Monthly Archives: January 2013

Oscars: What the Academy needs is a commissioner, like baseball, football, etc.

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Roger Moore

Every year we gripe about how the Academy “snubbed” this director, film, actress or actor. Fans use that as an excuse to tune out the Oscar telecast. Every year, the Oscars grow less special, less novel, because the awards and … Continue reading →

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Box Office: Will Jessica Chastain kick Arnold’s butt this weekend?

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Roger Moore

A trio of films go into wide release today — a ghost story getting decent reviews, a retro Arnold Schwarzenegger shoot’em up earning better reviews (not from me, the peasants) and a poorly reviewed Mark Wahlberg/Russell Crowe thriller that I … Continue reading →

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Critic’s Log — Today’s screening, the Oscar nominated doc “The Gatekeepers”

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Roger Moore

Call it an intimate history of an Israeli counter-terror campaign that failed. Or a necessary response to a massive internal threat to the Israeli state. The last six heads of Israel’s secret Shin Bet police force — the anti-terrorism unit– … Continue reading →

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Funny or Die vs. The NRA — no, it’s not about “The Last Stand

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Roger Moore

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/e0141717e0/nra-stand-and-fight-parody?playlist=featured_videos

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Movie Preview: Tommy Lee Jones is MacArthur in “Emperor”

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Roger Moore

Matthew Fox is the aide tasked with finding out to what degree Japan’s Emperor Hirohito was an active participant/knowing dupe in Japan’s war of aggression in the Pacific. Rape of Nanjing, attack on Pearl Harbor, savage treatment of POWs, civilians … Continue reading →

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DePalma-Pacino — Paterno, in “Happy Valley”

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Roger Moore

Veteran producer Edward R. Pressman is no stranger to tragic scandal. He was the producer of “The Crowe,” and I recall him getting pretty choked up when we talked about the confluence of events that led to Brandon Lee’s accidental … Continue reading →

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Liam Neeson may reunite with his “Unknown” director for “Run All Night”

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Roger Moore

As he approaches his 60s, Liam Neeson is more in demand for action films than he’s ever been. “Run All Night” is a script he’s signed onto. Now Deadline.com reports that he may reunite with his “Unknown” director, Jaume Collet-Serra, … Continue reading →

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If “Gangster Squad” is “The Magnificent…Six,” then “Last Stand” must be “Rio Arnold”

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Roger Moore

As I mentioned in my review of “Gangster Squad” last week, the screenplay was plainly built around classic Western conventions — one Western film in particular. That would be “The Magnificent Seven,” which of course was based on “The Seven … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: “Broken City”

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Roger Moore

It’s a filthy place, this “Broken City.” Even the people called “good guys” have their dark side, their dirty secrets, their tragic flaws. And the “bad guys?” They’re all over the New York papers, all over New York cable news … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: “Take Me Home Tonight”

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Roger Moore

“Take Me Home Tonight” is a ten-years-too-late comedy. It’s ’80s nostalgia vamped up by people who were too young to have lived through the actual ’80s, but entirely too old to be playing college kids nostalgic for their ’80s high … Continue reading →

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