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‘Manglehorn’ is a warmed-over character study

Manglehorn dabbles in the strange and peculiar, but at its core, it may be director David Gordon Green’s safest and least rewarding drama yet. The film contains weird scribbles in its margins, but the narrative is thin and contains little chew on. A.J. Manglehorn (Al Pacino) is a grizzled locksmith and wounded soul living in small-town Texas, still aching for a woman named Clara who got away many years ago. He sends regretful letters to her like clockwork but they always find a way back to his mailbox unread. Manglehorn now spends his days cutting locks, looking after his ill cat and making kind, flirty conversation with Dawn (Holly Hunter), the friendly bank teller he visits each week.

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SXSW 2015: ‘Manglehorn’ is as aimless as its eponymous character

Angelo Manglehorn (Al Pacino) is a man adrift. He has no connections to tie him to the world, no close relationships with family or friends. As a locksmith, he spends his days crafting spare keys or helping people who have locked themselves out of their cars. When the day is done, he returns home to spend the evening with his sole companion: his cat, Fanny. Much like its eponymous character, David Gordon Green’s Manglehorn drifts aimlessly, never bothering to make meaningful connections between characters or story elements.

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‘Cake’ is a careless character study

In Cake, it takes about fifteen minutes for director Daniel Barnz to establish the ground rules for this familiar portrait of grief and addiction, followed up by another 90 minutes or so of dramatic clumsiness and eye-rolling clichés. Whether it is drugs, sex, or booze, each brings a routine numbing quality to the table for Claire Bennett (Aniston), a seemingly darkly comedic and scathing woman who we first meet in a support group for chronic physical pain.

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‘Manglehorn’ Movie Review – is David Gordon Green’s most daring film to date

David Gordon Green has never allowed himself to be easily pinned down as a filmmaker. After making his name with dreamy independent films about relationships and growing up, he moved onto big budget comedies of varying quality. While even his most dire efforts bring a certain amount of style (even the awful Your Highness had a compelling visual softness not usually associated with medieval stoner comedies), many have mourned the direction of his career. His newest effort, Manglehorn, feels like a bastard child of these two worlds. In many ways it’s his most visually adventurous film since his career began, but it’s hardly a return to his early work in terms of feel, theme or style.

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How The Mindy Project bested Doctor Who

One of television’s most disappointingly resilient punchlines is the post-assault feminine slap. You’ve seen it before. A man, worked up into a lather for some reason or another, makes advances on a woman, pulling her into a kiss. If it’s requited, congratulations: It’s time for a new chapter in the show’s will-they-won’t-they drama. If it’s …

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PaleyFest 2013: Watch the full panel for ‘The Mindy Project’

One of the breakout stars of NBC’s long-running sitcom The Office was Mindy Kaling, whose Kelly Kapoor had been a mainstay at Dunder-Mifflin since the show’s inception. Following the publication of a hit nonfiction book, Kaling received a development deal for her own sitcom at Fox, which made its debut in the fall of 2012 …

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‘Argo’ a crackling thriller brimming with unbearable tension

Argo Directed by Ben Affleck Written by Chris Terrio USA, 2012 Improbably, Ben Affleck has turned his career around in the last few years from the pit where such cinematic embarrassments as Gigli and Daredevil forever reside. He’s essentially transformed himself from a tabloid cover-star into a poised actor-director who subscribes to the “Hollywood doesn’t …

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The Newsroom, Ep 1.08: “The Blackout Part 1: Tragedy Porn” is another solid outing for the show

The Newsroom, Season 1, Episode 8: “The Blackout Part 1: Tragedy Porn″ Written by Aaron Sorkin Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter Airs Sundays at 10:00 PM ET on HBO The question of ratings versus quality is something that has hung over News Night 2.0, and The Newsroom in general, since the beginning of the show. …

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