Tag: ***

American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story (2017)

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American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story (2017)

Oh, that word.  That strange, naughty, tantalizing word. If you were a kid growing up in the 70s or 80s – or basically any time between the end of World War II and the birth of the internet, “Playboy” was a word you didn’t dare utter.  It fit comfortably on the list of swear words […]

| June 3, 2019
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Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

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Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)

One of the things that I really wanted from the new Spider-Man movie was a fresh approach.  Please, oh please – I screamed quietly to myself – don’t tell his origin story again . . . not again!  My exasperation is due in part to the fact that this is yet another reboot.  There is […]

| July 8, 2017
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Moana (2016)

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Moana (2016)

Disney’s Moana finally crosses my path almost a month after its national debut, right here on Christmas Day – a little mele kalikimaka from America’s unofficial dream factory. My first observation: It’s Disney, it’s very very Disney, from top to bottom.  This movie couldn’t be Disney if you showed it in the theme park in […]

| December 25, 2016
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016)

There is an uneasy dual identity to the whole Harry Potter world that no self-respecting super-fan might ever want to admit.  The cute spectacle of mail owls and Bowtruckles have always had to fight for space amid Death Eaters, torture spells and portents of doom fit for a horror show.  In the books, it is […]

| November 26, 2016
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The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

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The Secret Life of Pets (2016)

The timing may be tricky for The Secret Life of Pets which has the misfortune of arriving in the shadow of Finding Dory, a surprise hit that has already raked in over $400,000,000 domestic.  That film, which has been at the top of the charts for the past two weeks surprised everyone not only by […]

| July 10, 2016
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Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

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Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)

As a critic, this is where I am suppose to tell you that Independence Day: Resurgence is just another needless sequel propped up for the summer box office.  Most critics have already jumped on that overcrowded train, but I’ll just stay here at the station and report that it would be impossible for this to […]

| June 25, 2016
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Finding Dory (2016)

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Finding Dory (2016)

I swear I mean this as a compliment; Finding Dory is the most entertaining needless sequel that you’ll see this summer.  It’s true, this sequel wasn’t entirely necessary but if anyone could do it and still make an unnecessary movie that was still entertaining and fun, it had to be Pixar.  For me, that has […]

| June 18, 2016
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Keanu (2016)

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Keanu (2016)

Keanu might very well be the cutest violent action comedy that I’ve ever seen.  Seriously, it’s adorable.  It features a kitten that draws the “awwwww” from the audience every time it mews, but it’s surrounded by violence at every turn.  There’s a moment in this movie when we see a severed hand in the foreground […]

| May 1, 2016
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