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Moonrise Kingdom 2012
"Moonrise Kingdom" seems very much like a throwback to the coming-of-age movies of yesteryear, the kind of movies about childhood they hardly make outside of Europe anymore.
Of course, this is still a Wes Anderson movie so there are plenty of "Andersonian" quirks to set the film apart from, say, "The Blue Lagoon" or "Paradise".
It's also IMHO Anderson's 2nd best movie, right after "The Royal Tannenbaums".
"Moonrise Kingdom" focuses on a pair of "emotionally disturbed" children (a boy and…
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The Cabin in the Woods 2012
I second everything Corey "Goon" Pierce said even though I liked it more than he did. Listen, this movie has been overhyped and overrated like crazy. This is not revolutionary, "game changing" filmmaking, it's just a pretty darn solid popcorn horror-comedy with good performances from Whitford, Jenkins and Fran Kranz as well as some cool cameos (although Jodelle Ferland is wasted which should be punishable by law!) I won't spoil the last half hour but the effects were terrible in…
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The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2011
I have to be honest: I only watched about an hour and hour minutes of this movie. I have nothing against slow movies but this was just totally BORING and I didn't care about the characters or the mystery in the least. For does who have seen it: Does it get better past the 1:11 mark?
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Hugo 2011
I get what Marty (do I have the right to call him Marty yet?) was trying to do but it feels way too much like a film about the history of film restoration/preservation (which I feel it is) and not enough of the Children's adventure that was advertised. Don't get me wrong, I like film preservation as much as the next guy but the stuff with Sacha Baron Cohen feels forced and I found Moretz' British accent unbearable at times and I like her a lot (though not as much as my mother does but that's another story for another time).
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Beasts of the Southern Wild 2012
"There once was a Hushpuppy and she lived with her daddy in the bathtub"
Don't get me wrong, I totally dug "Beasts of the Southern Wild", which has been hailed as one of the year's best by many a critic but the film, which plays like Malick's "Tree of Life" in (a fictional part of) New Orleans is very unsettling and filled with stark, near-gag inducing images I haven't experienced in a movie since Steve McQueen's "Hunger" (anything with bugs…
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Rise of the Planet of the Apes 2011
Honestly, it made me cry. Serkis was great and the film was much more emotional than I expected.
Surprisingly enjoyable!
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Safety Not Guaranteed 2012
"Safety Not Guaranteed" is perhaps way too simple a movie.
Based very loosely on a real (but tongue-in-cheek) classified ad, the film is about a magazine writer and his 2 interns who go to investigate an ad placed by a seemingly mentally disturbed man (Mark Duplass) who believes he has invented a time machine and is looking for someone to go with him.
The writer does none of the work and instead hooks up with an ex-girlfriend while his intern…
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We Need to Talk About Kevin 2011
Acclaimed Scottish Director Lynne Ramsay's own unique take on the "evil kid" subgenre of film (IE. The Omen, Joshua, The Bad Seed, Orphan) is a visually sumptuous unnerving tale of a mother and her truely evil child. Swinton is off-the-charts here (why wasn't she Oscar nominated?) and Ezra Miller is creepy perfection as Kevin, Swinton's "demon spawn". This is a very good movie even though it is depressing. Definately not the feel-goodmovie of the year as it will probably make you never want to have children of your own.
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Young Adult 2011
I hated "Juno". I thought I hated Diablo Cody in general (everybody hates "Jennifer's Body" and her tv show with Toni Collette got old fast) but I really liked this movie even though it is repetitive. It's a different beast than "Juno": less quippy yet also meaner. It reminds me of a cross between "Misery" and "Fatal Attraction" but done as a comedy. That comparison makes no sense now but once you see the movie it will.
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Jeff, Who Lives at Home 2011
In the latest Duplass Brothers movie "Jeff, Who Lives at Home", Jason Segel plays Jeff and Ed Helms plays his brother Pat while Susan Sarandon plays their widowed mother Sharon and Rae Dawn Chong plays Sharon's Best Friend and co-worker Carol.
While out with Pat, Jeff (who doesn't really get along with Pat) spies Pat's wife (Judy Greer) out with another man and they assume the worst.
This sets off a chain of events.
Jeff is obsessed with the movie…
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God Bless America 2012
Wow. Sure it's a tad heavy-handed and repetitive but this new comedic satire from Bobcat Goldthwait is another winning film from the controversial former (?) stand-up. I've liked all of Bobcat's films (though I've never seen Shakes the Clown) but this film resonates with me the most out of his other films. It's also great to see Bill Murray's brother Joel in a leading role. A very good movie even if it is predictable (the ending is inevitable). God Bless "God Bless America" (Hyperbole, much?) ;)
