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Whodunits are rarely a good playground for Hollywood films. The average mystery, whether a stripped-down Agatha Christie-esque tale or a more complex endeavor, is too demanding for the structural constraints of a motion picture. As a result, when o...

When critics bemoan the dumbing down of movies, they're talking about stuff like The Purge. This is quite possibly the most moronic motion picture I have seen thus far in 2013 and that's saying a lot. The movie has obviously been constructed for th...

It's difficult to pinpoint how R.I.P.D. fell into the rat-hole in which it exists. Is the problem the director? The screenwriters? Did the studio step in and sabotage the production team's creative vision? Regardless, in R.I.P.D., we have a legitim...

I'm not sure whose idea it was to turn Red into a movie franchise. The first film, based on the DC Comics graphic novel, was an enjoyable throw-away, but there was nothing about the movie or its modest box office success that cried out for a second...

Red Riding: 1983 brings the Red Riding trilogy to a close and, if the five-hour saga doesn't precisely conclude with a proverbial "bang," neither does it go out with a whimper. The third movie represents the middle ground between the promising-but...

There's a fine line between coincidence and contrivance, and what characterizes that demarcation has more to do with enjoyability than believability. Red Rock West, a film consigned to cable and video until a Bay Area theater decided to give it a s...

Ever had a bad day? Of course you have. We all have. But in The Ref, Denis Leary experiences what it's like when Murphy's Law is in full force. This man just can't catch a break. As a statement that crime doesn't pay, this film sure gets the p...

The cream always rises to the top, and such is the indisputable case with Anthony Hopkins' deeply moving portrayal of the stilted butler of Darlington Hall in the newest offering from Merchant Ivory. Reuniting Howards End co-stars Hopkins and Emma...

The last time Nicolas Cage bared his fangs – in 1988’s Vampire’s Kiss – his performance was widely criticized (and, in some circles, praised) for being outlandishly campy. Now, some 35 years later, Cage has channeled the same zany zeitgeis...

When it comes to the annual Liam Neeson cash-grab, I have learned to temper my expectations. A guilty pleasure would seem to be an attainable goal, although those instances have been more the exception than the rule lately. The problem is that Nee...