All articles by Tim Grierson, Senior US Critic – Page 69
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Reviews
Defiance
Dir: Edward Zwick. US. 2008. 129 mins.In trying to add a new chapter to the long history of films made about the Holocaust, Defiance can barely move a narrative muscle without bumping into another, better movie that covers some of the same ground. Based on the true story of three ...
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Reviews
Repo! The Genetic Opera
Dir: Darren Lynn Bousman . US. 2008. 97 mins.Kinky, sexy, gory and campy, Repo! The Genetic Opera may be an unwieldy mess, but it's a fun unwieldy mess. Based on a Los Angeles theatrical piece, this futuristic rock opera will annoy those unwilling to meet it halfway, as its shamelessly ...
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Reviews
Saw V
Dir: David Hackl. US. 2008. 92 mins.Halloween staple Saw's serial killer Jigsaw died two episodes ago, so Saw V is forced to move supporting characters to centre stage and supply new twists to events that occurred in previous films, making it mostly of interest to franchise fans. In some ways, ...
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Reviews
Max Payne
Dir: John Moore. US. 2008. 100 mins.As shiny and hollow as its used shell cases, Max Payne doesn't have much to offer beyond a recycled noir attitude and a progressively violent story that plays out rather predictably. Based on the popular video game of the same name, this action-thriller starring ...
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Reviews
Igor
Dir: Tony Leondis. US. 2008. 86 mins.Sweet-natured but saddled with strained wisecracking humour and over-busy plotting, children's animated feature Igor never quite manages to shake off a feeling of familiarity that extends from the story's archly hip tone to the misunderstood, lovable main character of a hunchback trying to escape ...
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ReviewsReligulous
Dir: Larry Charles. US. 2008. 100mins.A blunt satiric object applied to delicate subject matter, Religulous is a consistently funny if one-sided putdown of society’s blind devotion to its many religious faiths. In the hands of Borat director Larry Charles and American political comedian Bill Maher, the ...
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Reviews
Traitor
Dir: Jeffrey Nachmanoff. US. 2008. 113 mins.Just as the war on terror has forced lumbering, outdated government agencies to adapt, sometimes awkwardly, to a new kind of enemy, so too does the old-fashioned Hollywood thriller Traitor strain to confront a newfangled action-suspense vehicle with conventional storytelling techniques. A solid lead ...
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Reviews
The Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor
Dir: Rob Cohen . US. 2008. 107 mins.Nine years have passed since The Mummy, a moderately-charming period action-adventure yarn starring Brendan Fraser, but it seems even longer after viewing Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor, a dispiritingly witless sequel with very little personality but a lot of frenetic comic banter and ...
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Reviews
Step Brothers
Dir: Adam McKay . US. 2008. 95 mins.Playing like an overlong DVD version of one of his earlier, funnier, PG-13 films, the R-rated Step Brothers finds Will Ferrell diving into raunchier, coarser terrain, resulting in a movie that feels helplessly in thrall to its own foul language and sex jokes. ...
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Reviews
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
Dir: Patricia Rozema . US. 2008. 100 mins.Emotionally affecting but dramatically wobbly, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl was made with young girls in mind, but would have been far more effective had it shown enough courage not to play down to its audience. With that said, this adaptation of the ...
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Reviews
Get Smart
Dir: Peter Segal . US. 2008. 110 mins. Offering a little bit of everything but not quite enough of any one thing, Get Smart is a likable jumble of genres that could have greatly benefited from being less ambitious. Despite a strong central performance from Steve Carell, this adaptation of ...
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Reviews
You Don't Mess With The Zohan
Dir: Dennis Dugan. US. 2008. 113 mins.A comedy built around the belief that people speaking in foreign accents is endlessly funny, You Don't Mess With The Zohan is - how you say' - not good. Aiming for an irreverent politically-incorrect tone with its story of an Israeli commando who leaves ...
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Reviews
Made Of Honour
Dir: Paul Weiland . US. 2008. 101 mins.Just as its charming main character's plan to ruin his female best friend's wedding only succeeds in bringing himself down as well,sodoes Made Of Honor start off with a breezy likeability before sabotaging itself with generic, unsatisfying plotting. Despite appealing performances from Patrick ...
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Reviews
Redbelt
Dir: David Mamet . US. 2008. 99mins.Clearly a David Mamet film from its first line of dialogue, Redbelt exhibits many of the tenets of the playwright-film-maker's earlier efforts, although they find a novel new setting in the world of mixed martial arts. Some of Mamet's techniques have certainly lost their ...
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Reviews
Baby Mama
Dir: Michael McCullers . US. 2008. 98 mins.A smart comedy for adults, Baby Mama is a consistently funny pleasure, filled with charismatic performances and a nicely understated emotional element. Though superficially an Odd Couple-style look at two mismatched women - one hired to carry the other's child to term - ...
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Reviews
Prom Night
Dir: Nelson McCormick. US. 2008. 88mins.One of the most memorable nights in a teenager's young life is grist for a pretty unmemorable movie in Prom Night, a tame horror entry that follows conventions to the letter. Though besting opening-weekend expectations, the film fails to offer many thrills as its attractive ...
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Reviews
Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay
Dirs: Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg . US. 2008. 101 mins.2004's Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle was such a pleasant surprise - a witty stoner comedy with some depth and genuine laughs - that it was perhaps too much to hope that the sequel could retain the original's ...
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Reviews
Never Back Down
Dir: Jeff Wadlow. US. 2008. 113 mins.Fight Club meets The Karate Kid in Never Back Down, a generic, violent underdog story that pays a lot of lip service to non-violence when its characters aren't busy kicking and punching the tar out of each other. Though the film tries to capitalise ...
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Reviews
Vantage Point
Dir: Pete Travis. US. 2008. 90 mins.Although it's a thriller based around a familiar, Rashomon-style concept, Vantage Point ratchets up its intensity so effectively that the film's lack of originality hardly matters. The assassination of the US president is told through the perspective of different eyewitnesses, with each variation offering ...