Decades after the famous TV show and its several sequels, after numerous feature-length adaptations, after wearing out generations of crew members, including the most famous captains, Kirk and Picard, the “Star Trek” franchise continues to boldly go where it has gone many times before. For the latest addition to the franchise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” […]
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“Oblivion”
Whatever their merits, the devotion of their many fans, and the panegyrics of a whole gaggle of critics, those phenomenally successful semi-literary works known as graphic novels (in my day they were pretty much just comic books) often generate a certain pretension. The writers and illustrators introduce learned allusions, copy established literary patterns, interweave complicated […]
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“G.I. Joe: Retaliation”
Continuing the recent trend of major studios handing over the reins of their established action franchises to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (see: the most recent “Fast and the Furious” films and its upcoming sequels),”G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” the follow-up to 2009’s “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” allows the former professional wrestler to take over as […]
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“Yoyo”
One of the most exciting programs at the Dryden Theatre this month is the currently ongoing series focusing on the comedic films of French director, Pierre taix. Having directed only five films and a small number of shorts, the director has remained one of the lesser-known filmmakers of the French New Wave. taix’s films have […]
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“Dead Man Down”
In “Dead Man Down,” the new thriller that marks the American feature debut of Danish director Niels Arden Oplev (he directed the original “Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”), the filmmaker reteams with his former leading lady, Noomi Rapace, who plays another damaged young woman with a yen for revenge. The film, an odd mishmash of […]
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“A Good Day to Die Hard”
The fifth film in a franchise that began way back in 1988 demonstrates Hollywood’s faith in the repetition of formulas and its concomitant tendency toward depletion of imagination. The new movie in the “Die Hard” series, “A Good Day to Die Hard,” deploys just about all the elements that distinguished its predecessors, including Bruce Willis, […]
