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Astro Boy (AstroBoy) - PG
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Not a bad little movie. It was mostly a lot of fun, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. My only complaints were that the animation seemed fairly standard, and you could just tell the filmmakers were itching to dig deeper into the material. Overall, though, it was pretty good.
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October 23, 2009
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N/A
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Couples Retreat - PG-13
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There's really nothing to say here. It's the kind of boring, unfunny romantic comedy that I'm used to seeing from Hollywood. Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau come off the best, but that's probably because they wrote the damn thing, and so gave themselves the least embarrassing characters.
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October 9, 2009
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N/A
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Zombieland - R
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September 30, 2009
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N/A
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A Serious Man - R
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September 30, 2009
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N/A
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Capitalism: A Love Story - R
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September 30, 2009
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N/A
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The Invention of Lying - PG-13
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September 30, 2009
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N/A
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Overnight - R
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A bleak little documentary that serves to explain two things: 1) Troy Duffy is a complete jackass who sabotaged his own career and the careers of everyone around him, and 2) The Boondock Saints is the film equivalent of an abortion.
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September 19, 2009
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N/A
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Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian - PG
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Why do I do this to myself?
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September 18, 2009
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N/A
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The Informant! - R
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A good, but not great film about the Mark Whitacre/ADM scandal. Soderbergh is smart to play his film as a subtle parody of the genre than a straight comedy, because there's really not much actual comedy here, and Matt Damon is pretty great. I could see him getting an Oscar nod outta this.
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September 18, 2009
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N/A
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9 - PG-13
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An immensely well-conceived "end of days" flick, with some gorgeous animation and a few lofty concepts here and there, but not particularly well structured. For what it is, I had a good time, but wish there were a little more to it. Oh well, at least I liked it. Also, it really bothers me that they still have to slap Tim Burton's name all over something just to appeal to teenagers.
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September 12, 2009
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N/A
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Extract - R
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In short, I was really not impressed. Mike Judge's trademark subtle humor shines through here, but without any well-developed characters or anything resembling a decent structure. David Koechner steals the movie, as a character that feels like a holdover from Office Space. Wait for it on TV.
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September 5, 2009
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N/A
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Sunshine Cleaning - R
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Not bad. Fun, light, not quite a downer, just about everything I expected from this one. It's a good time, but there's not a whole lot to it.
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August 28, 2009
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N/A
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Taking Woodstock - R
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August 28, 2009
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N/A
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The Final Destination - R
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August 28, 2009
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N/A
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H2: Halloween II - R
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August 28, 2009
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N/A
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Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li - PG-13
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There are 76 characters in the Street Fighter universe. How many does this movie include? 6. What's worse, there's very little of the actual characters IN the movie. It's almost as though they wrote a generic martial arts movie and then renamed the characters. It's sad, because you can tell they're trying really hard to make A movie, but it really isn't a Street Fighter movie. Ugh.
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August 27, 2009
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N/A
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Inglourious Basterds - R
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None of Tarantino's films have really blown my mind, but Inglourious Basterds comes pretty damn close. It really shattered my every expectation. It's talky, but QT makes even the most mundane conversation seem important. It's 2.5 hours long, but it very tightly paced. The violent moments are extreme, but there's reason behind it all. Every character is fascinating, particularly Christoph Waltz's Hans Landa. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say, this is probably the most fun I've had with a Tarantino film ever.
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August 22, 2009
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N/A
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I.O.U.S.A. - PG
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A very well-produced documentary whose central themes is "You'd better start learning Mandarin." In all seriousness, the picture it paints is frightening, but it seems to suggest a form of Trickle-Up Savings, implying that if the individual and the family is more fiscally responsible, so too shall the Federal Government be fiscally responsible. Call me pessimistic, but I don't see it happening.
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August 20, 2009
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N/A
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Shutter Island - Unrated
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August 20, 2009
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N/A
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District 9 - R
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Fantastic from start to finish. Meticulous, labyrinthine, intelligent, thrilling. District 9 is everything that good sci-fi should be, and then some. It's gory without being gross, and smart enough not to bury its lead too early. There's so much going on in District 9 that it demands repeat viewings.
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August 16, 2009
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N/A
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Coraline - PG
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This is proof-positive that director Henry Selick deserves more work. The stop-motion looks gorgeous, and is really the main draw here. Pretty light on plot, but I can't fault it too much for that, because the atmosphere is really more important. I do love how quietly disturbed this movie is.
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August 15, 2009
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N/A
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The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard - R
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In a word: Hilarious. In more words: The Goods is the kind of hard-R comedy that we desperately need more of. You've got your Judd Apatow 2-hour dramedy opuses, and then you've got your 80+ minute gagfest whose sole mission is to make you laugh your ass off. The Goods is the latter film, and I dare say it's the funniest movie of the year.
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August 15, 2009
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N/A
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Dragonball Evolution - PG
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Parts of it were pretty cool, but for the most part it's just the definition of an average movie. I could see how fans of the source material might be pissed, but for my part, I thought it was alright. Not really any good, but not that bad.
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August 12, 2009
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N/A
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(500) Days of Summer - PG-13
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Without question, the most charming, uplifting, depressing, and downright funny romantic comedy I've seen in a long time. The fragmented narrative really isn't all that confusing, but rather works quite well. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel work wonderfully together, and on his own JGL carries the film nicely. I loved it.
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August 9, 2009
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N/A
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G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra - PG-13
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Call me crazy, but I actually had a really good time with this one. Sure, it's silly, overblown, and completely childish, but it's also incredibly fun and just the right amount of wacky. Channing Tatum sucks all the fun out of every scene, but otherwise this somehow managed to be one of the most fun things I've seen all summer long.
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August 8, 2009
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N/A
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802 ratings
498 reviews
