Movie Reviews
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MOVIE REVIEW- Not so smart: Chasm between people is sar-chasm Published on Apr 10th, 2008 0 comments
Savvy moviegoers know great independent films are unlikely to be released at this time of year, too late for one award season and too early for the next. While we may see an occasional gem like In...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Score! April is football season! Published on Apr 3rd, 2008 0 comments
How does George Clooney get so much work done and still have a life when he spends all his time watching old movies?
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MOVIE REVIEW- Count me out: '21' doesn't bring down the house Published on Mar 27th, 2008 0 comments
"Is this a game of chance?"
"Not the way I play it, no."
That famous W.C. Fields exchange sums up 21, the latest proof that if you're going to set a movie in Las Vegas and put a number in the title,...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Choice v. life: Two films let you be the decider Published on Mar 20th, 2008 0 comments
If you don't believe in coincidence, blame harmonic convergence for two films about abortion showing up around the same time, both of which are as serious as Juno and Knocked Up, in which pregnant...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Fight feature: Wadlow's second film a manly movie Published on Mar 13th, 2008 1 comments
What a great 26th birthday present for Sean Faris– the release of Never Back Down, the latest movie in which he plays a high school student. Acting lessons would have been a more useful gift,...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Totally recycled: But Ferrell still makes us laugh Published on Feb 28th, 2008 0 comments
Kent Alterman never directed a movie before Semi-Pro, but he must have seen a lot of them, including those written by his screenwriter, Scot Armstrong: Road Trip, Old School, Starsky & Hutch,...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Well? All's well until it ends Published on Feb 21st, 2008 0 comments
I'll admit I probably like movies about the shooting of U.S. presidents more this year than I will next year. It's a moot point in the case of Vantage Point since the trailer reveals that the...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Parent trip: Too long a story for one night Published on Feb 14th, 2008 0 comments
Putting the "lent" in Valentine's Day, Definitely, Maybe is a borrowed collection of romantic clichés that's been nicely packaged but overstays its welcome. Or considering that How I Met Your...
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MOVIE REVIEW- No hand for ‘Job': Suspense missing in heist film Published on Feb 14th, 2008 0 comments
"Based on a true story," like every movie of 2007 except Transformers and maybe Ratatouille, The Bank Job is not as generic as its title. It strips the heist movie formula to its bare bones, then...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Comedy cowboys: Hilarious 'Hollywood to Heartland' Published on Feb 7th, 2008 0 comments
Though shorter on title than The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum at Charenton under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade, Vince Vaughn's...
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MOVIE REVIEW- In the clover: One good choice among the rubble Published on Jan 24th, 2008 0 comments
Special to THE HOOK
January. It happens every year. The Hollywood studios see it as a dumping ground for their inferior products. Discriminating viewers have year-end award contenders to catch up...
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MOVIE REVIEW- World affairs: Dumbing up and dumbing down Published on Jan 24th, 2008 0 comments
Special to THE HOOK
It's possible to make an intelligent film about world affairs without condescending to the lowest common denominator or going over the average person's head, but you wouldn't...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Let it be: Sinclair's ‘Oil' spills onto the screen Published on Jan 17th, 2008 0 comments
Ever the chameleon, Daniel Day-Lewis disappears into another character and gives arguably his best performance yet in There Will Be Blood, a powerful drama about the early days of the American oil...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Odd old couple: Not good for any 'Bucket List' Published on Jan 10th, 2008 0 comments
I thought Carl Reiner was the old guy and Rob was his middle-aged son, but Carl still has some edge to his humor while Rob has been cranking out movie after movie so sappy and sentimental they'd...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Barber chop: Depp takes a little off the top Published on Jan 3rd, 2008 0 comments
If you ask Sweeney Todd to take a little off the top, you'd better be careful.
Likewise, if you ask Tim Burton to go a little over the top, you're asking for trouble.
Surprisingly, Burton has reined...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Last man: Bigger budget and 36 months later Published on Dec 13th, 2007 0 comments
Whatever you've said you would or wouldn't do to Will Smith if he were the last man on Earth, now's your chance. For much of I Am Legend he appears to be the last uninfected human after a virus kills...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Quandry: Moral 'Compass' or amoral ‘Compass'? Published on Dec 6th, 2007 0 comments
You can stop worrying about kids growing up stupid. If they're able to follow the complexity of The Golden Compass, they're ahead of where I was at their age. It will probably help if they've read...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Holiday viewing: The good, the bad, the classic Published on Nov 29th, 2007 0 comments
Special to The Hook
Some see Christmas as a holiday, others as an industry. The latter group spend their summers recording Christmas albums, doing post-production on Christmas movies, or getting...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Co-'Host'?: Sci-fi flick not to be 'Mist' Published on Nov 29th, 2007 0 comments
Take that, South Korea! Challenging The Host for Creature Feature of the Year is The Mist, which proves once again Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile) does Stephen King right....
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MOVIE REVIEW- Cat 'n mouse: Coen brothers deliver a classic Published on Nov 22nd, 2007 0 comments
Tommy Lee Jones must have the best job in the world. He can often commute to film sets from his San Antonio ranch, and he's able to embody a wide range of characters, usually without breaking a sweat...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Toy store-y: <i>Mr. Magorium</i> could cast a pall Published on Nov 15th, 2007 1 comments
Special to The Hook
Dustin Hoffman is the main attraction in Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, which might have been called Eric and the Bittersweet Chocolate Factory. It's what kids who got only a...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Soap and sensibility: Making believers of non-Janeites Published on Oct 4th, 2007 0 comments
There are two kinds of soap operas: the traditional melodrama and the darkly comic satire.
The Jane Austen Book Club represents a third kind, with all the events that can be crammed into six...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Out foxxed: 'The Kingdom' a 'Black Hawk' wannabe Published on Sep 27th, 2007 0 comments
Some movies should be watched only on DVD, where you have the option of pausing and reversing to catch things you missed rather than having to buy another ticket and watch the whole movie again....
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MOVIE REVIEW- Seem familiar? 'Sydney White' a pleasant re-hash Published on Sep 20th, 2007 0 comments
There's not a moment in the college comedy Sydney White that isn't likable. In fact, there's nothing in the movie you haven't liked before. It's Mean Girls meets Revenge of the Nerds meets Heathers,...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Supergood: Another winner for talented trio Published on Aug 16th, 2007 0 comments
When American Pie meets American Graffiti, it's Superbad; and it's supergood. Not for Baptist ministers and maiden aunts, but anyone who appreciates raunchy humor served up with wit, including most...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Jane in love?: Austen films becoming ubiqitous Published on Aug 9th, 2007 1 comments
"In Hartford, Hereford and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen." One happened in Hampshire in 1775. That's when Jane Austen was born there, and the wind hasn't died down yet. While it may only...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Some reservations: Chick flick makes grown men cry Published on Jul 26th, 2007 0 comments
After seeing No Reservations I had to go home and watch the Lifetime Channel to get some masculinity in my life, in hopes my chest hair would grow back. Yes, it's that much of a "chick flick."
It's...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Firm set: 'Hairspray' a dancing laugh riot Published on Jul 19th, 2007 0 comments
Hairspray may be bad for the ozone layer, but Hairspray is good for everything else. It's a singing, dancing, laugh riot that, because it originated in the mind of John Waters, is subversive–...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Muggles beware: Has Harry's magic worn off? Published on Jul 12th, 2007 0 comments
Special to THE HOOK
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is for hardcore fans only. Not the ones who have blown up nude stills of Daniel Radcliffe in Equus to poster size– well, maybe...
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MOVIE REVIEW- Kicking bot: 'Transformer' comedy better than drama Published on Jul 5th, 2007 1 comments
Michael Bay has done it again! That's either good or bad news, depending on how you feel about his big, stupid action movies (Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Bad Boys I and II) that cost a lot to make and...
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