Movie Reviews Published by Chicago Reader - Page 132 of 360

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Review of Jack Reacher (2012)

By Ben Sachs (546) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 21 Dec 2012

This is brisk, attention-grabbing, and generally unpretentious -- basically an old noir programmer inflated to blockbuster proportions…

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Review of Django Unchained (2012)

By J. R. Jones (1,337) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 21 Dec 2012

Like the earlier movie, in which Jewish-American soldiers assassinate Hitler, this one draws heavily on minority group revenge fantasy, the…

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Review of The Guilt Trip (2012)

By J. R. Jones (1,337) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 21 Dec 2012

Rogen and Streisand are reasonably funny together, though Rogen, always best when he's angry, is crowded into the role of a well-mannered straight…

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Review of Fierce Creatures (1997)

By Jonathan Rosenbaum (1,657) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 15 Dec 2012

Combining the gentle with the vulgar as only the English can, this lively comedy is bursting with character and energy…

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Review of Playing for Keeps (2012)

By J. R. Jones (1,337) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 14 Dec 2012

Dennis Quaid hammers away at a nothing role as Thurman's husband, an adulterous alpha dog; it's nearly identical to the one he played earlier…

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Review of Last Action Hero (1993)

By Jonathan Rosenbaum (1,657) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 13 Dec 2012

The performances of both Schwarzenegger and O'Brien are labored, the pacing uneven, and maybe only half the gags work, but there's a certain…

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Review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

By Ben Sachs (546) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 13 Dec 2012

Little about the storytelling suggests a beating heart beneath the visuals; once the journey has begun, the characters find themselves in life-threatening…

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Review of The Core (2003)

By J.r. Jones (1,066) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 12 Dec 2012

The talented cast--manages to rescue the movie as well as the earth…

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Review of March of the Penguins (2005)

By J.r. Jones (1,066) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 11 Dec 2012

Some of the eggs fail to hatch and some of the chicks die, and the parents' cries are painful to hear, though what they're really crying for…

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Review of Mystic River (2003)

By Jonathan Rosenbaum (1,657) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 10 Dec 2012

The performances, especially of Penn and Robbins, are so powerful and detailed (down to the Boston accents) that they often persuade one to…

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Review of A Serious Man (2009)

By J.r. Jones (1,066) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 09 Dec 2012

Like the Coens’ protagonist in The Man Who Wasn’t There, Stuhlbarg is driven to an existential crisis, but in contrast to the earlier movie,…

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Review of Crossroads (1986)

By Jonathan Rosenbaum (1,657) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 09 Dec 2012

When the cast is shown during the final credits repeatedly cracking up in blown takes, one would like to think they were laughing at some of…

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Review of Music of the Heart (1999)

By Lisa Alspector (408) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 08 Dec 2012

Self-congratulatory feature, which artificially exalts the character--a classic saint with clay feet--by casting a grande dame and by reducing…

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Review of Total Recall (1990)

By Jonathan Rosenbaum (1,657) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 07 Dec 2012

A worthy entry in the dystopian cycle of SF movies launched by Blade Runner (including The Terminator and Robocop), this seems less derivative…

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Review of The Parent Trap (1998)

By Lisa Alspector (408) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 06 Dec 2012

This 1998 romantic comedy mostly bores with its cumbersome exposition and close-ups of trivial objects scattered throughout lackluster montage…

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Review of The Central Park Five (2012)

By J. R. Jones (1,337) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 06 Dec 2012

The film offers a snapshot of the white hysteria then gripping the city, which was stoked by the tabloids and resulted in police and prosecutors…

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Review of Generation P (2011)

By Ben Sachs (546) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 06 Dec 2012

Viktor Ginzburg keeps this lively by trying out a new effect (commercial parodies, CGI, rapid montage) in nearly every scene…

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Review of Starlet (2012)

By Ben Sachs (546) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 06 Dec 2012

This is confident, engrossing storytelling, and the actors are terrific…

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Review of Mansfield Park (1999)

By Ronnie Scheib (420) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 05 Dec 2012

There's something more than a little perverse about taking one of the most timid, self-effacing heroines in English literature and turning…

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Review of The Deal (2005)

By Jonathan Rosenbaum (1,657) for Chicago Reader (7,190) on 05 Dec 2012

If you don't mind the telegraphed punches of Ruth Epstein's script and Harvey Kahn's direction, this should carry you along…

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