Reviews
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‘Philomena’ Review: Judi Dench and Steve Coogan Bring Much-Needed Brimstone to This Cinematic Treacle
Stephen Frears’ docudrama urges us to forgive the sinning Catholic Church, which is one thing, but why the condescension toward atheists and intellectuals?
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‘Inside Llewyn Davis’ Review: Dark Coen Brothers Comedy Puts the Hoot in Hootenanny (Video)
The early ’60s folk scene comes alive with a superb ensemble that includes Oscar Isaac, Justin Timberlake, Carey Mulligan, Garret Hedlund and John Goodman
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‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’ Review: Idris Elba Finds Icon’s Humanity in This Moving, Stolid Biopic
This ambitious film covers all the phases of the South African liberator’s life without shying away from controversy
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‘The Best Man Holiday’ Review: Yuletide Sequel Indulges Too Heavily in Plot and Preaching (Video)
An appealing ensemble cast wears out its welcome in this Christmas confection, with a script that crams too many messages and too much contrivance into its stocking
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‘Lone Survivor’ Review: Mark Wahlberg Shines in Powerful Drama About Hellish Wartime Decisions
Peter Berg’s powerful docudrama features some of the most intense combat sequences since ”Saving Private Ryan“
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‘Delivery Man’ Review: An Excessively Artificial Insemination Comedy
Neither the laughs nor the sentimentality land as Vince Vaughn phones in another performance, this time as a frequent sperm donor who fathered hundreds of offspring
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‘Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ Review: Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss Everdeen Burns Brighter Than Ever (Video)
Jennifer Lawrence leads an impressive cast in a saga that’s smarter and more thrilling than its predecessor
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’12-12-12’ Review: Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones – As Seen on TV a Year Ago
Sort of a concert film and sort of a making-of-the-concert, this backstage peek at the Hurricane Sandy fundraiser will disappoint music fans and documentary lovers alike
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‘Out of the Furnace’ Review: Christian Bale Anchors This Well-Intentioned but Flat Drama
There’s a difference between presenting problems — the death of the middle class, the treatment of veterans — and actually saying something about them
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‘August: Osage County’ Review: Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts Go at It Like Godzilla vs. Megalon
The big-screen adaptation of Tracy Letts’ hit play is never dull, but it plays more like a camp-classic-in-waiting than a Pulitzer-winner
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‘Best Man Down’ Review: One Wedding, One Funeral, Zero Appeal
Despite the presence of Justin Long and Tyler Labine, this indie veers clumsily from farce to pathos, equally incompetent at either comedy and drama
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‘The Book Thief’ Review: Death and Plucky Tween Find Their Voice in Holocaust Tale
The Grim Reaper proves an unwelcome narrator in well-intentioned adaptation of Markus Zusak’s popular World War II novel
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‘Labor Day’ Review: Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin’s Sparks Fizzled by Soap Suds
Writer-director Jason Reitman, adapting the novel by Joyce Maynard, has a bad habit of telling us what he’s already shown us in this sappy romance
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‘Saving Mr. Banks’ Review: Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks Are Spit-Spot-On in This Hollywood Valentine
Prickly author P.L. Travers’ battles with Walt Disney over the making of ”Mary Poppins“ are fun to watch, but it’s really all about art and artists
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‘Domesticated’ Theater Review: Jeff Goldblum Plays the Lowest of the Low
After taking on the racial divide in his Pulitzer Prize-winning ”Clybourne Park,“ Bruce Norris returns to examine the war of the sexes in an equally funny and scathing comedy
