The Open Road writer-director Mike Meredith must have pictures of Jeff Bridges, Justin Timberlake, Ted Danson, Mary Steenburgen, Harry Dean Stanton, and Lyle Lovett committing horrible crimes against small children or adorable woodland creatures. How else to explain their participation in a sleepy little nothing of a comedy-drama about an estranged father and son learning that it’s all about the journey, not the destination, man, during a perversely uneventful road trip? A more likely explanation is that the rest of the cast was eager to work with the great Jeff Bridges, a dependable veteran who brings his trademark laid-back charisma to the role of a legendary retired ballplayer and half-assed father who tries mightily to bond with a petulant son immune to his cornball charm.

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Steven Sheil's new feature, Mum & Dad, wears its many influences proudly and mostly gets away with it; largely because the social milieu in which Sheil sets his torture porn-inflected debut draws on some peculiarly British cultural reference points. After the briefest of set-ups we're planted straight onto the set of the Saw movies, by way of Hostel and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, with a brief detour into Seven territory. Only, Mum & Dad is populated by a soap cast. Living in a Coronation Street house. Next to Heathrow airport.


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Last year, I wrote a rather scathing review of Saw V because, well, because it was an awful movie that sticks out like a sore thumb in the series. Tonight at midnight I watched the follow-up to that ignoble effort, and I walked out of the theater with a smile on my face. The gore is great, the weight of the drama is good, and the franchise has been redeemed.

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Hey folks, Valkor here. And I welcome you to TOV's "30 in 30", where I'll review 30 unique film and maybe some not so unique, all in 30 days. What's cool for most of the flicks, is that I know nothing about em. So this should be a real treat not just for you guys, but for me as well. Good or bad, this is gonna be a fun month. It all starts today July the 4th and ends on Aug the 3rd. Can I make it through? We'll know soon enough!

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Clint Eastwood fans may, from now on, wish to put their hands over their ears and loudly sing "lalalala" when anyone mentions this film. It is a bizarre and baffling turkey, one of the most purely puzzling features to be released this year so far. How can so much mighty talent – Eastwood directs a script by Peter Morgan, and

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The only thing that made this flick even more strange is that I just noticed that Adolf Hitler has starring credit on IMDB for the film. And here I thought that shape-changing aliens and weird hungry, furry, sharp toothed creatures was enough. I don’t exactly recall seeing Hitler in the movie but I remember hearing that terrible song Power of the Night more than a few times. It’s been a long time since I picked up all the Critters films but I just never got around to watching them. There’s always time for cheese in The Film Reel’s schedule though and I just happen to have enough time right now for all 4 films!

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The Golden Compass, the long awaited cinematic adaptation of Philip Pullman's well-respected novel, is an adequate but not inspired translation of the source material. Writer/director Chris Weitz (one of the American Pie guys) brings a style that is more obligatory than deft. Constrained by a rushed feel and too little character development, this movie never seems to flow quite right. Passages of dense exposition are interspersed with impressively staged action/adventure sequences but the experience as a whole is less than what movies like The Lord of the Rings have shown us that fantasy adaptations can provide. One key missing element: the world in which this story takes place never feels unique. We aren't drawn into it the way we were with Middle Earth or Hogwarts. In fact, with all the airships flying around, there are times when it feels like an extension of Stardust.



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Going into Stay, I was aware that the director was Marc Forster, the man who made Monster's Ball and Finding Neverland. However, even with that knowledge, it wouldn't have surprised me to see David Lynch's name during the closing credits. Stay is the kind of dreamy, surreal motion picture that delights in messing with its viewers' minds. Ultimately, it's less cryptic than any of Lynch's recent films, since everything is explained (sort of) at the end. The outstanding question, however, is whether or not the resolution satisfies. Forster includes enough clues in the way he presents the narrative for audience members to intuitively figure out the secret, but I couldn't help feeling a little let down when the truth was unveiled. I have seen it before, and on more than one occasion. (I won't mention specific titles here because those who have seen the movie will immediately suspect the twist.)


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"In the last 20, 30 years, [Frankenstein has] been claimed by a whole generation of academics and scholars as a seminal piece of literature of that time. [It's] something which now, post-Freud, they feel reveals so many observations about family life, and incest, father-and-son relationships, and husband and wife relationships. [Frankenstein] speaks loudly to people, partly because it's so elusive. There's no definitive interpretation of it - it's certainly more than just a monster story." - Kenneth Branagh, director of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.



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Featuring nine animated shorts set in and around The Matrix, written and directed by the cream of Japanese anime creators, with the Wachowski brothers' blessing, The Animatrix arrives with a weight of expectation similar to Reloaded.


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When her rather explicit copy on oral sex is rejected, magazine journalist Kate Welles (Famke Janssen) is told by her editor, Monique (Ann Magnuson), to write an article on loving relationships instead -- and to do so by the end of the day or face being fired. This gets Kate thinking back over her own various misadventures searching for love over the years, and wondering if she is in much of a position to write on the subject.



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Father Brian Finn (Edward Norton) has been dedicated to his calling since he was a child and now shares the duties of a New York parish with an older priest, Fr. Havel (Miloš Forman). Rabbi Jacob "Jake" Schram (Ben Stiller), best friends with Brian since childhood, is the youngest rabbi at his Reform synagogue; his lack of effort to find a wife often results in his mother (Anne Bancroft) and other women of his congregation setting him up on blind dates, much to his dismay. The two men show a close bond, even in their professions, where the two are planning the opening of a jointly sponsored community center. In its earlier days, the friendship included a third party. Via flashbacks and reminiscent musings, Anna Reilly (Jenna Elfman) is introduced: she met Jake and Brian in middle school, after beating up a bully who was picking on them. The three enjoyed attending ballgames, playing sports, and riding the subway around the city together, as well as getting into typical mischief. Unfortunately, Anna's father got a new job that resulted in the Reillys moving cross-country to California.







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Dean Cain and two-time Golden Globe nominee Corbin Bensen star in thei family adventure featuring everyones favorite bear, the mighty and lovable Gentle Ben.

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I really hadnt paid attention to this movie, although I was interestedsimply because Luc Picard wrote and directed it. I have a lot ofrespect for his acting, and his stand on stuff. I saw it last night,and now I am amazed by his writing and directing talents as well. Thismovie hit me on so many levels -- its like a modern-day Shakespeareantragedy. It heart-wrenchingly brings home the reality of our mortality.Crap happens! Its a very real-to-life movie, and very poetic at thesame time. There are so many things to commend this movie for, but onecannot overlook the incredible performance of Luc Picard, himself. Andthe rest of the cast are amazing as well. I cared so much about thesepeople it hurt. Beautiful.

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A DJ (Rockmond Dunbar) trapped in a loveless marriage attempts to rekindle the romance with his distant wife (Vivica A. Fox) following an illuminating interview with a prominent author (Mike Epps).

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Motive is an edgy thriller that centers around Emery Simms, a highly educated and successful business tycoon who happens to be married to the quintessential wife Constance. Things go dangerously awry when the thrill seeking Emery engages in an adulterous fling with the wildly free-spirited and exotic Allanah. Timing couldnt be any worse when the politics of high society, shady business deals, bad press, and a violent murder collide, they threaten to destroy more than just his shaky marriage. As police probe into his situation, they uncover a labyrinth of deception, agendas and motives, where the stakes are enormous and nothing is what it seems.

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