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G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)
Heroes are made in America.
Filmmaker(s): Jon M. Chu

Framed for crimes against the country, the G.I. Joe team is terminated by Presidential order. This forces the G.I. Joes into not only fighting their mortal enemy Cobra; they are forced to contend with threats from within the government that jeopardize their very existence.

Guys and Dolls I suppose it is natural to define a self from negatives: what you are not. So much in public life depends on this dynamic. It is a dangerous urge that I often see out of control, and one I want to closely monitor...


Published February 6, 2024
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The Great Gatsby (2013)
Dream dangerously.
Filmmaker(s): Baz Luhrmann

An adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's Long Island-set novel, where Midwesterner Nick Carraway is lured into the lavish world of his neighbor, Jay Gatsby. Soon enough, however, Carraway will see through the cracks of Gatsby's nouveau riche existence, where obsession, madness, and tragedy await.

Moulin Green When I saw Moulin Rouge,’ I knew that life would change, because film would have an added mainstream vocabulary. We would embrace it and adjust our dreams and intuitions. And indeed we have had Nolan ascendant. Even TeeVee has shifted. Oddly, after that film, Lurhmann...


Published February 6, 2024
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Gravity (2013)
Don't let go.
Filmmaker(s): Alfonso Cuarón

Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first Shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The Shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone-tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness of space. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.

The Other Red Shoe One use of science fiction is to purify the threads of a story by displacing them from the distracting familiar. This gives more than clarity; it often frees the narrative to rest in our souls rather than our eyes, rather like the...


Published February 6, 2024
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Parkland (2013)
November 22, 1963, 12:38 pm - A trauma patient is rushed to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. His name is President John F. Kennedy.
Filmmaker(s): Peter Landesman

November 22nd, 1963 was a day that changed the world forever — when young American President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. This film follows, almost in real time, a handful of individuals forced to make split-second decisions after an event that would change their lives and forever alter the world’s landscape.

Lossy Compression The great idea here is the assumption that we already have a rich movie in our lives about the assassination, then to simply give us a handful of episodes about three people, real people. These episodes will deliver what happened with certified fidelity. All...


Published February 6, 2024
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The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
Remember who the enemy is.
Filmmaker(s): Francis Lawrence

Katniss Everdeen has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark. Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a "Victor's Tour" of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) - a competition that could change Panem forever.

Alderaan Dies I get asked for examples all the time, even after all these years. Okay, here‘s one. Noir, by my definition is the placing of a world such that the viewers collectively control it. The effect is that ordinary people in the story find themselves jerked...


Published February 6, 2024
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The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Beyond darkness... beyond desolation... lies the greatest danger of all.
Filmmaker(s): Peter Jackson

The Dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf have successfully escaped the Misty Mountains, and Bilbo has gained the One Ring. They all continue their journey to get their gold back from the Dragon, Smaug.

The Source of the Imagining I read many criticisms of this. Apparently, there is a fundamentalist Tolkien fan club that rivals the Austen group in assailing anyone that deviates from the written word; by this I mean the last rewrite of Tolkien‘s I never could finish any...


Published February 6, 2024
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Ender’s Game (2013)
This is not a game.
Filmmaker(s): Gavin Hood

Based on the classic novel by Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game is the story of the Earth's most gifted children training to defend their homeplanet in the space wars of the future.

Internals Revealed I do dimly recall the first couple books of the series. They were engagingly written. But more importantly, they used a device that probably won‘t work today. The books were powerful because they focused on Ender‘s internal mind. The second book folded this into Ender‘s...


Published February 6, 2024
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The Wolverine (2013)
When he's most vulnerable, he's most dangerous.
Filmmaker(s): James Mangold

Wolverine faces his ultimate nemesis - and tests of his physical, emotional, and mortal limits - in a life-changing voyage to modern-day Japan.

Sniffing the Dog that Went Before There isn’t much to say about the ordinary features of this. It is a Marvel production and that means the world is dull in all aspects. They seem incapable of leaving safe territory, so this is more or less Michael...


Published February 5, 2024
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World War Z (2013)
There will come a day when the world we know will end.
Filmmaker(s): Marc Forster

Life for former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane and his family seems content. Suddenly, the world is plagued by a mysterious infection turning whole human populations into rampaging mindless zombies. After barely escaping the chaos, Lane is persuaded to go on a mission to investigate this disease. What follows is a perilous trek around the world where Lane must brave horrific dangers and long odds to find answers before human civilization falls.

Angry Water I understand that the development of this was a mess. What mattered to me were three things done well: The transition from normal life to the human waves was jarringly effective. What I expect is a traditional zombie story. Some explanation and setup is given...


Published February 5, 2024
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Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
Revenge is sweeter than candy.
Filmmaker(s): Tommy Wirkola

After getting a taste for blood as children, Hansel and Gretel have become the ultimate vigilantes, hell-bent on retribution. Now, unbeknownst to them, Hansel and Gretel have become the hunted, and must face an evil far greater than witches... their past.

Children's Dreams It has been some time since I was exposed to how these things work. A clever writer can start with anything and extend it toward a known formula so that it animates that formula with a new disguise. In this world, the writers are...


Published February 5, 2024
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