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| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
26948 |
| Total Ratings: |
245172 |
| Total Reviews: |
26330 |
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| GET ON UP |
"Not Super, Just Bad"
Peter Sobczynski says... "Throughout his long and illustrious career, the late, great James Brown developed a unique style of music that would go on to sell millions of records, serve as the inspiration for countless performers in the rock, soul and rap genres and serve as the ideal shorthand for people putting together movie trailers who need to quickly establish that the characters are indeed feeling good. He also took charge of his own career at a time when that was practically unheard of for an artist and took an interest in many of the key social issues of the day. On the other hand, he was hot-tempered, a perfectionist who would fine members of his group for a flubbed note or missed dance step, an abusive husband, a drug addict and did a couple of stretches in prison, most infamously for a 1988 incident in which he shot up an insurance seminar before leading police on an extended chase. Oh yeah, he was also the Rev. Cleophus James in "The Blues Brothers," a move that endeared him to a whole new generation of fans who were presumably just as agog over the man, his moves and his voice as earlier generations were when he first burst upon the scene." (more)
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| GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY |
"Space Oddities"
Peter Sobczynski says... "My general state of antipathy regarding the glut of movies inspired by comic books that has inundated multiplexes in the last few years is not due to some form of snobbery over a lesser art form. My problem is that too many of them rely on the same storytelling formulas and after a while, they all tend to blend into each other as one giant, noisy and increasingly tiresome mass of oddly costumed people beating the stuffing out of each other while the CGI scenery explodes around them. When one of them tries to break the mold by offering viewers something different and does it well--as was the case with the first two "Superman" movies," the Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan Batman epics, "Spider-Man 2," "The Avengers," "X-Men: First Class" and Ang Lee's gloriously odd and arty "Hulk"--I respond to them with as much delight and excitement as a fanboy who has been counting down the hours until the first show." (more)
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| AT THE DEVIL'S DOOR |
"Surprisingly, much more than haunted real estate."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT THE 2014 FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: A common issue I have with horror movies is that their scary events seldom seem to be parts of the same story, but just a collection of things that the filmmakers will get a jump. That is not an issue with "At the Devil's Door", which is impressively focused on connecting its supernatural and human stories, although it could do with playing them out a little more." (more)
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| TO BE TAKEI |
"An actor whose best role turns out to be himself."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT THE 2014 FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL: For a while, I found George Takei's twenty-first century career little more than tacky, an old man who was one a minor part of a pop culture phenomenon becoming a parody of himself in an effort to hang on to what fan he had. I'm still probably going to think that when I see him doing some of his broader bits, but this documentary should at least give some perspective of why being able to be that larger-than-life figure must be wonderful for him." (more)
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| HERCULES (2014) |
"The strongest man alive. Excepting Brett Ratner's agent."
Daniel Kelly says... "“Hercules” is the sort of film in which arrow supplies never diminish, a man tosses a horse and the hero spends a large portion of the final act topless. Directed by Brett Ratner, but delivering little of the pain usually inherent to such a statement, “Hercules” is a harmless, occasionally endearing hunk of steroidal cheese. The film-maker still has no discernable visual identity, but he allows this nonsense to propel at quite a clip, filling out the progressively more ridiculous set-pieces with a game cast. If you’re going to make blatant rubbish for the mass market, that’s just about the best way to do it." (more)
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| I, ORIGINS |
"If you're searching for an epiphany,keep looking..."
Greg Ursic says... "According to science, matter can neither created nor destroyed, so the belief that we continue in another form when we die is true. Religious adherents however presume that our consciousness also continues on and dedicate themselves to achieving the best possible post-life scenario." (more)
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| HERCULES (2014) |
"Chisel the legend."
Brett Gallman says... "If you need any further evidence that the gods can still be unkind, consider this: of the two Hercules films released into theaters this year, Brett Ratner was gifted with the meatier one where The Rock wears a lion on his head, while Renny Harlin toiled away with Kellan Lutz for a film that felt a half-step away from arriving direct-to-video." (more)
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| WISH I WAS HERE |
"Stop the planet of Zach Braff, I want to get off!"
Jaycie says... "Upon learning the title of Zach Braff's latest opus - Wish I Was Here, not You, not He, not She, not They, not We, but himself - viewers who had previously been subjected to Garden State and The Last Kiss most likely rolled their eyes and said "Here we go again." Yes, this movie does star the Braffster as a perpetually shell-shocked man-child who doesn't know he's a perpetually shell-shocked man-child. If not for that, though, Wish I Was Here could have been salvaged." (more)
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FILMS I NEGLECTED TO REVIEW: CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATION EDITION
by Peter Sobczynski |
| "Due to contractual obligations, I am unable to offer full-length reviews of most of this week's new releases. Instead, please enjoy short looks at "I, Origins," "Lucy," "Magic in the Moonlight," "Mood Indigo" and "A Most Wanted Man." Most are pretty good and one is a masterpiece--see if you can guess which one it is." (more) |
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SILLY WALK RIGHT IN AND SIT RIGHT DOWN...
by Greg Ursic |
| "On July 15th there was a parrot sighting at Potters Field Park in London; but this wasn’t just any avian, it was a 50 foot Norwegian blue. The ornithological oddity wasn’t the product of science run amok or a pending birdnado, rather it was an homage to the four decade long partnership of Monty Python, sketch comedy’s terrifically twisted troupe and heralded their return to the stage (and quite likely their last…)." (more) |
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'IT'S TIME FOR SPICE, AND THE LUCKY SPICE IS... PAPRIKA! "OH THANK YOU, THANK YOU! YOU'VE MADE ME THE HAPPIEST SPICE IN THE WORLD!"'
- Rick, Bachelor Party
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