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A Glimmer of Salvation Is Found in 'Last Vegas'

This does best during its nicely understated climax, where the glimmers of the characters' fears -- of aging, of becoming irrelevant -- are most visible and closest to poignant, if only briefly.

Reviews

Summer of Same: June 2009

This month's "original" fare offers a take on a Sid and Marty Krofft classic, more battling seizure robots, and the retaking of '70s subway thriller. Everything old is new again.

Film

Celulloid Culpability - Top 10 Film Guilty Pleasures of 2008

Like comedy or music, one's choice in cinematic pleasure can be very personal - and very peculiar. Take this tantalizing list of shameful indulgences. You can argue over their artistic value, but their individuals rewards definitely speak to those who champion them.

Film

Step Brothers

They're hostile, irritable, and unemployable; it's hilarious but also unsettling.

Reviews

Nobel Son

Nobel Son not only lacks honor, but it's also an undignified mess that should embarrass star Alan Rickman and everyone else involved.

Tricia Olszewski

Reviews

Four Christmases

Motherhood, Four Christmases submits, is all Kate needs to be happy. The husband, he's incidental.

Reviews

Talk, Talk, Talk: November 2008

Like the sainted sigh of relief that comes after another shriek-filled All Hallow's Eve, November usually means the start of the 'nominate me' process for the proposed prestige pictures of 2008.

Film

Step Brothers

In Step Brothers, Nancy (Mary Steenburgen) is the ideal audience, the girl who can't fathom the anti-nuances of masculine ritual.

Reviews

The Return of the Popcorn Circus: July 2008

And it just doesn't stop. If part two in this three-ring play was packed with well hyped product, July just keeps the receipt treats coming.

Features

Performance Art: The Best Acting of 2007 - Female

From the most sweetly nuanced performance of Jennifer Jason Leigh's career to Cate Blanchett's revelatory portrayal of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There, the women of 2007 were stellar.

Features

The Best Big Screen Eye Candy of 2007

When flipping through my mental catalog of the year's films, certain scenes stand out. This past year offered a veritable feast of visual goodies.

Daynah Burnett

Features

The Brave One

For all the hubbub about the sensational girl shooter, The Brave One is almost more interesting for its flaws and omissions.

Reviews

The Dead Girl (2006)

An anthology of five stories organized around the titular corpse, the movie is a bleak but oddly robust homage to women's survival and defeat in the face of violence, oppression, and non-options.

Reviews

Joan of Arcadia

Joan is more a young girl answering to an authority figure than a blind-faith disciple.

Samantha Bornemann

Reviews

Pop Ten

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 5: 20 - 1

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 1: 100 - 81

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 2: 80 - 61

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 4: 40 - 21

The 100 Greatest Alternative Singles of the '80s: Part 3: 60 - 41

Jackie Chan's 10 Best Films

The 25 Best Classic Progressive Rock Albums

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