Showing Tag: ""olivia wilde"" (Show all posts)

REVIEW: Not Full of Too Many Beautiful Moments, Love the Coopers Is A Bit Too Unguarded

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, November 26, 2015, In : 0.12% Hard Liquor 
Love the Coopers





Directed By: Jessie Nelson

Starring: Alan Arkin, John Goodman, Ed Helms, Diane Keaton, Jake Lacy, Anthony Mackie, Amanda Seyfried, June Squibb, Marisa Tomei, and Olivia Wilde

Several weeks ago, veteran actor Alan Arkin suffered a minor stroke.  We at STMR want to wish
him a safe and speedy recovery during this holiday season.  Looking at this situation, I must say that it's really surprising how life can imitate art at times.  As fate would have it, Arkin's character suffers a m...

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REVIEW: In The Lazarus Effect, Zoe's Fiery Apartment Hell Nightmare Is the Bizarre DMT Compound of Horror Movies

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, February 28, 2015, In : 0.09% Cocktails 
The Lazarus Effect





Directed By: David Gelb

Starring: Mark Duplass, Olivia Wilde, Donald Glover, Evan Peters, and Sarah Bolger

It's amazing how Hollywood can get horror so right on television and so wrong on the big screen fairly consistently.  Just look to the recent successes of terrific shows like American Horror Story, The Walking Dead, and Bates Motel.  Then, look to the recent failures of films like Annabelle, The Purge: Anarchy, and any Paranormal Activity film of your choosing.  It's a st...
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REVIEW: Watch Me Tell You How Third Person's White is Indeed the Color of Trust, Belief, & the Lies Michael Tells Himself

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, June 28, 2014, In : 0.09% Cocktails 
Third Person





Directed By: Paul Haggis

Starring: Liam Neeson, Milan Kunis, Adrien Brody, Olivia Wilde, James Franco, Moran Atias, Maria Bello, and Kim Basinger

It's not too often that we get Paul Haggis sitting in the director's chair.  After all, it's been four years since The Next Three Days and seven since In the Valley of Elah.  He spends far more time writing movies like Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, though he hasn't been particularly active on this front in the last several years eit...
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REVIEW: In Her, Operating System 1 Samantha Learns to Love Letter Writer Theodore Twombly

Posted by James Brown on Thursday, December 26, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers 
Her





Directed By: Spike Jonze

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, Scarlett Johannson, Chris Pratt, and Kristen Wiig

Man falls in love with his personal assistant.  Stranger things have happened in human history.  When that personal assistant is digital and can take no physical form whatsoever, things get a little more interesting.  This is exactly the situation with which we're presented in Spike Jonze's Her.  With the advent of Siri and other technologies in recent y...
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REVIEW: In Formula One Racing Movie Rush, the Intense Rivalry Between Superstar James Hunt & Asshole Niki Lauda Blazes Like No Other

Posted by James Brown on Friday, September 27, 2013, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers 
Rush





Directed By: Ron Howard

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Brühl, Olivia Wilde, Alexandra Maria Lara, Pierfrancesco Favino, David Calder, and Natalie Dormer

It would be an understatement to say that I had low expectations for Rush.  Let's be real.  Did anyone really expect a serious awards contender out of a racing movie led by Thor?  I sure as hell did not.  I knew the film had Ron Howard in the director's chair.  I knew that there was a rich, intriguing story for Howard to tell based on t...
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REVIEW: Drinking Buddies Kate & Luke Act Like Fanatics By Ignoring the Love in the Atmosphere

Posted by James Brown on Tuesday, July 30, 2013, In : 0.06% Beer or Wine 
Drinking Buddies





Directed By: Joe Swanberg

Starring: Olivia Wilde, Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Ron Livingston, and Jason Sudeikis

If this year has proven anything, it's that romance films are all but dead.  Just take a good look at the movies of 2013, and see if you can find some grand film with a sweeping romance.  You won't find it.  At best, you'll find Safe Haven, a watered-down, formulaic imitation of what romance movies once were.  Perhaps this is because our rather cynical generation of...
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REVIEW: The Brain Rapist, Rance Holloway, and the Astonishing Jane Can't Save the Magical Friendship of Burt Wonderstone and Anton Marvelton

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, March 16, 2013, In : 0.09% Cocktails 
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone





Directed By: Don Scardino

Starring: Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin, James Gandolfini, and Jim Carrey

American culture today is bereft of any real values or meaningful qualities.  Sadly, this is the product of my generation, the Millennials.  The plague of reality television and an ever-growing, ever-popular online library of senseless YouTube videos are symptomatic of these problems.  I'm not going to go on a full rant about everything that'...
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REVIEW: Despite the Comedy, Home Looks Like a Much Better Option Than Deadfall

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, December 8, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails 

Deadfall





Directed By: Stefan Ruzowitzky

Starring: Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde, Charlie Hunnam, Kate Mara, Treat Williams, Kris Kristofferson, and Sissy Spacek

We're in this annual post-Thanksgiving slump at the box office.  All studios want to capitalize on the holidays, so releases are clustered around Turkey Day and Christmas.  Between the holidays, we're stuck with several weekends of nothingness.  Last year, it was something we just witnessed at mainstream theaters.  This year, however, the ...


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REVIEW: Butter - Jennifer Garner Versus An African Iowan

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Sunday, September 30, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers 
Butter
SoberFilmChick




Directed by: Jim Field Smith

Starring:  Jennifer Garner, Ty Burrell, Olivia Wilde, Yara Shahidi, Hugh Jackman, Alicia Silverstone

When I saw the trailer for Butter, I was incredibly excited. The premise looked interesting; and the cast boasted movie stars, as well as television actors from Modern Family, The Office and 30 Rock.  Moreover, it is a Weinstein Company production. How could it go wrong?  Having just viewed Butter, I must say that the film did not disappoint.

Butte...
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REVIEW: The Words: Incomplete

Posted by SoberFilmChick on Sunday, September 9, 2012, In : 0.09% Cocktails 
The Words
SoberFilmChick







Directed by: Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal
Starring:  Bradley Cooper, Zoe Saldana, Dennis Quaid, Jeremy Irons, Olivia Wilde


I hate to quote the President in a film review, but if I had to give The Words a grade, it would be “Incomplete.”  That is how I felt as the credits rolled, and I daresay most other viewers felt the same way. But I am jumping ahead of myself.  Let’s start at the beginning.

The Words is a story within a story within a story.  Clayton Hammond (D...
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REVIEW: In People Like Us, Sam Leans Into It Despite the Fact That He Has a Certain Talent for Running Away From His Family's Drama

Posted by James Brown on Saturday, June 30, 2012, In : 0.03% Wine Coolers 
People Like Us





Directed By: Alex Kurtzman

Starring: Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, Elizabeth Banks, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mark Duplass, and Jon Favreau

You don't see too many mainstream family dramas coming out at this time of year.  With films like Ted, Magic Mike, and The Amazing Spider-Man getting all the buzz, a good family drama is likely to be a flop at the box office.  People Like Us is an interesting choice for release on 4th of July weekend.  It's a great movie.  Sadly, it's also a film that's ...
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REVIEW: The Change-Up Needs a Makeover Into an R-Rated Comedy

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, August 7, 2011, In : 0.09% Cocktails 
The Change-Up





Directed By: David Dobkin

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jason Bateman, Leslie Mann, and Olivia Wilde

Ryan Reynolds and Olivia Wilde cannot put out a good film this year.  Green Lantern and Cowboys & Aliens— films starring Reynolds and Wilde respectively — have been critically panned and have had anything but stellar performances at the box office.  For The Change-Up, they bring Jason Bateman and Leslie Mann into their slump.  The Change-Up is a heartwarming, wholesome comedy trying ...
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REVIEW: Cowboys & Aliens Has the Right Talent But Not the Right Act

Posted by James Brown on Sunday, August 7, 2011, In : 0.09% Cocktails 
Cowboys & Aliens





Directed By: Jon Favreau

Starring: Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, and Olivia Wilde

The idea of combining the Wild West and outer space in a film is just so crazy that it could have worked.  With names like Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, and Jon Favreau behind Cowboys & Aliens, we should have expected great things from the film.  An even better case could be made for the movie given that it's starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford.  Unfortunately, the film does not live up to its h...
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