell) (1960)

Rating:  4.0

Comments:  This one started off quite well, but the second half of the film was very obscure.  It seemed to get kind of lost in all the wild imagery, symbolism, and moral commentary.

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Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Bernie (2011)

Rating:  7.5

Comments:  An entertaining dark comedy with captivating characters and a compelling story.  Jack Black was great, and the delivery was very creative, especially the use of the residents from the town in which the story took place.

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Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Loong Boonmee raleuk chat) (2010)

Rating:  4.5

Comments:  This movie deserves a lot of credit for its extremely unique storyline and presentation, however, I got lost in the slow quietness of it all and was unable to fully grasp the message.

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