Disaster Epic "2012" Is Silly But Entertaining
11/16/2009 11:59 AM
ET
It can be liberating to watch a mindless action movie when it doesn't try to be something that it's not. "2012" certainly falls into this category - a movie so purposely over-the-top that it's difficult not to admire the pure audacity of it. There is hardly a single aspect of the movie that is plausible, and director Roland Emmerich even mocks its own absurdity throughout.
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"A Christmas Carol" Is A Dark Remake Worthy Of The Dickens Classic
11/6/2009 4:18 PM
ET
Because so many are familiar with the themes and story of "A Christmas Carol," it would have been very easy for a remake to be just a bland retelling of an old tale. But director Robert Zemeckis takes the strands of the classic work by Charles Dickens and spins it in a new direction, filling the screen with lavish visuals and creating an impressive reworking of the themes.
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"Paranormal Activity" Delivers Chills With The Best Of Them
11/2/2009 9:23 AM
ET
Now here is a scary movie. "Paranormal Activity" doesn't count on shadowy figures jumping out from behind corners or a heroine getting chased by a masked killer down foggy pathways. Instead, "Paranormal Activity" builds slowly with the power of psychological suggestion, allowing the suspense to accumulate until its bursting point.
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Oddly Funny "A Serious Man" Is Vintage Coen Brothers
10/22/2009 12:23 PM
ET
Like most releases from Joel and Ethan Coen, "A Serious Man" is not for everybody. It is a pure deadpan and dark film filled to the brim with philosophical questions, though it doesn't find a conclusion to any of them. Maintaining a strange vibe throughout, not to mention plenty of small comedic touches, "A Serious Man" is an interesting reflection on the meaning of existence as told through the eyes of a struggling man on the brink of a complete meltdown.
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Going "Wild": Spike Jonze's Latest Is A Creative Visual Experience
10/19/2009 11:15 AM
ET
Much like the beloved children's book of the same title, "Where the Wild Things Are" trusts the intelligence of its audience, jubilantly rushing into unchartered territories - even when those territories are dark and unsettling. From the beginning, it tosses aside the typical Hollywood formula for a children's movie and is much more about experiencing the journey than leading the audience by the hand to the end of the road.
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