LES MISÉRABLES || December 25th, 2012
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DJANGO UNCHAINED || Had “Django Unchained” followed the story set in its marketing and, with that, followed a much shorter run-time, Tarantino’s latest film could have been much closer to perfection. Instead, it remains an above-average exploitation film with above-average performances, that just cannot seem to tell its story properly. “Django” starts off impeccably, introducing the main characters, Django (Jamie Foxx) and Dr. Schultz, played by Christoph Waltz, who unarguably steals the show. The plot progression grows weary, portraying the story too much like a checklist, instead of a building up of moments. With most films that become epics, the moments build up, one on top of another, until several culminations drive to the conclusion. “Django” takes a different format of crossing one moment off the list at a time, ending the film with the crossing off of one moment instead of several. Despite all of this, with impressive showing from both Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson and some high caliber dialogue which resonates long after the film, “Django” is still a unique endeavor into the world of the Western melded with slave vengeance that has Tarantino’s passion smeared all over it. |  |
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LES MISÉRABLES || I respect Tom Hooper after his success with “The King’s Speech”, I’ve never seen any incarnation of “Les Misérables”, I love Amanda Seyfried, and learning to love Anne Hathaway, and this film has Academy Award nominations written all over it. For all those reasons, I will see this film. I am leery about the entire film being a musical, and though I love certain musicals, it takes the right kind of mood and the impressive amounts of talent from the cast and crew to get me completely involved. |
THEATER |
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PARENTAL GUIDANCE || I had the unfortunate task of seeing most of this film prior to its release and I can tell you I never want to experience it again. More of a concept for a cartoon than an adult comedy, Billy Crystal and Bette Midler are so passed their glory days, it makes everyone else in the film, including Marisa Tomei, look back. | PASS |
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PROMISED LAND || Unless it gets nominated for any Academy Awards, this will probably be a rental. Starring Matt Damon and Rosemarie Dewitt, “Promised Land” is about the commercializing of land, which hits a road block when activists, led by John Krasinski, bring to light what can happen by drilling oil on the farmland of a small town. | RENT |
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WEST OF MEMPHIS || Yet another look at the West Memphis 3 made most popular by the film series “Paradise Lost”, “West Of Memphis” is a documentary produced by Peter Jackson and tells the entire, encapsulated story in one film instead of three. I will definitely be checking this film out as this case is extremely interesting to learn about. | RENT |
THEATER
- Django Unchained
- Les Misérables
RENT
- Promised Land
- West Of Memphis
STREAM
PASS
- Parental Guidance
