It’s certain that some will find Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, the incredible true story of a free African-American musician from New York kidnapped and sold into slavery in the south circa 1841, too unflinching in its depiction of barbarism. But know this…
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Paul Greengrass’ tension epic Captain Philips is a slick and satisfying movie treatment of the 2009 hijacking of an American cargo ship off the coast of Africa, and the subsequent kidnapping of its titular commander at the hands of four, small-time Somali opportunists who…
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We so often indulge in hyperbole about movies that when one comes along that truly merits such, simply saying it’s extraordinary doesn’t seem enough. But that’s the case with Alfonso Cuarón’s magnificent Gravity, a simple yet profound meditation on survival starring Sandra Bullock as…
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James Wan inadvertently created some big shoes for himself to fill by directing this year’s instant classic ghost story, The Conjuring. One of the year’s nicest surprises, the super scary chiller—depicting a haunting and possession as a master class in elegant lighting, sound design…
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Pitch Black writer/director David Twohy returns to the series he created with Riddick, a partly visionary, mostly routine outing starring Vin Diesel as his signature brawny, bari-toned anti-hero. This time fugitive Riddick is stranded on a barren planet fending off ferocious canines and lethal…
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An atmospheric failure, the criminal lovers saga Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is a dramatically inert picture, and while director David Lowery works his camera overtime, the characters and story largely fail to engage, stilted under the weight of a solemn tone and overly mannered…
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Sci-fi thriller Elysium thinks it’s a piquant social allegory about the undocumented population and fight for universal healthcare. But Neil Blomkamp’s sophomore outing (after 2009’s surprise critical hit District 9) is really just an empty B-movie actioner that has more in common with clunky,…
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The Spectacular Now is a remarkably sensitive teen movie, not exactly an oxymoron in American film but rare enough to take notice. Like last year’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower, here is a movie about teenagers that honestly acknowledges and deals with the…
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