Not for nothing does This Is Martin Bonner carry that matter-of-fact, take-it-or-leave-it title. The film is a temporary glimpse into an ordinary man’s conventional life yet is told unconventionally, in that it doesn’t offer the regular beats to which moviegoers are accustomed (if not numbed). We swoop in, we observe its subject for a while, […]
drama
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The Iceman
Not another X-Men spin-off, it’s the true story of Richard Kuklinski, a family man turned hit man who showed so little emotion doing his dirty deeds that not even his wife and kids knew what he really did for a living. Richie carried out his guise for around 20 years, finally getting caught in 1986. […]
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Blue Jasmine
Opening Friday exclusively at AMC Quail Springs Mall 24, 2501 W. Memorial, Blue Jasmine tells two stories. The first is about a rich socialite wife living more than comfortably in New York with her business-savvy husband. The second involves a distraught woman who sustains herself with alcohol, antidepressants and more alcohol. She’s always short of […]
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Drinking Games / From the Head
Not the psychological thriller it pegs itself as being, Drinking Games takes place largely in a college dorm room the night of Snowmageddon, the big party before winter break. Richard (Blake Merriman, who wrote it) is writing a paper and dealing with a family tragedy, whereas his roommate, Shawn (Nick Vergara), wants to use their […]
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The Brontë Sisters
The film stars Franco-actress standouts Isabelle Adjani (Possession) and Isabelle Huppert (Amour) before they were household names in international cinema. Adjani is Emily, the most recognized of the Brontë sisters; Huppert is Ann, the youngest; and the moral realist in the family and the oldest and least-known, Charlotte, is played by the late Marie-France Pisier […]
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Ultimate Gangsters Collection: Classics
Two vehicles for James Cagney anchor the box: 1931’s The Public Enemy and 1949’s White Heat. Today, he remains indelibly associated with tough-guy roles, and it’s easy to see why. In the former, he demonstrates his might and power with a grapefruit; in the latter, he makes an electrifying exit with the immortal cry of […]
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To the Wonder
His Tree of Life in 2011 earned praise and derision alike for its ambitions and meandering, largely plotless tale. It was my No. 1 film that year, but I had no idea at the time that it would look like Iron Man 3 when compared to his follow-up, To the Wonder. Now on Blu-ray and […]
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Amour
In other words, the guy is definitely not the lovey-dovey type. But that unblinking, cold-blooded aesthetic is largely what makes Amour, coming to home video after an Academy Award win for Best Foreign Language Film, so remarkable. In its depiction of an elderly Parisian couple coming to terms with illness and looming death, the film […]
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On the Road
An ode to poet Jack Kerouac and the Beat Generation, On the Road fails to elicit nostalgia for all things Beat, but not for lack of ambition. Its Americana backdrop depicts the unbridled beauty of the West. The visuals are a testament to a time when these United States were more innocent and collectively curious. […]
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The Place Beyond the Pines
The opening minutes serve as a nifty precursor for the action, both physical and psychological, to follow. Stunt motorcycle driver Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling, Gangster Squad) emerges from a darkened trailer and into a traveling carnival. As the camera trails him over his shoulder, Luke gets on his cycle, enters the caged globe of death […]