FilmFlashes.com Blog

Writer/director, Stefan Ruzouwitzky masterfully crafts Adolf Burger’s book for the big screen in the Austrian Oscar winner. Ruzouwitzky avoids stereotypes in his portrayal of a group of Jews assigned to an elite division in Sachsenhausen to produce bankable English pound notes to finance the failing German war effort. Karl Markovics, [...]

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When the President (William Hurt) is shot in Spain at an anti-terror conference, audiences backtrack (numerous times) through various visions and interpretations of what took place. A competent cast keeps the ball rolling without too much confusion (Dennis Quaid as a secret service guard on the rebound, Sigourney Weaver as the cold, clinical news [...]

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Jerry (Jack Black) accidentally demagnetizes the videos in a local store and collaborates with the clerk (Mos Def) to film their own version of the films before the proprietor (Danny Glover) returns from vacation. The quirky concept isn’t enough to keep audiences engrossed unless you are a major fan of Jack Black or Mos [...]

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Daniel Day-Lewis gushes with rage, greed, and determination in Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Upton Sinclair’s novel, OIL! While Day-Lewis’ performance runs deep and dark, a murky script pays little attention to the history of an era when oil magnates were making their mark.
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This Coen brothers dark drama is filled with their signature, sharp dialogue and clear characterizations featuring Josh Brolin as a Texas plains hunter who stumbles across $2,000,000 in ill-gotten gains. Hot on his tail is a hired gun (Javier Bardem) who leaves a trail of blood and guts that does not go unnoticed by [...]

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Even cute characters (Raven Symone and Martin Lawrence) cannot make up for lame dialogue in this Disney disaster.
Please share your opinion regarding Film Flashes movie review of College Road Trip .

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As funny as Will Ferrell’s performances are, he can’t override the writer (Scot Armstrong) and director (Kent Alderman) in this non-engaging basketball spoof.
Please share your opinion regarding Film Flashes movie review of Semi-Pro .

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An Egyptian police band booked to play at an Arab art center opening in Israel winds up in the wrong town with unexpected interaction in this charming Israeli film.
Please share your opinion regarding Film Flashes movie review of The Band’s Visit .

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When a highschooler’s (Ellen Page) singular sexual encounter with her friend/classmate (Michael Cera) results in pregnancy, she takes an offbeat approach, turning trauma into comedy. The cast including Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons as the understanding parents, Olivia Thirlby as her loyal gal pal, and Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman as perspective [...]

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Lebanese director, Nadine Labaki also stars in this Beirut version of “Barber Shop” focusing on the personal problems challenging a group of women who work or patronize her salon.
Please share your opinion regarding Film Flashes movie review of Caramel .

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A recently separated mom (Mary-Louise Parker) moves her kids (Highmore playing twins, and Bolger) into a spooky house once owned by their institutionalized aunt (Joan Plowright). If you favor fantasy, then you will enjoy the creatures that inhabit the house and interact with the humans providing a modest plot a [...]

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A delightfully dark, fast moving comedy features Colin Farrell as a London-based hit man whose first job backfires and forces him into picturesque Belgian pergatory (figuratively). While Farrell gravitates to the underbelly of this quaint landscape, his mentor/accomplice (Brendan Gleeson) prefers to play the tourist in a setting where neither controls their [...]

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Sylvester Stallone resurects Rambo for 2008 viewers. This time he is a one man (almost) army rescuing a group of Christian missionaries whose good deeds have come up against killers in Burma.
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Johnny Depp is amazing in the darkly dramatic musical about a barber who has come back to his London home after being wrongly jailed by a corrupt official (Alan Rickman). Helena Bonham Carter is the perfect companion to Depp’s disturbing character, with direction by her husband, Tim Burton.
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Diane Ladd is a fearless FBI investigator, focused on a killer whose victims are tortured on the internet. The team of officers race against time as the volume of viewers increases, triggering mechanisms that speed the victims’ demise.
Please share your opinion regarding Film Flashes movie review of Untraceable .

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A storybook princess (Amy Adams) reconsiders her future with prince charming (James Marsden) and his step-mother (Susan Sarandon) when she encounters a Manhattan lawyer (Patrick Dempsey) and his adorable daughter (Rachel Covey). Disney creates just the right mix of animation, singing, dancing, and storyline to please adults and children alike.
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Loretta Devine is the idealistic matriarch who thinks it’s going to be all hugs and kisses when her brood gathers for the Holidays in this not so jovial, Christmas pic. With Delroy Lindo, Regina King, Mekhi Phifer, Idris Elba, Sharon Leal, et. al., keeping it real, filmmaker Preston A. Whitmore II’s family [...]

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While the poetic style of Khaled Hosseini’s novel doesn’t translate to the screenplay, we are truly touched by the two young Afghan boys (Zekeria Ebrahimi and Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada) whose relationship is the basis of this bio/drama.
Please share your opinion regarding Film Flashes movie review of The Kite Runner .

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Tom Hanks credibly steps out of character to play the womanizing Texas congressman who influenced US policy in Afghanistan in the 80’s. The cast chemistry keeps an otherwise modest story line in sync, with Philip Seymour Hoffman as the brash CIA agent, Gust Avrakotos, Julia Roberts as Joanne Herring, [...]

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