FilmFlashes.com Blog

The Vuillards come together for the Christmas holiday to dig up old sibling rivalries, exhibit their psychosis, and support their mother (Catherine Deneuve) in her search for a bone marrow transplant. Depending upon your taste for French cinema, you will either become enthralled with the personalities and mannerism of the group surrounding [...]

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As Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), a “slumdog” from Mumbai is poised to win 20 million rupees on India’s version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” police officers (Saurabh Shukla and Irfan Khan) launch into a brutal interrogation based on suspicions that Jamal is cheating. Director Danny Boyle pairs up with Loveleen Tandan [...]

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Bruno (Asa Butterfield), the son of a Nazi commandant (David Thewlis) befriends a young boy named Shmuel (Jack Scanlon) who happens to live nearby, behind a barbed wire fence (concentration camp). The film, based upon the compelling fable by Irish writer John Boyne, is so superbly directed (Mark Herman), acted (provided you get past British [...]

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LAPD corruption and incompetence in the early 1930’s is splayed out in this fact-based crime case, marvelously directed by Clint Eastwood. Christine Collins’s (Angelina Jolie) efforts to find her missing son (Gattlin Griffith) with the assistance of a local outspoken clergyman (John Malkovich) lead to dramatic confrontations and conclusions, sure to keep audiences [...]

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Anyone who has been watching the political scene over the last 8 years knows what the issues are and shouldn’t rely on Oliver Stone’s latest project to illuminate or expand comprehension. However it is interesting to see how well the actors conform to the their real life counterpart; Josh Brolin, as George W. Bush, [...]

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Not even the chemistry match between Richard Gere and Diane Lane can salvage this poorly scripted downer.
Please share your opinion regarding Film Flashes movie review of Nights in Rodanthe.

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Wayne Wang directs this highly introspective film about a suburban dwelling Chinese woman (Feihong Yu) whose father (Henry O) travels all the way from Beijing and winds up visiting more with local vendors, neighbors, and an Iranian woman (Vida Ghahremani) in the local park.
Please share your opinion regarding Film Flashes movie review of A Thousand [...]

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Lavish costuming is the focus of this historical rendition of the marriages, mistresses, and machinations of 18th century English Royalty. Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire (Keira Knightley) gains popularity and political clout despite her husband’s (Ralph Fiennes) malice and open affair with her friend (Hayley Atwell). A brief brush up on English [...]

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Freelance lawmen, Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) demonstrate verbal and motor proficiency in short order when they come to the rescue of a small town, ruled by a local rancher (Jeremy Irons). As if their job isn’t difficult enough, a young widow, played by a miscast Renée Zellweger, arrives on the [...]

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An LAPD patrol officer (Samuel L. Jackson) disapproves of his new neighbors, an interracial couple (Patrick Wilson & Kerry Washington) and he doesn’t have a problem demonstrating his dislike. Jackson’s over the top tough talk engages audiences in an otherwise inadequate script.
Please share your opinion regarding Film Flashes movie review of Lakeview Terrace. [...]

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Lust and greed invade two southern families like termites on a backyard lumber stack, in the latest Tyler Perry preachy production. Alfre Woodard and Kathy Bates are the two charismatic matriarchs who strive to get their adult children and connected spouses to behave (Sanaa Lathan, Rockmond Dunbar, Taraji P. Henson, Tyler Perry, Cole [...]

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Sensual Manhattan college professor (Ben Kingsley) explores his psyche and mortality when he hooks up with one of his students (Penélope Cruz). Isabel Coixet directs her stars with a heavy hand, lightening up with well placed supporting characters (Dennis Hopper and Patricia Clarkson) in this personal drama based upon Philip Roth’s novel, The Dying [...]

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Diane English’s Sex and the City caliber remake of Cukor’s 1939 classic, is not a total let-down, courtesy of comedy veterans, Candice Bergen, Bette Midler, and Cloris Leachman. Forced dialogue and fake camaraderie are the hallmarks of this chatty female film featuring Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett Smith, Eva [...]

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In 1976, before everyone who drank wine was bottling it, California wines had to prove their vintage in a blind taste test in Paris. A seventies score, hip connoisseurs (Alan Rickman, Bill Pullman, Dennis Farina) and up-and-comers (Chris Pine, Rachael Taylor, Freddy Rodriguez) combine to re-create the California experience, worth sampling.
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  Popular Czech writer/director, Jiri Menzel adapts Bohumil Hrabal’s quirky profile of waiter/aspiring millionaire, Jan Dite played by Ivan Barnev (the charming younger Jan) and Oldrich Kaiser (older reflective Jan).  The characters, including a plethora of beautiful women, flow through the film  during, before, and after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, providing a uniquely entertaining backdrop for Jan’s random [...]

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With attractive characters Penelope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Scarlett Johansson, and Rebecca Hall entwined in a beautiful romantic city (Barcelona), speaking Woody Allen’s witty sarcasm…who needs a storyline
Please share your opinion regarding Film Flashes movie review of Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

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This Israeli film dramatizes the social and psychological issues that accompanied the influx of thousands of Ethiopian Jews escaping famine and devastation in the 1980’s. Characterization and aging are at times inconsistent, but director/writer Radu Mihaileanu deserves credit for tackling so many themes in the course of one film.
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Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), an anxiety-ridden office employee discovers hidden talents when he is recruited by a fraternity of assassins led by Morgan Freeman. Angelina Jolie is true to her bold and seductive style as Wesley’s seductive mentor/trainer in this fast paced “normal looking people who happen to have super powers” genre.
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Four fast friends (Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon) coming into their 40’s deal with matters of love, marriage, and fidelity in the course of numerous wardrobe changes. Fans of the TV show love it.
Please share your opinion regarding Film Flashes movie review of Sex In The City.

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French director/writer, Guillaume Canet features François Cluzet (a dead ringer for Dustin Hoffman in his 30’s) as Alex Beck, a pediatrician still pining for his wife (Marie-Josée Croze) eight years after her abduction and death. Alex was a prime suspect and when two bodies are discovered at the murder site, the case is reopened by [...]

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It’s the summer of 1994; hip hop and pot are in the air, and newly inaugurated mayor, Rudolph Giuliani is just beginning to implement “anti-fun” initiatives against graffiti, public drunkenness, and noisy portable radios. Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck), a high school senior/pot dealer on his way to college, is sharing his angst with Dr. Squires, (Sir [...]

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Nazneen (Tannishtha Chatterjee), a young Bangladeshi woman, longs for her village and lost youth, when she is uprooted to London’s East End and an arranged marriage to an older man (Satish Kaushik). When the requisite hot guy (Christopher Simpson) appears on the scene peddling piece work to the local home seamstresses, a new world opens [...]

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Claude Lelouche’s adaptation keeps audiences questioning: is crime novelist Judith Ralitzer (Fanny Ardant) imitating her own novels, is Dominique Pinon really her ghost writer or a serial killer, and how does Hughette, (Audrey Dana) a frustrated hairdresser, ditched by her boyfriend fit into all this frenzy? Fun and very French!
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A stuck-in-a-rut economics professor (Richard Jenkins) finds his inner drum beat when he befriends two young immigrants (Haaz Sleiman and Danai Jekesai Gurira) in Manhattan.
Please share your opinion regarding Film Flashes movie review of The Visitor.

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Weapons manufacturer, Robert Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a charismatic playboy, until an explosive accident provides an opportunity for revamping his mindset as well as his physical capabilities. While the special effects are more satisfying than the script, Robert Downey Jr. is quite capable of holding your attention with the help of his business buddies [...]

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Filmmaker, David Mamet’s brilliance, truly shines in this character driven script that juxtaposes naiveté along side cunning, and honor beside shame. While money, or the lack thereof is at the root of the problem, the exceptional cast including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Emily Mortimer, Joe Mantegna, Alice Braga, and Max Martini shows us that no matter [...]

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 Swiss born director, Marcel Langenegger draws out a lackluster script about a dull accountant (Ewan McGregor) whose night life picks up when he meets a flashy egocentric (Hugh Jackman) at the firm he is auditing. Despite the quality male leads and steamy sexual scenes (including Michelle Williams), this convoluted drama only accelerates in the fourth [...]

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An M.I.T. professor (Kevin Spacey) recruits students (Jim Sturgess, Kate Bosworth, Aaron Yoo, Liza Lapira, Jacob Pitts) to use card counting skills, signals, and disguises to beat the odds and win big in Las Vegas. As you would expect, greed kicks in, casino security (Laurence Fishburne) gets wise, and gains are no [...]

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A group of Northhampton, Massachusetts seniors sing James Brown, Sonic Youth and the Clash, like you’ve never heard before, under the loving but firm direction of their much younger chorus leader, Bob Cilman. While this inspiring chorus has performed all over the world as well as stateside, the documentary focuses on rehearsals for an [...]

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Sibling rivalry escalates when both Boleyn girls (Scarlett Johansson & Natalie Portman) have their eyes on King Henry (Eric Bana). While the historical perspecitive is minimized, center stage is taken by the brilliant costuming and character studies; manipulative father (Mark Rylance) powerless mother (Kristen Scott Thomas), plotting uncle (David Morrissey). More than enough [...]

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A “passed over for promotions” executive (Demi Moore) in London’s Diamond district is drawn to a high risk heist devised by a soon-to-retire janitor (Michael Caine). Moore’s striking beauty sparkles in this mostly male setting in 1960 while her charm captivates audiences as well as her stuffy colegues, the faltering custodian (Caine), and [...]

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Carlitos (Adrian Alonso) crosses the border from Mexico to reunite with his mother (Kate del Castillo), at the same time that she contemplates trading in her day job in the U.S. for a one way ticket to Mexico to catch up on the last four years she has been separated from Carlitos. This syrupy [...]

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While the look and feel is set in the 40’s, the psychology is timeless: one never knows what the person next to you is thinking, whether it be a stranger, friend, or spouse. Harry (Chris Cooper) thinks there is only one way to save his wife (Patricia Clarkson) from total depression [...]

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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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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.
Please share your opinion regarding Film Flashes movie review [...]

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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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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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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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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.
Please share your opinion regarding [...]

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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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