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Lincoln
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There have been only a handful of great United States Presidents; those whose lasting impression and work have shaped the Nation and influenced generations. Abraham Lincoln could very well be, depending on popular and singular opinion, the greatest President the United States has ever had. His profound legacy created because of one very difficult, momentous, and incredibly moving act performed in the final days of his Presidency--the passing of the 13th Amendment that abolished slavery in the United States...

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Parental Guidance
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The last time viewer's got a glimpse of Billy Crystal, and a taste of his humor, was during the 2011 Academy Awards telecast. It didn't go so well. His first (non-animated) feature film since 2002's Analyze That is a family comedy, fatefully called Parental Guidance, also starring Bette Midler, as his wife, and directed by Andy Fickman--the culprit behind 2010's You Again. Billy Crystal is an icon as a comedian, but when he signed on to Parental Guidance his judgment must have been slightly impaired. Guidance...

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John Dies At The End
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Cult films are a strange breed. They usually flop in their initial release, only to find a loyal and fanatical audience playing at midnight in some art house theater on Saturday night years later. And then there's John Dies at the End. John Dies at the End is the story of David Wong (Chase Williamson from "Never Fade Away") as told to a skeptical reporter named Arnie Blondestone (Saving Private Ryan's Paul Giamatti). Dave tells Arnie about the adventures of him and his friend, John Cheese (Rob Mayes...

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Django Unchained
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Quentin Tarantino is back to his violent tendencies mingled with romance and vengeance in Django Unchained, and it is marvelous. The story of a dentist turned bounty hunter, Christoph Waltz's Dr. King Schultz, and his unlikely pairing with the slave he recently freed Django (Jamie Foxx), Django Unchained is a western, a comedy, a full-fledged romance, and to note once again, violent. With a script featuring unforgettable dialogue and music to rival the most eccentric soundtracks ever created, Django Unchained...

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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
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Now that the air has been cleared in regards to HFR I can tell you that The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is yet another sprawling epic courtesy of Peter Jackson and Co. It's the first part of a planned three-part trilogy, so it has its inherent set-ups and doesn't resolve all its dangling threads, however its story is one that is mostly engaging from beginning to end. We are treated to a familiar intro that reacquaints the audience with Tolkien's Middle-Earth and before long we're off on an adventure with...

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Chasing Mavericks
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Chasing Mavericks, directed by Curtis Hanson (with some additional assistance from Michael Apted) and starring Gerard Butler and Jonny Weston, is a by the numbers surfing movie in every sense - a middling crowd pleaser that doesn't elevate its source material but plays it safe whenever possible. Based on the true story of Jay Moriarty (Weston), the film follows the Santa Cruz native in his quest to surf some of the biggest waves Southern California (nee the world) has to offer, called "mavericks." Of course,...

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The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part Two
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The end of an era, years of torture for some, and for others the closure to a story that has, to my astonishment, given them great pleasure. It is of course, the final Twilight Saga movie with Breaking Dawn: Part Two. While most series tend to go out with a bang, so they are remembered, the Twilight Saga goes out with a tiny whimper, much to the dismay of myself as the first part of Breaking Dawn finally had me interested--beyond the usual desire to revel in criticizing one of the most poorly written, acted,...

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Wreck-It Ralph
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Games like Q*Bert, Pac-Man, and Asteroids have all been important landmarks in the arcade circuit, but as the video game industry continued to grow in popularity, so too did the need for new and exciting games. Tastes and audiences changed, and by extension the games needed to change to fit those needs. That's the landscape introduced in Wreck-It Ralph, the newest film from Disney Animation Studios, which features the voices of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Alan Tudyk, and Jack McBrayer. Though games...

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Red Dawn (2012)
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The original Red Dawn (1984) starred some fresh faces that went on to gain popularity as film and TV stars, many of whom are still working today. It was the culmination of Cold War fears wrapped under the guise of an escapist teen fantasy. This year's Red Dawn, a pseudo-remake, abandons many of the important elements of the original, and turns the proceedings into a hollow action film that feigns significance in the face of teen death and destruction. Like in the original, the story of Red Dawn focuses...

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Playing For Keeps
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In Playing for Keeps, Gerard Butler (Machine Gun Preacher) is George Dryer, an ex-professional soccer player who relocates to Virginia to reconnect with his son, Lewis (Noah Lomax from next year's Safe Haven), and ex-wife, Stacie (Hitchcock's Jessica Biel). Once George sees the ineptitude of Lewis' soccer coach, he spots his chance to share the one thing that he can do well with his son and takes over the team. The kids love him, and he teaches them a lot about the game and makes them better players. The...

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The Bay
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Ever since The Blair Witch Project, it's been getting harder and harder to fool viewers into believing the whole found-footage gimmick. Even though audiences aren't buying into it, they're still buying it; the Paranormal Activity series is one of the most successful horror franchises in recent history. It's no surprise that The Bay, the new film from Paranormal Activity producers Jason Blum and Steven Schneider, is a faux-documentary. What is surprising is how effective it is. On the Fourth of July...

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Review coming soon
Life of Pi
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Ang Lee's Life of Pi, based on Yann Martel's book, is a challenging film to say the least. Its PG rating and optional 3D format suggest a family friendly adventure a la The Jungle Book, but what lurks beneath the surface is a story about faith and religion; about what we as human beings choose to believe in. The immediate story of Life of Pi centers on Piscine Patel (self-nicknamed Pi), who relays his incredible story through flashback to a writer looking for inspiration. Pi comes from a traditional...

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Hitchcock
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The master of suspense, Mr. Alfred Hitchcock, was a tad bit cooky, a mad genius, in a creative way, and as any highly talented man in history there was a woman in the shadows to help him. In Hitch's case (call him Hitch, forget the cock), it was his wife Alma. Hitchcock tells two parts of Hitch's story while making the movie Psycho, the hard road to get the picture made and the marital woes he experienced with Alma during production. The latter is not as strong of a story, even if it shows the immense...

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Zero Dark Thirty
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Zero Dark Thirty touts itself as being the story about "the greatest manhunt in history." For American citizens this statement may be true, given the pain and suffering Osama bin Laden caused the American people on September 11, 2001, and for years afterwards. For the rest of the world he joins a long list of terrorists, evil dictators, deranged psychopaths, and the like who have caused harm to a people, or persons. Zero Dark Thirty does not need to promote itself, people will see it because of their curiosity--and...

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Les Miserables (2012)
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Director Tom Hooper won a much debatable Oscar for his 2010 movie The King's Speech, starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter. His follow-up is an even greater story put to task on a director, an adaptation of the iconic book/play "Les Miserables." Following the musical stage version nearly exactly, without exclusion of lesser needed songs or characters, Tom Hooper's Les Miserables was set to be an epic retelling of the classic tale through the cinematic lens. The final outcome is epic,...

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This Is 40
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After a string of successes exploring all of life's funny little intricacies - from being a 40 year old virgin to facing life-threatening cancer - director Judd Apatow has delivered This is 40, a film that feels like the culmination of all of his work thus far. It's a comedy about married life at the age of 40, and all the little "joys" that come with hitting such an impressive milestone. At the center of This is 40's story are Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann), the same married couple from Knocked...

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End Of Watch
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Director/Screenwriter David Ayer has an obsession with law enforcement, and the Los Angeles police department. End Of Watch continues his parade of associated films such as Harsh Times starring Christian Bale, Dark Blue, Academy Award nominated Training Day with Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke, and S.W.A.T.. Set in the South Central area of Los Angeles County are two young police officers eager to make a name for themselves, Brian Taylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Mike Zayala (Michael Pena). Brian and...

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Hotel Transylvania
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Selena Gomez and the Happy Madison gang, plus some fellow SNL cast members, have all gotten together to make an animated movie, Hotel Transylvania, for children. They manage to accomplish creating an entertaining and funny film that has a great deal of heart, without needing to resort to an abundance of potty mouth jokes or lewd situations. Hotel Transylvania may be the best film many of the actors in the movie have made in years, and it is refreshing to see an animated film filled with the comedic voice...

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Seven Psychopaths
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As a follow up to his 2008 film In Bruges - a dark comedy about two hit men struggling to cope after a job gone wrong - Martin McDonagh's second feature, Seven Psychopaths, ups the ante in nearly every way. The film does share many similarities with In Bruges, namely a sadistic sense of humor and the presence of Colin Farrell as its lead, but is also a more complex and ambitious film, one that seeks to make the audience laugh while gore and epithets are being tossed left and right. The film stars Colin...

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