FilmJabber.com Movie Reviews

One for the Money Movie Review

2012-05-17 12:00:00

Stephanie Plum, the starring character in Janet Evanovich's long-running book series, gets the big screen treatment for the first time in One for the Money, an adaptation of the first book. Based on the critical and financial reception of the film, it will also stand as the last time Stephanie Plum will be seen on the big screen. Despite being far from great, One for the Money does boast a casualness that works more often than not.

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The Dictator Movie Review

2012-05-16 12:00:00

Six years after he blew audiences away with Borat and three years after destroying all goodwill he previously earned with the horrendous Bruno, Sacha Baron Cohen is back with The Dictator, a very quotable movie about a racist, sexist, anti-Semitic Middle Eastern dictator who travels to New York City to talk about his plans for obtaining nuclear power before the United Nations.

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Dark Shadows Movie Review

2012-05-11 12:00:00

Tim Burton. Johnny Depp. Together again. Woopty-fucking-doo.

Dark Shadows is a big screen adaptation of a television show that apparently was popular decades before I was born, and is about a rich young man named Barnabas Collins who is cursed by his evil witch mistress Angelique to forever being a vampire. She then locks him in a coffin for 200 years. He is released in the 1970's, where he discovers that his family's estate is in ruins, his odd family is odd and that Angelique is still alive and kicking, and also the business competition.

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Girl in Progress Movie Review

2012-05-11 11:21:45

Review by Nathan Samdahl (C+)

Girl in Progress is a film that has a lot of positive elements, but that never hits its stride. It's a film I wanted to like more than I did.

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The Avengers Movie Review

2012-05-04 02:00:00

The Avengers, the careful culmination of years of planning, multiple blockbusters, hundreds of millions of dollars and loads of patience is finally here, and it does not disappoint. The best comic book adaptation since 2008's The Dark Knight and arguably the best Marvel Studios movie ever, The Avengers is exciting, funny, visually stimulating and thoroughly entertaining, the very definition of a good summer blockbuster.

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The Five-Year Engagement Movie Review

2012-04-29 18:07:43

A man and a woman meet, fall in love, get engaged. The next step is obvious. Obvious, but not easy. Between career opportunities and unexpected family situations, the initiation process to their next stage in life - the wedding - keeps getting pushed back, a victim of life's little ironies and twists. The Five-Year Engagement looks at the ups and downs of their relationship, capturing the funny moments along the way. Unfortunately, the movie also feels like it is five years long.

Read FilmJabber's full The Five-Year Engagement movie review.

Headhunters Movie Review

2012-04-27 12:00:00

Review by Nathan Samdahl (A-)

Headhunters is a pulse-pounding nonstop action thrill ride with plenty of intrigue thrown in. The middle 45 minutes of this film is by far the most fun I've had at the movies all year.

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Chimpanzee Movie Review

2012-04-20 12:00:00

Chimpanzees are adorable. Baby chimpanzees.... Likeohmygodtheyresocuteiwantoneiwantoneiwantone. So, the overlords over at Disney decided to make a movie about a baby chimpanzee. And just to ensure they don't confuse anyone, they named the documentary Chimpanzee.

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The Cabin in the Woods Movie Review

2012-04-15 12:00:00

Five horny college students go to a cabin in the woods. You know what happens next. Or not. A perfect example of don't judge a book by its cover, or a movie by its trailer, The Cabin in the Woods is one of the most entertaining, strange, absurdly awesome horror movies to hit theaters in the history of cinema. It has its scares, but it's also hilarious, and most importantly, it is completely unpredictable in all the right ways.

Read FilmJabber's full The Cabin in the Woods movie review.

Lockout Movie Review

2012-04-13 12:30:00

Luc Besson sat down one day and came up with an original idea: The President's daughter is going to be taken hostage by a bunch of prisoners in a futuristic space prison. And then the President is going to send in one lone man, a crude, unlikable guy who cares about no one but himself, but who can kick some major convict ass. Lockout is "based upon an original idea by Luc Besson", but when did an original idea mean taking Escape from New York, making it stupid and changing the location to space?

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The Three Stooges Movie Review

2012-04-13 11:30:00

When you've come to the conclusion that you should walk out on a movie approximately 76 seconds after the opening credits, you know you're in for a world of hurt. The Three Stooges does a great job of capturing the humor and giddiness of the three classic characters. Unfortunately, their humor has been obsolete for 80 years.

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The Lady Movie Review

2012-04-13 11:00:00

From the director of Leon: The Professional, The Fifth Element and La Femme Nikita comes... a political drama about Aung San Suu Kyi, the symbol of democracy in repressive Burma? Luc Besson somehow took time out of his busy schedule of writing bad action movies to make the heartfelt drama The Lady, which, while not groundbreaking, exceeds expectations.

Read FilmJabber's full The Lady movie review.

21 Jump Street Movie Review

2012-04-11 12:00:00

Just when you think Channing Tatum's career is on the downturn, he cranks out 21 Jump Street, a critical and financial hit that ensures the sometimes-cardboard actor has a franchise on his hands. And don't forget Jonah Hill, who, hot off his Oscar-nominated performance in Moneyball, co-stars in this funny if sometimes obnoxious action-comedy.

Read FilmJabber's full 21 Jump Street movie review.

American Reunion Movie Review

2012-04-06 12:00:00

If apple pies could run, they would run for cover, because Jim is back for more awkward sexual antics in American Reunion, the long-awaited third theatrical sequel to American Pie no one asked for. Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas and Eddie Kaye Thomas have all returned to show just how little their careers have progressed since the 1999 classic. Despite being a blatant cash grab and by no means a comedy classic, American Reunion has enough laughs and goofy antics to make it worth a trip into the land of nostalgia.

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The Hunger Games Movie Review

2012-04-04 12:00:00

The Hunger Games. The debut for a movie - ever - in the month of March. A movie that is based on a young adult book that is thankfully much, much better than Twilight. A movie that has received glowing reviews. A movie that, unfortunately, fails to live up to its full potential.

Read FilmJabber's full The Hunger Games movie review.

Mirror Mirror Movie Review

2012-03-30 13:00:00

Review by Nathan Samdahl (D)

Hooray! Finally the Snow White adaptation that we've all been excited for has arrived. Slick visuals, Chris Hemsworth and Kristen Stewart look great….oh wait - that's Snow White and the Huntsman, which comes out this summer. Instead, this is the Relativity version that had been jockeying for release schedule supremacy with its counterpart to ensure it reached audiences first. There's a reason for that.

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Boy Movie Review

2012-03-25 14:00:00

From the director of the quirky but flawed Eagle Vs. Shark comes another quirky but flawed drama-comedy called Boy, about a boy named Boy who is excited to see that his absent father has returned - and then less excited when he realizes his dad is an incompetent hoodlum.

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The Kid with a Bike Movie Review

2012-03-18 12:00:00

Review by Nathan Samdahl (B)

The Kid with a Bike marks the third Dardenne brothers film I've had the pleasure of seeing after Lorna's Silence and the incredible L'enfant. While not as emotionally hard hitting as that film, The Kid with a Bike is a simple tale filled with a very complex moral landscape.

Read FilmJabber's full The Kid with a Bike movie review.

Casa de mi Padre Movie Review

2012-03-16 13:00:00

Will Ferrell is back, and he's speaking español. In Casa de mi Padre, Ferrell plays a dumb yet idealistic Mexican rancher named Armando whose beliefs are challenged when he encounters his brother's beautiful fiancé (Genesis Rodriguez) and discovers that his brother (Diego Luna) is a drug dealer who is gearing up to go to war with rival La Onza (played by Luna's Y Tu Mama Tambien costar Gael Garcia Bernal). As is evident from the plot and the lead actor, Casa de mi Padre is stupid and funny at the same time. ¡Ay ay ay!

Read FilmJabber's full Casa de mi Padre movie review.

Jeff, Who Lives at Home Movie Review

2012-03-16 12:00:00

A wrong call. A random stranger named Kevin. A broken door frame. These are the circumstances that set a slacker on his journey to fulfill his destiny in Jeff, Who Lives at Home, the funny new comedy from Jay and Mark Duplass.

Read FilmJabber's full Jeff, Who Lives at Home movie review.