Fri Dec 11, 2009, 6:22 pm EST
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Source: AP
- The top 10 films of 2009, according to AP Movie Writer David Germain:
1. "The Hurt Locker" — The first great Iraq war film proves so universal that it can stand among the classics from past wars. Director Kathryn Bigelow drops viewers in at ground zero for a disturbingly close and claustrophobic look at the stresses and strains of disabling bombs for a living. Ably supported by Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty, Jeremy Renner is fierce, frightening and fearless as a sergeant so addicted to the adrenaline rush of defusing explosives that he can no longer conceive of another way of life.
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The Sundance Film Festival's competition lineup for 2010, announced Wednesday, might demand that audiences wear their serious caps. But the out-of-competition selections allow programmers and viewers to cut loose a little.
The 53 films that populate this year's Premieres, Next, Spotlight, Park City at Midnight and New Frontier sections run the gamut from the cosmically experimental to the star-studded and silly. There is indeed something for everyone at this year's event, which runs Jan. 21-31 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.
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Tue Dec 01, 2009, 7:19 pm EST
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Source: AP
- Capsule reviews of films opening this week:
"Brothers" — Jim Sheridan's remake of the acclaimed 2004 Danish film "Brodre," has aspirations for "Deer Hunter" territory — a minor-key examination of the cost blue-collar families pay for war. Where "Deer Hunter" was epic in its reach, "Brothers" never really leaves the front yard. While Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) is held prisoner by the Taliban in Afghanistan, his wife (Natalie Portman), thinking he's dead, befriends Sam's brother, Tommy (Jake Gyllenhaal). When Sam returns, damaged from a traumatic experience, his rage boils over. It's a simple story and "Brodre" had a lyrical quality, a poetry lacking in Sheridan's sleeker, more sentimental film. "Brothers" can't preserve the intimacy of the original, and the loosened characters slide into cliche despite noble intentions. R for language and some disturbing violent content. 110 minutes. Two stars out of four.
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Mon Nov 30, 2009, 7:53 pm EST
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Source: AP
- For those weary of the cuddly Robert De Niro, the gentle uplift of his latest film, "Everybody's Fine," probably isn't going to be tonic for the soul. But midway through the movie, there is a flash of the old, unpredictable and delightfully unmanageable De Niro when his character, feeling unappreciated by his grown children, goes off on a subway panhandler for a perceived breach of etiquette.
De Niro offers a master class of mannered, minimalist acting in "Everybody's Fine." And if writer-director Kirk Jones ("Waking Ned Devine") had allowed his lead actor a bit more room to roam into the dark corners of his character, the movie's fast path toward late-life insight would have felt more earned. Still, De Niro's work possesses such a quiet power that Jones' well-crafted film disappoints only in the sense that it could delivered more.
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Mon Nov 30, 2009, 3:09 pm EST
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Source: AP
NEW YORK - How's this for an intriguing role?
Christopher Walken will play a man searching for his missing hand in "A Behanding in Spokane," Martin McDonagh's (mihk-DAHN'-uh) black comedy opening March 4 on Broadway.
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