FilmCritic entries tagged "oliver"

In Theaters

The Woman in Black (2012)

by Bill Gibron on Feb 2 2012
The Woman in Black

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As far back as the earliest days of cinematic macabre, the haunted house has been a staple of the scary movie. From ghosts roaming a spooky manor to unexplained noises that are often much more than "bumps" in the night, these places are creepshow classics. Up until recently, few films have delivered the entire paranormal package -- atmosphere, acting, mythology and menace. Enter The Woman in Black. Adapted from the novel by Susan Hill (which was also turned into a stage play and a 1989 British TV movie), it stars Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe as a young lawyer sent to the outskirts of England to clean up the messy estate of a recently deceased client. There, he learns of the area's terrible curse and the title figure, who seems to be behind a rash of unexplained killings.

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On DVD

Life, Above All

by Bill Gibron on Nov 29 2011
DVD Release Date: December 5, 2011
Life, Above All

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South Africa remains a nation forever tarnished by its terrible past. The horrifically racist apartheid laws which ruled the land for decades more or less determine how the world views the slowly emerging country. Now, something else stains the resurrection, a disease which feeds on superstition, fear, and baseless gossip and innuendo. In Life, Above All, AIDS is that silent, unspoken killer, the main concern of thousands but a topic not openly discussed or defended. Such a backwards approach undermines some of this well meaning movie's more powerful moments, while simultaneously supporting the often defeatist notions of the populace.

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In Theaters

Like Crazy

by Chris Barsanti on Nov 17 2011
Like Crazy

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Films that can't explain the ineffable desire two lead characters have for each other tend to have credibility issues. How can the audience suspend disbelief if they don't understand what is keeping the couple together through thick and thin? Often it can work anyway, especially with trickery of the moody lighting, soulful gazing, and well-orchestrated pop-song-love-montage kind. In a film like Drake Doremus's gauzy and drifting romance Like Crazy, the filmmakers don't do much to explain the root of the two lovers' attraction. Instead, it cuts almost immediately to the heartache of their separation. It's a credit to the winsomeness of the leads and the delicate affect of Doremus's direction that such a thin construction manages to work more often than not.

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In Theaters

Johnny English Reborn

by Bill Gibron on Oct 20 2011
Johnny English Reborn

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Do you want to know the power of the international box office? A marginal comedy by British great Rowan Atkinson is getting a sequel, which is shocking, considering how few in the West remember the forgettable Johnny English in the first place. Trying to build on the unbelievable appeal of the actor's Mr. Bean, a couple of former Bond scribes came up with the spy spoof, which made a pittance in the US but struck gold everywhere else. Now, eight years after the first film hit theaters, Johnny English is being "reborn" for yet another bumbling trek through the UK intelligence community. While breezy and well made, it suffers from the supreme sin of any proposed laughfest -- it's just not very funny.

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On DVD

The Ides of March

by Bill Gibron on Oct 6 2011
DVD Release Date: January 17, 2012
The Ides of March

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Scandal in politics is nothing new. It's been a part of the process since favors could be fostered with the drop of a dollar. So when a movie like The Ides of March hints that it will offer up yet another look at a controversial candidate beset by the dire decisions of a bunch of power hungry yes men, the stakes are raised substantially. After all, there's everything from All the President's Men to Primary Colors to contend with, and with the 24 hour news cycle seemingly breaking a new outrage nightly (if not hourly), expectations within such a storyline are very high indeed. That's what makes The Ides of March all the more disconcerting. While well acted and expertly directed, it doesn't tell us anything we don't already know or suspect. Instead of really shocking us with something unsavory, we wind up walking down the same sex scandal road.

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On DVD

What's Your Number?

by Bill Gibron on Sep 29 2011
DVD Release Date: January 10, 2012
What's Your Number?

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If pop culture is any guidepost, the current crop of under-30 females are an obtuse combination of determined moralists and brazen harlots. While disgusted with labels that legitimize their bed-hopping reputations, they simultaneously see easy sex as a hide and seek game toward a lasting relationship. At least, that's the peculiar premise behind the latest stab at a romantic (?) comedy (??) entitled What's Your Number? Starring the misbegotten Anna Faris and focusing on her unwed obsession with her 20 ex-lovers, we are supposed to experience a frazzled, unfocused young woman coming to terms with her slutty past while avoiding a spinster present. In fact, all we get are the frenzied and fuzzy parts.

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On DVD

The Smurfs

by Bill Gibron on Jul 28 2011
DVD Release Date: November 29, 2011
The Smurfs

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The Smurfs smurfs. It's one of the smurfiest smurfing smurfs you will ever waste your smurfing money on. If you are under the age of eight, you will think you've rediscovered candy. Everything here is geared toward you and your...... more »
On DVD

X-Men: First Class

by Sean O’Connell on Jun 2 2011
DVD Release Date: September 6, 2011
X-Men: First Class

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Sometimes the venerable movie gods figure a way to balance the scales, to right a wrong, and to deliver to dedicated fans the movie they've wanted all along. Comic book readers and superhero enthusiasts, that film is Matthew Vaughn's X-Men:...... more »
On DVD

The First Grader

by Sam Kressner on May 12 2011
DVD Release Date: December 27, 2011
The First Grader

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In post-imperial African rule, a proper modern treatment of the continent's tribal and geopolitical conflicts has evaded Western filmmakers, due in part to overwhelming white guilt. The great writer/director David Mamet has written that the victim narrative panders to the  audience ("See...... more »
On DVD

Love and Other Drugs

by Jesse Hassenger on Feb 20 2011
DVD Release Date: March 1, 2011
Love and Other Drugs

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Writer-director Edward Zwick and one of his collaborators, Marshall Herskovitz, worked on, among other well-regarded television series, My So-Called Life, a small masterpiece of all-ages empathy, as well as a potent nineties time capsule. Life didn't feel particularly trend-baiting at...... more »

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