At an AA meeting, Jack meets Hollywood actress Erica Long (Bijou Phillips, Hostel: Part II), who’s just as messed-up as he is. When he later sees her while on his job, he attempts to strike up a relationship, despite her extreme reluctance. His ability to listen wins her over, so things begin to look up […]
drama
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Too Big to Fail
For this streamlined adaptation of Andrew Ross Sorkin’s nonfiction best-seller of the same name, director Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) centers the story around the one man who had possibly the worst great job at the time: U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson (a very good William Hurt, The Incredible Hulk). In trying to prevent […]
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Where Do We Go Now?
Slated to open Friday at AMC Quail Springs Mall 24, 2501 W. Memorial, the movie is set in an isolated Lebanese village with an uneasy truce between the town’s Christian and Muslim populations. The peacekeepers are the women — Christian and Muslim alike — who distract the men’s bellicose tendencies any way they can, whether […]
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Your Sister’s Sister
The film is scheduled to open Friday at AMC Quail Springs Mall 24, 2501 W. Memorial. Written and directed by Lynn Shelton over 12 days, Your Sister’s Sister is another indication of the ongoing mainstreaming of “mumblecore,” a quasi-film movement punctuated by improvisation, modest production values and, all too often, amateurish notions of storytelling. But […]
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American Animal
• watch porn• smoke pot• smoke cigarettes• have sex• stage Christmas• dance• spit blood• have sex again• change into a bunch of “funny” costumes• speak in “funny” invented languages That more or less doubles as a plot summary for the no-budget comedy (drama?). Matt D’Elia serves as writer (improviser?), director and center as Jimmy, a […]
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Bullhead
Hey, guys, you’d feel the same if you had no testicles. Bullhead is not, however, your average chunk of Oscar bait. In fact, nothing about it is average. Its distributor is Drafthouse Films, the theatrical arm of the legendary — among outré-cinema enthusiasts, at least — Austin, Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse, where you can enjoy a […]
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The Hunter
Willem Dafoe (John Carter) assumes the title role as Martin David, an expert hunter who’s hired by a shadowy mega-corporation in Europe to acquire the Tasmanian tiger for them in the Australia wilds. Although thought to be extinct, the animal is rumored to have been sighted recently, making it perhaps the last one in existence. […]
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New York Stories
While many omnibus films have been made in modern times, hardly any — at least in America — tout the caché of this one, letting directors Martin Scorsese (Hugo), Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather) and Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) loose to each tell a story set in the city that has a million of […]
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Crime Does Not Pay: The Complete Shorts Collection (1935-1947)
Roughly 20 minutes apiece, give or take, these rare scare films are hosted by a guy (or guys, as the identity changes; one has a lazy eye) introducing himself straight to the camera as only “the MGM reporter.” He interviews presumably real-life experts about criminal activities, and then we’re treated to a lengthy re-enactment of […]
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Back from Eternity
Had I known that, I may not have even given the Warner Archive release a shot, but I was suckered in by its cover. Utilizing artwork from the film’s original 1956 release, it depicts a super-sexy, RTF visage of Anita Ekberg (Call Me Bwana, The Killer Nun) staring straight at the viewer. The tagline: “Ooh […]