Certainly you don’t go to a “Step Up” movie for the glittering repartee. But alas, one must endure banal dialogue and a flimsy plot in order to enjoy the gravity-defying, acrobatic extravaganzas. It’s enough to make you wish they’d called this fifth film in the franchise “Step Up and Shut...
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Reviews
RogerEbert.com — The Hundred-Foot Journey
With its feel-good themes about exotic food triumphing over closed-mindedness in a quaint French village, this is essentially a remake of “Chocolat” — and it happens to come from that film’s director, Lasse Hallstrom. Helen Mirren is the uptight owner of an elegant and esteemed French restaurant. Om Puri is...
Read moreGet on Up
Universal Pictures Rated PG-13 for sexual content, drug use, some strong language and violent situations. Running time: 138 minutes. Three stars out of four. Anyone who knows me well knows of my deep love for the criminally underrated “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.” We quote lines and sing songs...
Read moreGuardians of the Galaxy
Walt Disney Pictures Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, and for some language. Running time: 121 minutes. Three stars out of four. As I’m writing this review of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” I have “Come and Get Your Love,” the bouncy 1974 pop tune by Redbone,...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — 4 Minute Mile
All the underdog sports-movie cliches are in place in this drama about an aging, alcoholic track coach who trains a troubled but talented sprinter to run a mile in four minutes. And yet there’s an efficiency of storytelling, and Richard Jenkins elevates the familiar material simply by showing up and...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — War Story
Catherine Keener stars as a photographer shattered by her experience in Libya in “War Story.” Director and co-writer Mark Jackson’s drama is minimalist to the point of being stultifying, and it squanders Keener’s considerable earthy appeal in a dour role. My RogerEbert.com review. Read the review here...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — And So It Goes
“And So It Goes” does what it needs to do for its target audience in totally mediocre ways. Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton are nothing if not total pros in Rob Reiner’s comedy, trying their best to breathe life into strained material. It’s fine. It’s just not good. It’s not...
Read moreSnowpiercer
Radius — The Weinstein Co. Rated R for violence, language and drug content. Running time: 126 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four. It’s so hard to describe how amazing “Snowpiercer” is without giving away everything that makes it amazing. I’ve actually been putting off writing about the...
Read moreRevisiting Five Most — Nicolas Cage Performances
Tonight, Chris and I are attending The Nicolas Cage Party Los Angeles, an art exhibit downtown which could be incredibly strange and wonderful (like Cage himself). This got me thinking about a Five Most list I did of his best performances back in January 2011. Which films would you pick?...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Persecuted
As a disgraced evangelist, James Remar runs around with a rosary and a gun in his bloodied hands, trying to clear his good name. It is not very subtle. My one-star RogerEbert.com review. Read the review here...
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