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Love Bot: In the lyrical WALL-E, a machine teaches humanity how to re-discover beauty.
Scott RenshawFor 700 years, WALL-E– a Waste Allocation Load Lifter robot, Earth Class– has been doing the job he was programmed to do. Left behind on an Earth no longer inhabitable... read on»
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Art-House Action: The Norwegian film Reprise captures the rush of creating art.
Mark JenkinsWith all due respect to (yawn) Iron Man, the first great action movie of the summer has arrived, and it has nothing to do with superheroes– unless your idea of... read on»
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Losing Control: Get Smart gets stupid by following the template of the ’60s television series too closely.
Scott RenshawAs a 21st-century American over the age of six, I understand that the answer to why Hollywood does anything is almost always “money.” For example, why would a studio launch... read on»
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Heavy Stuff: The heft of the steroids documentary Bigger, Stronger, Faster is found in the filmmaker’s interactions with his drug-using siblings.
Adam JosephErrol Morris’s acclaimed 1978 documentary The Gates of Heaven is foremost about pet cemeteries– but evolves into an intimate story about love, death and the “American dream.” Steve James’ 1994... read on»
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Take Two: The second-big screen adaptation of The Incredible Hulk rekindles the spirit of a mediocre TV series.
Scott RenshawIn an effort, perhaps, to exorcise the sense of failure surrounding Ang Lee’s 2003 film version of Hulk– which did a monster opening weekend then promptly circled the box-office drain–... read on»
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Body Blow: Stuck revisits a gruesome traffic accident and its aftermath.
Marc SavlovHad the horrific events detailed in Stuck not already been a matter of public record, no one in his or her right mind could have plotted them without agents and... read on»
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Chop Shop: The animated martial arts movie Kung Fu Panda invests a familiar formula with uncommon fun.
Scott RenshawIt has been fascinating to observe the rise of computer-generated animation– in particular, watching so much imagination invested in technical innovation that everyone has apparently decided to share the same... read on»
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Who’s Who: The French thriller Roman de Gare excels at keeping the audience guessing– during its first half.
StaffWho is the creepy, sniveling, shrew-like stranger named Pierre whom Huguette hitches a ride with? Is he a teacher from Paris who has abandoned his wife and kids to embark... read on»