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max22

max22
Member Since
28 Mar 2006
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ratings
240
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Recent ratings
240
Minireviews
135
Starred reviews
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240
Films
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0
Recent ratings
240
Minireviews
135
Starred reviews
Recent Ratings
25 6%
The Master of Disguise (2002) - Rated 27 Aug 2009
I saw this movie when I was thirteen, and I did not hate it. I apologize for this glaring lack of judgment and blame it on the hormones.
88 74%
(500) Days of Summer (2009) - Rated 22 Aug 2009
You look back on a failed relationship, and the memories start from the beginning. You remember the meet-cute, the awkward courtship, the silly, sexy first kiss. But memories don't always finish out in a linear fashion. Before long you juxtapose your best moments with your worst. The time your joke killed and the time it died. Listen, that's life. You can't annotate something both so simple and complex: sometimes you get together, sometimes you break up, and sometimes you misread The Graduate.
100 91%
District 9 (2009) - Rated 15 Aug 2009
You can't help but sit up and admire District 9 -- rather than ricocheting between satire, parable, hard sci-fi, body horror, dark comedy, and full-blown action, the movie keeps every plate spinning at once. Look: last week, I saw "The Hurt Locker", a 'small' film produced outside the studio system with unknown actors that was more thrilling and more thoughtful than just about any other movie released this year. Now, here's another, and it's even better.
75 50%
Final Destination 3 (2006) - Rated 08 Aug 2009
(Note: this also applies to all past Final Destination movies, as well as any future ones, at least until the novelty wears off.) A very immature part of my brain digs the Final Destination series. The movies are little more than gory Rube-Goldbergian kill-mobiles, but they have a sly, goofy campiness, and that makes them much more entertaining than your Saws or Hostels. And I like the way they play with the conventions of typical horror movies (and, later, even the series' own conventions).
88 74%
The Hurt Locker (2009) - Rated 08 Aug 2009
This movie is the farthest thing from a brainless summer blockbuster -- in a season full of pyrotechnics, it knows that the real thrills come from a blast that hasn't happened yet. It's very good at many things that have been mishandled in recent years. The characters are broadly drawn, but given weight by some pretty great performances. The Hurt Locker is about war, and what it means to certain people. And it's about those people. And it's about Iraq, home of the fear and land of the bravado.
88 74%
Brüno (2009) - Rated 13 Jul 2009
Oh my God. This is what I expected when "Borat" got raves -- it's a shocking, satirical, and hilarious mockumentary that's twice as funny and ten times as consistent as Baron Cohen's last attempt. Every line is crossed (there's an exaggerated, explicit montage in the first five minutes whose purpose seems to be to get all the prudes out of the theater early) and no holds are barred (except for taking out a Michael Jackson bit -- respek). Baron Cohen isn't just hilarious: I admire his balls.
88 74%
The Hangover (2009) - Rated 10 Jun 2009
The sharp, clever script and dedicated actors really sell this one -- The Hangover feels like a real movie, more than some of Apatow's more minor flicks. It's well shot, tightly edited, and has some real suspense. That wouldn't mean a hill of beans if it weren't funny, though, and in fact it's hilarious: I laughed from the beginning through to the end, past the end credits and right out of the theater.
88 74%
Up (2009) - Rated 31 May 2009
Yawn. Another year, another Pixar masterpiece. It's the same old thing: these show-offs spend their time refining a story to cinematic perfection, with peerless animation skills and unwavering storytelling instincts. Then the finished product's met with universal acclaim, record-breaking box office tallies, an Oscar or two, and a fanbase that endures for years to come. Rinse and repeat. After just about fifteen years of this shit, it's getting to be a bit of a bore. Why can't they suck for once?
75 50%
Angels & Demons (2009) - Rated 24 May 2009
Not a lot better than the first, but at least it's less ponderous -- certainly Langdon's exposi-thons are less grating here, thanks to the ticking time bomb element of the plot (literally a ticking time bomb). There still really isn't anything to Langdon himself, but never mind. The movie's "Die Hard: With a Vengeance" by way of Dan Brown. If that sounds like something you'd want to see, I can't imagine you'd be disappointed, but I won't exactly set up a statue pointing to the theater.
75 50%
The Future of Pinball (2006) - Rated 24 May 2009
A good documentary about a good idea to revitalize a good game -- think "Who Killed the Electric Car?", only about pinball.