Author: Brandon Fibbs
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REVIEW: ‘Fighter’ adds punch to winning formula
GRADE: B+ MINI REVIEW: Using the boxing ring as a metaphor for a larger and more important story, “The Fighter,” based on a true story, is a crowd-pleasing triumph about a working class underdog with multiple Oscar locks. Directed by: David O. Russell Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, Amy Adams Rated…
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Review: ‘Black Swan’
Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” is the stillborn offspring of “The Red Shoes” and Hieronymus Bosch — both magnificent and magnificently disturbing. Art, obsession and mental fragility coalesce into something dark, gnarled and hallucinatory. How can something so repulsive be so beautiful? “Black Swan’s” stage is the renowned New York City ballet, upon which a young,…
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Review: ‘Tron: Legacy’
Watching “Tron: Legacy” is like witnessing a thermonuclear explosion from inside the mushroom cloud — white hot, dazzlingly intense and indescribably overpowering. Pure, unblemished spectacle, “Tron: Legacy” is cinematic escapism at its most thrilling and satisfying — pop art unlike any you’ve ever seen before. The story works as a long-delayed sequel: Sam Flynn (Garrett…
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REVIEW: Please let this be the last ‘Narnia’
Lacking almost all of author C.S. Lewis’ metaphysical depth and fantastical breadth, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is a middling fairy tale posing as genuine mythology. Tedious, bland and shockingly bereft of any sort of enchantment, “The Dawn Treader” is one sinking ship you’ll want to avoid. Their older siblings…
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Review: ‘Voyage of the Dawn Treader’ feels like an empty amusement park ride
Lacking almost all of author C.S. Lewis’ metaphysical depth and fantastical breadth, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is a middling fairy tale posing as genuine mythology. Tedious, bland and shockingly bereft of any sort of enchantment, “The Dawn Treader” is one sinking ship you’ll want to avoid. Their older siblings…
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Review: Chemistry creates good, sexy love story
With “Love and Other Drugs,” director Edward Zwick (“Glory,” “Legends of the Fall”) has produced a bittersweet, clear-eyed gem about the highs and lows of love. Jake Gyllenhaal is Jamie, a directionless young man who has managed to get by in life on his good looks and charm (it hasn’t hurt him in the bedroom,…
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Review: Get caught up in fairy tale
“Tangled” is as good as anything Disney has ever done. The film has an old-fashioned feel — unrepentantly sentimental, unashamedly sincere, an unapologetic fairy tale — that suggests it might just become an instant classic. I loved every second of it. Essentially the story of Rapunzel, “Tangled” follows the adventures of a young, dashing rapscallion…
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Review: ‘127 Hours’ celebrates triumph of human spirit
I remember my mother telling me stories about how foxes caught in traps would sometimes chew off their own legs to escape. I never thought I would hear anything similar involving a human being. That is, until I heard about Aron Ralston. The true account on which the magnificent “127 Days” is based is about…
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MOVIE REVIEW: “127 Hours” heroic
127 HOURS A+ Cast: James Franco, Kata Mara, Amber Tamblyn, Clémence Poésy, Treat Williams, Kate Burton Director: Danny Boyle Rated: R (for language and some disturbing violent content bloody images) Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes I remember my mother telling me stories about how foxes caught intraps would sometimes chew their own legs…
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MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Fair Game’
GRADE: B+ MINI REVIEW: This docudrama, an explosive exposé of the heady lead up to the Iraq War (based on Valerie Plame and Joseph Wilson’s memoirs), is a detailed, habitually accurate and surprisingly moving film. Directed by: Doug Liman Starring: Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Sam Shepard, Ty Burrell, Bruce McGill, Michael Kelly, Brooke…