Radius-TWC Rated R for disturbing violent and sexual content including graphic nudity, and language. Running time: 94 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four. Back in 2011, David Robert Mitchell wrote and directed a beautiful little indie called “The Myth of the American Sleepover,” which not nearly enough...
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Reviews
Cinderella
Walt Disney Pictures Rated PG for mild thematic elements. Running time: 105 minutes. Three stars out of four. The Cinderella of Kenneth Branagh’s “Cinderella” never wields a samurai sword or a snarky, well-timed quip. She doesn’t transform herself into a warrior princess, nor does she wallow in too-hip pop culture...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — The Wrecking Crew
This affectionate and respectful documentary shines a spotlight on a group of studio musicians who performed on many of the biggest and most enduring hits of the 1960s and early ’70s. There’s a ton of great music in here, but the movie as a whole can get a little scattered...
Read moreChappie
Columbia Pictures Rated R for violence, language and brief nudity. Running time: 120 minutes. One and a half stars out of four. Do you know who Die Antwoord are? I didn’t before walking into “Chappie.” Not really. In retrospect, I’d vaguely heard of the South African rave-rap group because a...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
The original “Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” was not exactly great cinema, but it was sweet and safe. It was also a surprise box office hit. Hence, we have a sequel, which feels like as much of a shameless cash grab as “Grown Ups 2.” But these are really, really grown...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Focus
Will Smith and Margot Robbie share a crackling chemistry and snappy banter in a series of luxurious locations as con artists conning each other and everyone else they meet. It’s a lot of fun, until it isn’t. At RogerEbert.com. Read the review here...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — The DUFF
Mae Whitman dazzles as the title character — which stands for Designated Ugly Fat Friend — a brilliant and quick-witted high school senior who takes that derogatory label and makes it her own. This breezy comedy is Whitman’s “Easy A”: the movie that will make the longtime supporting actress a...
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Revisiting The Breakfast Club
Any self-respecting child of the ’80s loves John Hughes and knows at least one of the writer-director’s films by heart. While “Sixteen Candles” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” are a total blast, the Hughes movie that mattered to me most growing up was “The Breakfast Club,” and it remains one...
Read moreFifty Shades of Grey
Universal Pictures Rated R for some strong sexual content including dialogue, some unusual behavior and graphic nudity, and for language. Running time: 125 minutes. Three stars out of four. I liked “Fifty Shades of Grey,” and I am not ashamed. I realize this is not the most popular opinion. The...
Read moreJupiter Ascending
Warner Bros. Pictures. Rated PG-13 for some violence, sequences of sci-fi action, some suggestive content and partial nudity. Running time: 125 minutes. One and a half stars out of four. It’s difficult to tell whether “Jupiter Ascending,” the latest sci-fi extravaganza from the writing-directing Wachowski siblings, intends to be as...
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