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Out in Theaters: ‘EXPERIMENTER’

For years, people questioned the ethics of Stanley Milgram’s infamous obedience experiments calling into question the intentional emotional distress inflicted upon the unknowing test subjects. Questionable though his tactics may have been, the fact that in 2015 every Psychology 101 class across the country is schooled in the teachings of Milgrim shows the lasting effects of his research. The film Experimenter, on the other hand, graphs the life of the controversial social scientist in a drearily scientific manner and will be forgotten moments after watching it. For all the intrigue and controversy surrounding Stanley Milgram, director/producer/writer Michael Almereyda is unable to conceive of a single moment of drama in his punishingly procedural biopic. Read More

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THE LEFTOVERS Season 2 Episode 4 “Orange Sticker” Review

Are the leftovers looking for departure? Michael (Jovan Adepo) aggressively scrapes the “verified” sticker off his house because nothing is really verified in Miracle. Michael removes it like a formerly held belief system, but other homes still wear the label if only just to be verified of something. Miracle’s inhabitants are starting to catch up to the foreshadowing in earlier episodes. Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘PARANORMAL ACTIVITY: THE GHOST DIMENSION’

By and large the same product albeit in slightly different packaging, Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension manages a suitable end for the found footage phenomenon that took the world by storm. In tying the many disparate series elements into one cohesive mythology, this sixth Paranormal Activity has given meaning and context to all those that came after the first. In that regard, first time director Gregory Plotkin fifth sequel is one of the series strongest entries. Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘THE LAST WITCH HUNTER’

Turns out when you take Vin Diesel out from behind the steering wheel, he’s still rocking cruise control. His latest starring vehicle, The Last Witch Hunter, pays homage to the muscle-bound actor’s IRL passion for D&D. No, not designated driving but Dungeons and Dragons (the actor has openly express his passion for the tabletop role-playing game). Like a faltering dungeon master, Diesel is as one-dimensional and underwhelming as a bag of old Cheetos. Playing a Norseman destined to keep the peace between witches and the human race, Diesel does nothing to differentiate this performance from any of his other recent ones, and how could he? The man is as wooden as Groot, as mechanical as the Iron Giant, as audibly indecipherable as Dominic Toretto’s meat and potatoes growl-slur. It seems you can take the Dom out of the movie but you can’t take the Dom out of Vin Diesel.   Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘I SMILE BACK’

That Sarah Silverman had the gall to break out of her irreverent comic persona for a melancholic melodrama as jet black as I Smile Back is impressive in and of itself. That the film itself is resoundingly potent and her performance amongst the strongest of the year is nothing short of a shocker. Hers is what many would refer to as a “breakout” role, were Silverman not already close being to a household name. Nonetheless, the performance front and center of I Smile Back is evidence enough that Silverman needs more dramatic roles and she needs them now. Read More

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THE LEFTOVERS Season 2 Episode 3 “Off Ramp” Review

Laurie Garvey (Amy Brenneman) tries to lead others off ramp when she’s still on the turnpike. She tries to wipe the residue off her current life through the drumming in her head. The drumming of improvised jazz layered over the opening scene is Laurie, presently in a state of ordered chaos coping with what’s leftover. In the third tableaux opening of this season, nobody has moved on. The departed never left. Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘BEASTS OF NO NATION’

War films have never been as great as they were from the late-70s to the mid-80s. There was an esthetic richness to them, a vast sense of moral disorientation that defined them. Surfers catching waves neck deep in the shit, soldier’s squeezing the triggers of pistols squared at their heads, combatants throwing their arms up in defeat. That iconography sticks for a reason. In the era of 9/11, there have been some excellent war films, but like the wars themselves, the weapons, scenery and tone have changed. Beasts of No Nation is a heavyhearted throwback to the great war epics of the Vietnam generation and tells the sorrowful saga of a child soldier’s dark transformation. Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘CRIMSON PEAK’

Only in a Guillermo del Toro yarn would the setting – a decrepit Victorian estate housing buried, but not forgotten, secrets – literally drip blood. His is the humor of a tongue buried deeply in a cheek, almost to the point of popping through to the other side. It’s not actually blood that is dripping but there’s no mistaking what the globular rouge streaks running down the wallpaper is supposed to resemble. In the world of Crimson Peak, it is but red clay that sullies the interior of the far flung mansion from which the title takes its name. The house is literally sinking in it. As the winter snow decorates the earth around this distinctly haunted house, it grows blood red from the clay beneath. So it’ll likely catch you off guard to hear that for a movie ostensibly soaked in blood, Crimson Peak is actually pretty restrained.   Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘STEVE JOBS’

A sweetly sour punch of cinematic vitality, Steve Jobs is alive, it’s kinetic and it’s an intellectual kick to the shins. With a soaring foundation in Aaron Sorkin’s lively script, the dramatic biography hums along in real time, deconstructing the mythology of a recently controversial figure, the eponymous Steve Jobs, as he navigates his way to the top of the personal computer heap. From top to bottom, no detail has been spared as Danny Boyle’s signature aesthetic doddlings add a certain touch of magical realism to the affair while Michael Fassbender’s award-worthy central performance grounds the film in a degree of stone-washed, near-robotic cynicism. It’s an odd marriage of misanthropic megalomania and surprisingly salty sentiment that works for almost every minute of its run time. Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘BRIDGE OF SPIES’

Now this is confident filmmaking. But what else would you expect from the accomplished pairing of artful overlord Steven Spielberg and American everyman maestro Tom Hanks? Bridge of Spies is in its very essence a showcase of Spielberg’s directorial prowess; it neatly highlights the auteur’s ability to shape the mundane into the magical, of his expert craftsmanship behind the camera, of his articulate (if not subtle) storytelling capabilities. It is at its very core a reminder of why Spielberg has become a harbinger of prestige pictures and why Hanks will never be replaced. It is, without a doubt, an excellent film. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re looking at our first assured best picture nomination lock. Read More