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Blackhat (a slang term used to designate a hacker) represents Michael Mann's attempt to put a new spin on an old genre by adding "cyber" to "crime thriller." Blackhat uses the foggy world of hackers and cybercrime much as he might use background mu...

It’s February. That means it’s time for cold weather and snow, groundhogs having their day, and Liam Neeson coming out with yet another kick-ass action/thriller. (Do not confuse the term “kick-ass” with “good” or even “watchable.”)...

Certain expectations accompany any Adam Sandler film, although expectations have morphed over the years as Sandler has aged and attempted to broaden his target audience. Many of his best films, such as Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch Drunk Love, have ...

An underdog team gets an infusion of outside talent (either a player or a coach) and goes from the bottom to the top, winning the championship in a game whose result is never in doubt. This is the plot of dozens of sports-related motion pictures, ...

Body of Lies is an adult thriller with such a high narrative density that even a brief trip to the restroom may result in key plot points being lost. The film is the antithesis of a slick, superficial feature like Eagle Eye. It both demands and re...

I don't know whether Markus Zusak's young adult bestelling novel The Book Thief should be considered "unfilmable" but the adaptation, written by Michael Petroni and directed by Brian Percival, makes a compelling case that it shouldn't have been fil...

Born on the Fourth of July is the middle chapter of Oliver Stone's so-called "Vietnam Trilogy." Begun with Platoon and concluded with Heaven and Earth, these movies are linked only by their connection to the war; they have no common characters. P...

In all likelihood, Robert Ludlum fans will not be pleased by this adaptation of one of the spy master's best-received novels. That's because The Bourne Identity uses the premise, a few character names, and some isolated incidents from the novel, t...

No matter how compelling and intriguing a real-life story may be, it doesn't necessarily translate into an equally compelling and intriguing motion picture. Breach is a case in point. Based on the widely publicized case of turncoat FBI agent Robe...