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‘Suffragette’ Movie Review – impactfully chronicles a long, hard struggle

Suffragette Written by Abi Morgan Directed by Sarah Gavron UK, 2015 As the high-profile spearhead of UK film culture, the London Film Festival thrives on promoting the heritage films that its indigenous industry clings to so dearly: the historical and period dramas which keep the production designers, wardrobe wranglers and most of the Royal Shakespeare Company solvent throughout another procurement drive of Elizabethan ruffs, …

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‘Cinderella’ enchants with beauty and spectacle

Cinderella is a refreshing callback to the unabashed costume epics of the past, when story and aesthetic held equal sway over ambitious filmmakers. Director Kenneth Branagh and his production team luxuriate in breathtaking sets, opulent costumes, and impeccable special effects while still keeping the old-fashioned story of courage and kindness at center stage. Yes, it would have been nice to see a little more cellulite and gumption from our heroine, but it’s hard to complain about a movie that so thoroughly delivers on spectacle and heart. Lush, extravagant, and painfully earnest, Disney’s Cinderella is a worthy adaptation of its classic predecessor. In fact, it’s quite wonderful.

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Why Tim Burton’s ‘Sweeney Todd’ is Kind of Terrible

I spent my Halloween attending the tale of Sweeney Todd. Though I did go out later (I’m not a total shut-in), most of my day consisted of watching four versions of the Stephen Sondheim’s razor sharp musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street back to back to back to back. (There was a …

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The Lone Ranger Misses the Target with Inconsistent Tone and Dull Action

Almost no one expected Pirates of the Carribean to be what it turned out to be. A movie based on a theme park ride? Starring that guy from all the Tim Burton movies and Legolas? And yet, despite all odds, it was a critical and commercial darling and launched one of Disney’s most successful franchises in years.

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‘The Lone Ranger’ an unpleasant, insincere wannabe epic

The Lone Ranger Directed by Gore Verbinski Written by Justin Haythe & Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio USA, 2013 Sincerity is in dire need of being resurrected in modern popular culture. This is not to say that cynicism doesn’t have a place in society, or that naivete should be widely embraced by the masses. But …

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Extended Thoughts on ‘Alice in Wonderland’

Alice in Wonderland Directed by Tim Burton Written by Linda Woolverton Starring Mia Wasikowska, Johnny Depp, Stephen Fry, Helena Bonham Carter Alice in Wonderland is a truly inexplicable, baffling, painful film to watch. I don’t know what anyone involved in the film was thinking in making it. Did they want to honor the vision from …

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Burton and Depp: the hits and misses of cinema’s bromance

If there was an ever a cinematic partnership to have lasted the years, it is Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. Ever since Edward Scissorhands, these two seem to be each other’s go-to guys for new films. With Dark Shadows being released this week, let’s take a stroll down memory lane to see the hits (and …

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