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Movie Review: THE GRANDMASTER
Last week, I attended a screening of Wong Kar-wai’s latest film, The Grandmaster (Aug. 23, limited release), starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai as Ip Man, who’s most well known for popularizing Wing Chun...
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Movie Review: GRAVITY
Movie awards season is finally here, which means the studios are holding screenings all over town, pushing their contenders for the Oscars and the plethora of other awards. This week I went to two...
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Movie Review: ALL IS LOST
Robert Redford stars in a one-person show as a man whose boat (and radio equipment) is incapacitated somewhere in the Indian Ocean and he struggles for 8 days to find land. If you think that plotline...
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Golden Globes 2014: A Few Thoughts & Fashion
I enjoy the Golden Globes every year because it’s the first show of the season so awards fatigue hasn’t set in yet, and because the stars can eat and drink there, crazy things happen. Jacqueline...
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Weekend Viewing Pleasure
If you’re looking for entertainment this weekend, there are some good options across different media platforms. The Winter Olympics are on TV, and Amazon just posted ten new pilots for you to watch...
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Movie Review: MALEFICENT
Every once in a while, a role comes along that’s so perfectly embodied by an actor that you can’t imagine anyone else playing that character. Such is the case with Angelina Jolie in the titular role...
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Movie Reviews: THE FAULT IN OUR STARS & EDGE OF TOMORROW
Movie-studio execs must’ve thought releasing a sad teenage romance and a big sci-fi action thriller on the same weekend meant they were targeting different audiences, but I don’t belong to any one...
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Movie Review: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
Disclosure one: I went into the Guardians of the Galaxy screening a few weeks ago knowing nothing about it, other than that it has a weird group of characters at its center and a bunch of name actors...
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Movie Review: THE GIVER
The Giver, adapted from Lois Lowry’s Newbery Medal-winning novel, opens in black and white, with best friends Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), Fiona (Odeya Rush), and Asher (Cameron Monaghan) living in a...
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Movie Review: LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM
As I headed out to see Rory Kennedy’s latest documentary, I stuffed a few tissues in my pocket, preparing for a “sit and sob,” my term for moving cinematic experiences. I was correct about the...
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Movie Review: THE IMITATION GAME
Awards season is in full swing in L.A. and I’ve been going to a lot of screenings. Tonight is Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper with Bradley Cooper as Chris Kyle and later this week is Into the Woods....
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Movie Review: AMERICAN SNIPER
In one scene in American Sniper (out Christmas day), Navy SEAL Chris Kyle comes home from his first tour in Iraq. Though he’s sitting still and claims he’s fine, a doctor slaps a blood-pressure cuff...
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Movie Review: WILD
Cheryl Strayed’s blockbuster memoir Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail comes to the screen December 3 (in limited release), with Reese Witherspoon playing Strayed as she hikes over a...
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Movie Review: INTO THE WOODS
The film adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical Into the Woods (out December 25) is an example of how star power can be effective in drawing people to the cinema. I really wanted to...
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Movie Review: STILL ALICE
Based on Lisa Genova’s 2009 novel of the same name, Still Alice (limited release, Dec. 5) is about a college professor dealing with early onset Alzheimer’s. The film takes viewers along on the...
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Gift Book Reviews: THE MAKING OF GONE WITH THE WIND and STYLING THE STARS
Every year for Shelf Awareness for Readers, I review a couple of coffee-table books for the holidays. I received two beautiful ones this year that I think movie lovers on your gift list would...
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Movie Review: UNBROKEN
Much of the interest in Unbroken (out Dec. 25) comes from people wondering whether or not Angelina Jolie is a good director, so I’ll start by saying she acquits herself well, especially with a...
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Favorite Books and Movies of 2014
Happy Friday! How was your first full week of 2015? I returned from vacation a few days ago and really enjoyed being off grid. Now I have to find my cell phone and remember my social-media passwords....
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Thoughts on the Golden Globes 2015
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, in their third and final outing as hosts, were my main reason for watching, and they landed some good jokes, though the show seemed less funny this year than it had been in...
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Thoughts on Oscar Nominations 2015
Since the Oscar nominations were announced at dark o’clock this morning, many articles have appeared griping about the snubs. I’m surprised, too, that certain frontrunners weren’t nominated—Gillian...
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