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It would be possible to form a tragedy from the background inspiration of Ruben Fleisher's 30 Minutes or Less, but the filmmakers have not traveled that route. Instead of fashioning a heartbreaking tale about greed and inhumanity, Fleisher has app...

American Assassin is as generic an espionage thriller as you’re likely to find. Leaving no cliché unturned and offering a roster of predictable “twists” and unsurprising “surprises”, the production seems more like it was assembled f...

Over the years, many films have taken a dark look at the supposedly perfect ideal of a white picket fence, a little house, and a nuclear family. For many, the suburban life is the American dream. For others, however, it can turn into a twisted ni...

American Sniper lifts director Clint Eastwood out of the doldrums that have plagued his last few films. Loosely based on the life of decorated Iraq War veteran Chris Kyle, the movie not only represents the best effort from Eastwood since his Oscar-wi...

Repression and desire are often inextricably entwined, with the two dynamics in opposition. Such is the case in Francis Lee’s clear-eyed but heart-wrenching period drama, Ammonite. As much a tale of the patriarchal suffocation of those who b...

In today’s climate, it may no longer be in vogue to offer a laudatory assessment of Woody Allen’s 1977 Oscar-winner, Annie Hall but, dammit, this is a really good movie and doesn’t deserve the opprobrium it sometimes receives because of ...

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 ...

In 2013, Frozen arrived in theaters to capture the hearts, minds, and imaginations of young people (especially girls) around the world. Big Hero 6 is Disney's follow-up and it's unlikely to have the same seismic impact. Although competently made a...

Taking its clue from recent British imports like Brassed Off! and The Full Monty, Billy Elliot combines whimsy, comedy, and socially-conscious drama into a crowd-pleasing whole. Although neither revolutionary in its approach or subject matter nor ...

This is a classic example of a novel being condensed and edited to fit within the limited time allowed for a screen adaptation. The 2008 motion picture adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited clocks in at 135 minutes - not short, to be s...