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Sun Valley Film Fest: ‘I Saw the Light’ shines a small but steady light

The fifth annual Sun Valley Film Festival runs March 2-March 6 in Ketchum, Idaho, featuring over 60 narrative films and documentaries, as well as special guests Oliver Stone, Mark Duplass, Bruce Dern and Amy Smart, and musical guests The Joy Formidable and Thunderpussy. Films are shown at local venues including the Sun Valley Opera House, …

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Last Night on Late Night, 5/6/15: Anna Wintour loves to laugh, Cher calls Dave an A**hole one more time

Last night on late night, Martin Short and Cher horsed around with Dave, Anna Wintour put Seth Meyers to work, Conan talked with Nick Swardson and Helen Hunt, Dana Carvey showed up on The Late Late Show, and Kimmel got the Adam Levine treatment.

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‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’ sacrifices fun for action, with mixed results

The Avengers clicked with both Marvel fans and general audiences because we loved watching these massive egos clash for the first time. It was the perfect blend of action and attitude, and its mastermind, Joss Whedon, was handed the golden ticket to Marvel’s keystone franchise. The long-awaited sequel, Avengers: Age of Ultron, shows the strain of trying to be bigger-and-better while still indulging the subtle pleasures of its predecessor. It succeeds, just barely, on the strength of a talented cast and our fondness for these characters. Still, it’s a decidedly somber affair that will turn off casual fans, and it stands as the most impersonal, and arguable weakest installment of Marvel’s vaunted “Phase Two.”

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‘Godzilla’ a genuinely exciting spectacle with incredible setpieces

Godzilla Written by Max Borenstein Directed by Gareth Edwards USA, 2014 It’s been almost 16 years to the day since Roland Emmerich attempted and failed to bring Godzilla to a wider American audience, a mistake almost as gargantuan as the monster itself was an accident of nuclear radiation and mutation. Surprisingly, the concept of making …

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‘In Secret’ a dour, lifeless period piece stranding an overly talented quartet of performers

In Secret Written and directed by Charlie Stratton USA, 2013 What occurs in the new film In Secret feels less like a natural progression of logical events, instead of something more pre-ordained and unnecessarily fatalistic. The characters existing inside of this turgid tragedy do not act freely, but as if guided by an invisible puppet …

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Win one of 10 double passes to the Toronto Advanced Screening of Rodrigo Cortés’s “Red Lights”

Rodrigo Cortés, who made a bit of a splash in 2010 with his high-concept / low-budget thriller Buried, is back with a new paranormal thriller entitled Red Lights, and if you can make it to the TIFF Bell Lightbox on Wednesday, June 27th, then you might just want to email admin@popoptiq.com with the heading “Red …

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‘Martha Marcy May Marlene’ a flawed and disturbing portrait of identity

Martha Marcy May Marlene Directed by Sean Durkin Written by Sean Durkin USA, 2012 The fractured nature of Sean Durkin’s Martha Marcy May Marlene is eerily reminiscent of the same tactics used by Derek Cianfrance in his 2010 film Blue Valentine. This film relies less on the novel like structure of the aforementioned film, as it effortlessly invites the …

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