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Movie review: A darker end to the 'Hangover' saga
Kelly Jane Torrance
Published: Thu, May 23, 2013
Alan, the man-child who made a star of actor Zach Galifianakis, succinctly summarizes "The Hangover" franchise in a conversation with Mr. Chow: "When we get together, bad things happen and people get hurt." But Mr. Chow (played by Ken Jeong) responds with a rejoinder that's just as true:...
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Summer movie preview: Sizzling blockbusters set to light up screen
Kelly Jane Torrance
Published: Thu, May 23, 2013
Superman and Shakespeare get modern updates; Will Smith and son go into the future; and Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and too many other actors to name face the apocalypse or its aftermath. Yes, it's that time of year again. Summer brings with it rising mercury and hemlines, beach weekends and...
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Movie review: Sarah Polley investigates the life's story
Kelly Jane Torrance
Published: Thu, May 16, 2013
The first sign that "Stories We Tell" is not a typical documentary comes within its first few minutes. The young, blonde director, Sarah Polley, says to one of her subjects, as he's getting comfortably situated in the interviewing chair, that while she told him she was making a documentary, this...
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Simon Pegg on 'Star Trek' sequel, 'The World's End'
Kelly Jane Torrance
Published: Thu, May 16, 2013
Simon Pegg got rather a start when he first read the script for "Star Trek Into Darkness." Playing the Enterprise's chief engineer, Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, Pegg was one of the stars of J.J. Abrams' 2009 "Star Trek" reboot. But early in the sequel, which opened this week, Scotty and Captain...
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'Star Trek' sequel boldly goes where series has gone before
Kelly Jane Torrance
Published: Tue, May 14, 2013
In 2009, J.J. Abrams boldly went where almost no man had gone before: He successfully rebooted a beloved franchise. His "Star Trek" didn't please every Trekkie, of course. But most of them were pleasantly surprised by the way he honored the spirit of the original television series and movies...
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Movie review: Hosaini's 'My Brother the Devil' chock full of ideas
Kelly Jane Torrance
Published: Sat, May 11, 2013
"My Brother the Devil" is not at all the film I was expecting. And that's both a good thing and a not-so-good thing. It's a pleasant surprise because Egyptian-Welsh writer-director Sally El Hosaini, in her feature film debut, avoids telling an easy but often overwrought sort of story about...
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'Gatsby' glitzy, but fails to dazzle
Kelly Jane Torrance
Published: Thu, May 9, 2013
Perhaps the iconic American novel "The Great Gatsby" isn't read much on the other side of the world -- like, for example, in Australia. That's the most charitable explanation for the overblown-to-the-point-of-ridiculous adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel that down-under director...
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More than a romcom, 'Love' stands on story and humor
Kelly Jane Torrance
Updated: Sun, May 5, 2013
What's in a name? When you see the marquee of the movie "Love Is All You Need," you likely assume it's a romantic comedy -- and feel confirmed when you see Pierce Brosnan's handsome visage on the poster. But the original title of this Danish film is, translated into English, "The Bald...
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'At Any Price' reflects harsh rural life
Kelly Jane Torrance
Published: Thu, May 2, 2013
At first glance, "At Any Price" looks like the latest film in a certain genre, the nostalgic but doomed look back at the good ol' days in America. It focuses on a long-held family farm that, thanks to modern agribusiness, must "expand or die," as the movie succinctly puts it. But "At Any...
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Movie review: Witness a conversion in 'Reluctant Fundamentalist'
Kelly Jane Torrance
Published: Thu, May 2, 2013
"The Reluctant Fundamentalist" is a brave film. Though it's based on a novel that was shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize, its title and plot -- a Pakistani immigrant to America begins to question his loyalties after the attacks of Sept. 11 -- are likely enough to offend, and perhaps...

