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Perhaps Robert Frost put it best when he said, "A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer." Once, practicing law was considered a worthy, honorable career. No longer. In a bloated legal system where technicaliti...

The television series 21 Jump Street, like many old shows, is a product of its time. Trying to accomplish a "straight" remake of something so irrevocably tied to the '80s could not be done in 2012; it wouldn't work. When Michael Mann reworked Miami...

There are times when 22 Jump Street is borderline brilliant. Unfortunately, those instances are outnumbered by segments that don't work for one reason or another. On balance, the film has just enough to earn it a recommendation but, with a little t...

Taut, relentless, and uncompromising, A House of Dynamite’s greatest strength is its sense of plausibility. Stripped bare of a Hollywood ending, some will find the film’s trajectory grim and unsatisfying. Indeed, there really isn’t an ending...

Had The Alto Knights been made a little more than a quarter-century ago, it would likely have generated interest and excitement, even if the end result isn’t deserving of either. After all, back in the late 1990s, director Barry Levinson was nea...

For Robert Duvall, The Apostle was a labor of love. It is said that every man or woman has at least one story to tell; this is Duvall's. The film was in the making for over a decade, and, when no studio bought into it, Duvall put up the money...

The press notes for Bee Movie indicate that Jerry Seinfeld came up with the title before he had an inkling what the story might be. Having seen the film, I can believe that. As befits something from Seinfeld's pen, the screenplay contains a smatter...

Big came out of nowhere during the summer of 1988 and captured universal raves. More than two decades later, despite indications of dating, it remains a popular motion picture, in large part because it's one the few "body swap" movies - a popular ...

Against all odds, The Big Short works. In fact, “works” is an understatement for what director Adam McKay has achieved with his improbable adaptation of Michael Lewis’ nonfiction book about the 2008 global financial crisis. Writing ...

Body Heat is Lawrence Kasdan's directorial debut. His role behind the camera was earned in large part because of his writing contributions to The Empire Strikes Back and Raiders of the Lost Ark, two of the biggest movies of the early '80s. And, i...