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The Avengers

During its two hours and 22 minutes, plenty of time existed for it to grab my attention. That moment never arrived. The major problems, as I see them: • It’s clearly overstuffed. Everyone complained when Batman and Spider-Man sequels stacked three villains against a single superhero. The Avengers gives us one main bad guy (albeit […]

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Captain America: The First Avenger

That would be bad, however, because Marvel has saved the best for last. It’s miles better than that Norse god with the magic hammer, and just a hair below the greatness of Robert Downey Jr.’s first go-round in his iron armor, both of whom will team with Cap in next summer’s guaranteed nerdgasm, “The Avengers.” […]

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The Black Sleep

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I present 1956’s “The Black Sleep,” now available on DVD as part of MGM’s Limited Edition Collection. Directed by Reginald Le Borg (whose “Diary of a Madman” helped kick off the line), the film stars Basil Rathbone (arguably the best of the big-screen Sherlock Holmeses) as surgeon Joel Cadman. […]

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Due Date

Practically anything Phillips did would be seen as disappointing. Here’s the thing, however: Don’t expect another “Hangover,” and “Due Date” is just fine. It may not be as funny as that film, despite sharing Zach Galifianakis, but it’s plenty funny enough. It still has more laughs than most of what passes for studio comedies — […]

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