Archive for December, 2007

Movie Review: The Great Debaters

Sunday, December 30th, 2007

The people who really need to see it might not care to be so educated by blackness — park your fears.
The fine cast of The Great Debaters, this well-told, sane and safe drama directed by Denzel Washington includes Nate Parker as Henry Lowe, Denzel Whitaker as James Farmer Jr., and Jurnee Smollett as Samatha Booke. The screenplay written by Robert Eisele chronicles just one of the achievements of Melvin B. Tolson, debate coach extraordinaire, during…

Movie Review: Blood, Gore, and More – Sweeney Todd

Sunday, December 30th, 2007

The great surprise in Sweeney Todd is that Johnny Depp can sing.
The great surprise in Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street is not that Tim Burton can handle a darkly, gothic tale — we've seen that already in Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow. Nor is it that Stephen Sondheim's musical is sublimely witty — he has garnered enough awards to prove it. The great surprise is that Johnny Depp…

“A Scanner Darkly” Movie Review

Sunday, December 30th, 2007
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Set in a not-too-distant future where America has lost its "war" on drugs, Fred, an undercover cop, is one of many people hooked on the popular drug, Substance D, which causes its users to develop split personalities. Fred is obsessed with...

“The Illusionist” Movie Review

Sunday, December 30th, 2007
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Unlock the mysteries of the year's most spellbinding film from the producers of Crash and Sideways! Oscar nominees Paul Giamatti and Edward Norton lead an all-star cast in this "stunning" film that conjures an exhilarating blend of suspense...

“Blood Diamond” Movie Review

Sunday, December 30th, 2007
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An ex-mercenary turned smuggler (Leonard DiCaprio). A Mende fisherman (Djimon Hounsou). Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense value and rescuing...

“The Fountain” Movie Review

Sunday, December 30th, 2007
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Yesterday, today, tomorrow. Past, present, future. Through time and space, one man embarks on a bold 1000-year odyssey to defeat humankind's most indomitable foe: Death.

Hugh Jackman plays that man, devoted to one woman (Rachel Weisz) and determined...

“The Good Shepherd” Movie Review

Sunday, December 30th, 2007
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Matt Damon, Angelina Jolie and Robert De Niro star in this powerful thriller about the birth of the CIA. Edward Wilson (Damon) believes in America, and will sacrifice everything he loves to protect it. But as one of the covert founders of the CIA, Ed...

“Children of Men” Movie Review

Sunday, December 30th, 2007
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Presenting a bleak, harrowing, and yet ultimately hopeful vision of humankind's not-too-distant future, Children of Men is a riveting cautionary tale of potential things to come.

Set in the crisis-ravaged future of 2027, and based on the atypical 199...

“Blood & Chocolate” Movie Review

Sunday, December 30th, 2007
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As a young girl living in the remote mountains of Colorado, Vivian (Bruckner) watched helplessly as her family was murdered by a pack of angry men for the secret they carried in their blood. Vivian survived the attack by running into the woods and ch...

“Arthur and the Invisibles” Movie Review

Sunday, December 30th, 2007
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Ten-year-old Arthur, in a bid to save his grandfather's house from being demolished, goes looking for some much fabled hidden treasure in the land of the Minimoys. The young boy discovers a tiny kingdom of elf-like creatures in the back garden, livin...