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| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
31312 |
| Total Ratings: |
247683 |
| Total Reviews: |
27864 |
![[166581104 Hits]](/cgi-bin/gd.cgi?166581104)
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| RACE 3 |
"Barely gets out of the starting gate."
Jay Seaver says... "If one's filmgoing tastes stretch far enough for Indian action-adventure and "Race 3" is playing at the local multiplex - and it's more likely than usual; the big Eid release is getting more screens than Bollywood films typically get in the U.S., including some in 3D - the number in the title should not deter you; it's not connected to the two previous movies and even the returning actors are playing different characters. No, give it a pass because it's not very good, a prime example of how a movie can have a little bit of everything and not enough of anything." (more)
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| INCREDIBLES 2 |
"Maybe Not Incredible, But Pretty Good."
Peter Sobczynski says... "When “The Incredibles” was release in 2004 to near-universal acclaim, superhero films had not quite begun to totally dominate the film industry in the way that they do today and as a result, writer-director Brad Bird’s keenly felt homage to the genre felt fresh, exciting and funny while at the same time offering surprisingly nuanced takes on such subjects as balancing work and family and the pains and pleasures of being special and unique in a world that oftentimes simply finds it easier to embrace mediocrity instead. The result was both one of Pixar’s finest films and one worthy of belonging placed alongside “Superman: The Movie” (1978), “Hulk” (2003), “Spider-Man 2” (2004,” the Christopher Nolan “Batman” films and the current “Black Panther” as one of the greatest superhero movies ever made. Now, “Incredibles 2” has finally arrived and the good news is that it is fast, funny, often visually stunning and should prove to be entertaining enough for young and old viewers alike, even those who were not even born when the original came out 14 years ago. The bad news is that while it is never less than entertaining to watch and certainly preferable to the likes of “Avengers: Infinity War” or “Deadpool 2” as superhero movies go, it lacks the additional grace notes that made the original so much more than just another action-packed extravaganza." (more)
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| HEARTS BEAT LOUD |
"Proof Positive That "Once" Was More Than Enough"
Peter Sobczynski says... "Every summer, there is at least one instance—and usually more—where a film that was praised to the skies after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival finally opens in a properly oxygenated climate and those who weren’t caught up in the need to anoint the next big thing are left befuddled and wondering what all the fuss could have possibly been about in the first place. (To cite just one of many examples, consider last year’s “Patti Cakes”—better yet, don’t.) For this season, that film is “Hearts Beat Loud,” a cloying and ham-handed attempt to replicate the magic of “Once” (a Sundance favorite that actually did live up to the hype) with increasingly diminishing and tone-deaf results." (more)
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| NEVER GOIN' BACK |
"Genuine dumb fun."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2018: An enjoyably crude comedy about two people whose simple-if-ill-advised plan for a weekend at the beach is detailed by a bunch of disasters both of their own and others' making, "Never Goin' Back" is a bit of a standout right now because they don't necessarily make a lot of these movies about teenage girls. And while it's noteworthy for being unusual now, it will probably age well because it's genuinely funny throughout." (more)
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| HOTEL ARTEMIS |
"A good cast checks in, but the movie doesn't check out."
Jay Seaver says... "How in the heck does this thing wind up playing a whole bunch of mainstream theaters in summer 2018? It feels like the natural home for this sort of idiosyncratic weird-corner-of-a-larger-unseen-universe flick is a genre film festival (where we're all wondering how a film starring Jodie Foster landed there) or a 1990s video store shelf. Even more than "Upgrade" last week, it's a weird grindhouse oddity pushed wide like something with broad appeal, although it doesn't even deliver on its weird promise as much as that one." (more)
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| BELIEVER (2018/I) |
"A rather lesser Drug War."
Jay Seaver says... "A fair number of people, this guy included, spent a fair amount of time and words a few years back talking about how Johnnie To's "Drug War" was different from (and, arguably, less than) his Hong Kong crime movies because of the involvement of the Chinese censor board; watching "Believer", the new South Korean remake, suggests that maybe it deserved a little more credit for being a heck of a crime movie. This new version has a lot of the same beats and handles some well enough, but Lee Hae-yeong is no match for To." (more)
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| 211 |
"Parboil"
Peter Sobczynski says... "When people watch Nicolas Cage movies these days—I assume that there are still some hardy souls inclined to do so—they are doing so in the hopes of finding either the increasingly rare diamond in the rough that reminds them of the brilliant and ingenious actor that he used to be (as was the case with films like “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,” “Joe” or his singular turn in “Mom and Dad”) or, as is more often the case, those moments of batshit insanity that may not land on a Lifetime Achievement clip reel but will definitely find a home on countless YouTube compilations. Alas, even those faithful will have little patience with his latest effort (his fourth to be released so far this year), the dreadfully dull action thriller “211.”" (more)
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| OCEAN'S EIGHT |
"Good Girls Gone Bad"
Peter Sobczynski says... "After the screening of “Ocean’s 8,” a colleague said that he found it to be “lightweight and disposable.” For a lot of movies, that might be seen as criticism but in the case of this one, it strikes me as being more of a simple observation than anything else. Like the previous “Ocean’s” films—both the original 1960 Rat Pack extravaganza and the star-studded 2001 remake (not to mention the latter’s two sequels)—this is not a movie bound and determined to take on the problems of the world in a thoughtful and introspective manner. No, it is a slickly-made piece of fluff offering viewers nothing more than a cheerfully preposterous caper comedy enacted by so many glamorous and well-known faces that it sometimes feels as if the contents of a magazine rack have suddenly come to life. This sounds easy enough in theory, I suppose, but to pull one of these things off properly requires an incredible degree of ingenuity and precision—one false move and the whole enterprise can come off like a smug and lazy bore that has only enormous paychecks for the actors and mild contempt for those in the audience. Happily, this is not one of those cases and while it will not going down as a masterpiece anytime soon, even the most unrepentant churl would be hard-pressed to resist its fizzy charms." (more)
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'THAT'S DEPRESSING AND IT'S EXPENSIVE, TWO WORDS I HATE. YOU KNOW THE WORDS I LIKE? I LIKE THE WORD "PEPPY" AND THE WORD "CHEAP".'
- Edwards, Soap Dish
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