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Argo (2012)
The movie was fake. The mission was real.
Filmmaker(s): Ben Affleck

As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA 'exfiltration' specialist concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador.

Will's Good Hunting It has been a month since I have seen this and I am struggling to write a comment, because of what I know I will see in another CIA-supported movie: Bigelow’s movie about Bin Laden. All movies bring history into the story, but movies...


Published February 9, 2024
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The Avengers (2012)
Some assembly required.
Filmmaker(s): Joss Whedon

When an unexpected enemy emerges and threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins!

Other Worlds From time to time, I have the gift of unique movie audiences. I’ve watched ‘The Brady Bunch’in an after school audience of teen and preteen LA girls. Down the road from where I live is the Pat Robertson school of film where most students...


Published February 9, 2024
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Men in Black 3 (2012)
Back in time.
Filmmaker(s): Barry Sonnenfeld

Agents J and K are back...in time. J has seen some inexplicable things in his 15 years with the Men in Black, but nothing, not even aliens, perplexes him as much as his wry, reticent partner. But when K's life and the fate of the planet are put at stake, Agent J will have to travel back in time to put things right. J discovers that there are secrets to the universe that K never told him - secrets that will reveal themselves as he teams up with the young Agent K to save his partner, the agency, and the future of humankind.

Griff When I started this IMDb-commented study 14 years ago, the notions of folded narrative were commonly used, but not so open in the industry. Now look where we’ve come, to a state where it is mandatory for a blockbuster investment. You know something has passed...


Published February 9, 2024
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The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
A fire will rise.
Filmmaker(s): Christopher Nolan

Following the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman assumes responsibility for Dent's crimes to protect the late attorney's reputation and is subsequently hunted by the Gotham City Police Department. Eight years later, Batman encounters the mysterious Selina Kyle and the villainous Bane, a new terrorist leader who overwhelms Gotham's finest. The Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.

Dickensian Cleanliness What, what a difference between this and any Marvelmanaged film! Nolan (with wife and brother) have clearly refined this script a few times. There is a lot of story to cram in, and a few necessary inflection points to destabilise us. They impress, and this...


Published February 9, 2024
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The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
The untold story begins.
Filmmaker(s): Marc Webb

Peter Parker is an outcast high schooler abandoned by his parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Like most teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the person he is today. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father, he begins a quest to understand his parents' disappearance – leading him directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors, his father's former partner. As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors' alter ego, The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape his destiny to become a hero.

Genetic Splicing Watching this after ‘’Dark Knight Rises’ is like moving from Saudi Arabia to Monaco. One is the vision of one man through close, very close collaborators. It takes chances, risks darkness. It has motion and noise, but as part of the world we happen upon. This...


Published February 9, 2024
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Brave (2012)
Change your fate.

Brave is set in the mystical Scottish Highlands, where Mérida is the princess of a kingdom ruled by King Fergus and Queen Elinor. An unruly daughter and an accomplished archer, Mérida one day defies a sacred custom of the land and inadvertently brings turmoil to the kingdom. In an attempt to set things right, Mérida seeks out an eccentric old Wise Woman and is granted an ill-fated wish. Also figuring into Mérida’s quest — and serving as comic relief — are the kingdom’s three lords: the enormous Lord MacGuffin, the surly Lord Macintosh, and the disagreeable Lord Dingwall.

Engineering Steve Jobs remade Apple, embedding a very specific philosophy. Usually called ‘design,’ the idea is simple and the goal is simple. Have a vision of what you want to accomplish, a clear vision. Then engineer to that vision, ruthlessly eliminating all else. It sounds simple,...


Published February 8, 2024
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Mirror Mirror (I) (2012)
The Snow White legend comes alive.
Filmmaker(s): Tarsem Singh

After she spends all her money, an evil enchantress queen schemes to marry a handsome, wealthy prince. There's just one problem - he's in love with a beautiful princess, Snow White. Now, joined by seven rebellious dwarves, Snow White launches an epic battle of good vs. evil...

Strings, Surfaces I really don’t care much that this is a failure. And gosh it seems to be. It is at least a rewarding and risky approach to framing. When you try adapting a known story, the only value the new storyteller can add it the framing,...


Published February 8, 2024
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Life of Pi (2012)
Believe The Unbelievable
Filmmaker(s): Ang Lee

The story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean.

30 Million Sephiroth How is it that Scorsese can get 3D so wrong and someone like Ang Lee get it so right? Sure, there is some dimensional silliness — a hummingbird in the first few moments...


Published February 8, 2024
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Skyfall (2012)
Think on your sins.
Filmmaker(s): Sam Mendes

When Bond's latest assignment goes gravely wrong, agents around the world are exposed and MI6 headquarters is attacked. While M faces challenges to her authority and position from Gareth Mallory, the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, it's up to Bond, aided only by field agent Eve, to locate the mastermind behind the attack.

Hacked Screens Gosh, what a difference it makes when you bring in real artists! Here we have essentially the same formula as always, produced by the same Broccoli thick heads as usual. Also, as usual, the production was ‘troubled,’ with fundamental changes occurring well into production. Plus...


Published February 6, 2024
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Cloud Atlas (2012)
Everything is Connected

A set of six nested stories spanning time between the 19th century and a distant post-apocalyptic future. Cloud Atlas explores how the actions and consequences of individual lives impact one another throughout the past, the present and the future. Action, mystery and romance weave through the story as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero and a single act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution in the distant future. Based on the award winning novel by David Mitchell. Directed by Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis.

Arson Were I to worry about our future, it would be less about all the horrors that await than our ability to reason about them. There is a rather short tether between this and wonder about what we are doing to long form narrative. My own...


Published February 6, 2024
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