MovieSorter

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Lay the Favorite
Very Good 66 Points 2012

True stories bear a burden when they get turned into movies. Stay true to the story and the movie will be less than spectacular. Punch it up and get accused of selling out.

Lay the Favorite falls prey to the former as it recounts a real young woman’s underground education. The indomitable…

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WikChip Image Formidable Wife: Catherine's Tulip
Casino
Very Good 85 Points 1995

A lesser Scorsese crime movie, Casino can’t shake the shadow of Goodfellas, especially given the central presence of De Niro and Pesci. Still, a good Scorsese crime movie with an A-list cast ain’t chopped liver.

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The Expendables 3
Very Good 66 Points 2014

Barney Ross makes his third and likely last big screen appearance in The Expendables 3, an overstuffed moviestar montage. Sylvester Stallone has gathered a new crop of kick-ass action heroes to go along with his returning set of aging action heroes. Add Mel Gibson as the super-villain and you e…

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WikChip Video The Movie In Brief
Creed II
Very Good 66 Points 2018

Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky franchise lives on, now centered on a new generation and an African-American hero. This all works and provides a dose of social relevance, making Creed II a solid entrant in the Rocky canon. It’s also a better than average boxing movie, largely because it follows the …

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WikChip Image Behind most good men is a father figure
Elvis
Very Good 66 Points 2022

Elvis coulda been titled Baz given its near fatal dose of writer-director Baz Luhrmann’s overwrought style. Elvis Presley was no stranger to overwrought style, so the cinematic marriage works to a point. That point gets reached when Baz dwells on the overwrought story of Col. Tom Parker, notwit…

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The Shootist
Good 66 Points 1976

John Wayne’s final movie serves as a benediction for gunfighters at the dawn of the 20th Century, and for Wayne’s career as a celluloid gunfighter. It does the latter better than the former, making it more of an obligation for fans of the Duke than for Western fans generally.

The Shootist b…

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WikChip Image Lauren Bacall: strong & lovely
Beyond the Sea
Good 83 Points 2004

The Peter Principle personified: Kevin Spacey reached his level of incompetence by writing, directing and starring in Beyond the Sea, a surreal biopic of Bobby Darin. The starring part was mostly fine.

The writing and directing parts, not so much.

Darin’s terrific songs make the movie an…

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WikChip Image Kate Bosworth models Sandra Dee
1 Reply
  • BrianSez – Regarding "Wick's Review":http://www.viewguide.com/m...
Smokin' Aces
Good 90 Points 2006

When it comes to grading Smokin’ Aces, I’m splitting the difference between Spaceghost’s Really Great and BrianSez’s Barely OK. My Good reflects the movie’s stellar cast and glimmering Vegas visuals. That said, it ain’t good in any moral sense. In fact it’s a sociopathic cesspool that not on…

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WikChip Image FBI partners Ryan Reynolds & Ray Liotta
2 Replies
  • Wick – Regarding "Wick's Review":http://www.viewguide.com/m...
  • BrianSez – Regarding "Wick's Review":http://www.viewguide.com/m...
What Happens in...
Good 88 Points 2008

All the LOL moments are in the trailers. Still, Ashton and Cameron are likable, hot, self-deprecatingly funny, and have more than a smidgen of chemistry together, so the movie is a bit better than OK.

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Lost in America
Good 66 Points 1985

Lost in America’s reputation exceeds its reality. Modestly funny in 1985, its four memorable scenes live on in the mind’s eye, but fail to sustain this mere 91 minute movie. Turns out its nest-egg wasn’t enough.

Not that it doesn’t have a great line here and there.

Don’t use “nest”! D…

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WikChip Video "Oh I know, you mean the $100,000 box."