Film Review: Identity Thief

Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman in IDENTITY THIEF
Melissa McCarthy and Jason Bateman in IDENTITY THIEF

starring: Melissa McCarthy, Jason Bateman, Amanda Peet, Jon Favreau, T.I., Genesis Rodriguez, John Cho, Robert Patrick, Eric Stonestreet

screenplay: Craig Mazin

directed by: Seth Gordon

MPAA: Rated R for sexual content and language

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Film Review: Sound City

Dave Grohl, director of the new documentary Sound City.
Dave Grohl, director of the new documentary Sound City.

Directed By: David Grohl

Written By: Mark Monroe

Starring: Trent Reznor, Tom Petty, Mick Fleetwood, and a cast of musical legends

The movie ‘Sound City’ started as a movie about a location but evolved into the raw internal disclosure of the emotional soul of a musician and the music industry. It allows a peek into the behind the scenes non-glamorous side of an album recording, opening insight to the controversy of analog verses digital methods.

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Spinning Platters Interview: Dave Franco, Analeigh Tipton & Jonathan Levine on Warm Bodies

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left: Analeigh Tipton, Teresa Palmer, and Dave Franco in WARM BODIES; right: writer/director Jonathan Levine

2013 is off to a pleasantly promising start when it comes to genre films. Just a few weeks after the soulfully spooky Mama, we are now treated to Jonathan Levine’s thoroughly delightful adaptation of Isaac Marion’s beloved novel Warm Bodies. A hilariously self-aware and surprisingly sweet reimagining of the overly familiar “love transforms a monster” trope, Warm Bodies tells the story of a zombie named R (Nicholas Hoult), who narrates much of the film from his very unique point-of-view. Although zombiedom has robbed R of his ability to express himself verbally, his thoughts are as articulately human as ever; the film mines quite a bit of humor from this cognitive disconnect.

R spends his days staggering around an abandoned airport with a familiar lineup of other zombies, grunting and pondering what these people were like in life. But R is roused from his undead existential crisis when he meets Julie (Teresa Palmer), the daughter of one of mankind’s last great protectors, Grigio (John Malkovich). Julie enters zombie territory on an armed mission along with her boyfriend Perry (Dave Franco) and best friend Nora (Analeigh Tipton); it’s love at first sight for R despite the fact that Julie is trying to kill him. When the mission goes haywire and Julie is left behind, R devises a plan to keep her safe from the other zombies in the hopes that she’ll fall in love with him in spite of their, uh, differences.

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Film Review: Parker

Jason Statham as Parker
Jason Statham as Parker

starring: Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez and Michael Chiklis

written by: John J. McLaughlin

directed by: Taylor Hackford

MPAA: Rated R for strong violence, language throughout and brief sexual content/nudity Continue reading “Film Review: Parker

Film Review: Mama

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starring: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nélisse, Daniel Kash, Javier Botet, Jane Moffat

written by: Andrés Muschietti, Barbara Muschietti, Neil Cross

directed by: Andrés Muschietti

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for violence and terror, some disturbing images and thematic elements

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Film Review: The Last Stand

Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Last Stand
Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Last Stand

starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Forest Whitaker, Johnny Knoxville and Jaimie Alexander

screenplay: Andrew Knauer

directed by: Jee-Woon Kim

MPAA: Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, and language

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Film Review: Gangster Squad

Gangster-Squad

starring: Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Nick Nolte, Anthony Mackie, Robert Patrick, Michael Peña, Mireille Enos, Giovanni Ribisi

screenplay: Will Beall

directed by: Ruben Fleischer

MPAA: Rated R for strong violence and language

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The Spinning Platters Guide to the Best Films of 2012

Screen shot 2013-01-07 at 4.24.02 PM

It’s list time! 2012 marked my second full year serving as Spinning Platters’ movie editor, and I once again had the kinda-privilege of seeing nearly every theatrical release. But I have to say, and maybe it’s just because I’m already jaded and embittered after only two years of full-fledged film criticism: I was rather disappointed by the 2012 crop. Last year I had a bitch of a time narrowing my favorites down to just ten, while this year I had to talk myself into believing a few of them were even worthy of top-ten canonization. And unlike 2011, this year left me without a clear favorite. I still use a ranked list below, but my top four are fairly interchangeable. Still, some things have remained the same: as with last year, there is at least one optimistic critical favorite I’ve aligned myself squarely against (last year it was The Artist, this year it’s Silver Linings Playbook), as well as one blockbuster comedy that somehow made it into my top five. So without any further ado, let’s dive into my begrudging top ten, some honorable mentions, my bitchiest moments of the year, and the movie I’m most embarrassed about praising.

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Film Review: Django Unchained

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starring: Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson

written and directed by: Quentin Tarantino

MPAA: Rated R for strong graphic violence throughout, a vicious fight, language and some nudity

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Film Review: Les Misérables

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starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks, Amanda Seyfried, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Aaron Tveit

screenplay by: William Nicholson

directed by: Tom Hooper

MPAA: Rated PG-13 for suggestive and sexual material, violence and thematic elements

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