Author:   Justin Souther

Showing 316-336 of 792 results
Starring: (Voices) Dane Cook, Stacy Keach, Brad Garrett, Roger Craig Smith, Carlos Alazraqui

Planes

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: An anthropomorphic cropduster is the underdog in an airplane race around the globe. The Lowdown: A generic, harmless animated flick that does nothing new, yet at least has enough sense to be cinematic.
Starring: Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Douglas Smith, Leven Rambin, Brandon T. Jackson

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: Percy Jackson, the teenage son of Poseidon, must track down the legendary Golden Fleece to save the world. The Lowdown: A snarky attempt at filling the void left over by the end of the Harry Potter series that’s killed by its lack of budget, charm or a decent script.
Starring: Denzel Washington, Mark Wahlberg, Paula Patton, Bill Paxton, Edward James Olmos

2 Guns

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: An undercover DEA agent and an undercover Naval officer are tricked into robbing $43 million from a ruthless CIA agent. The Lowdown: Uneven, convoluted and occasionally ugly buddy-cop flick that’s not as clever or as fun as it thinks it is.
Starring: Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Octavia Spencer, Kevin Durand

Fruitvale Station

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: Based on the true story of Oscar Grant — specifically, the final day of his life — a young, black Oakland resident who was gunned down by a police officer on New Year’s Day 2009. The Lowdown: Despite verging a bit too much on ham-fisted melodrama, the film works on a purely emotional…
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker, Stephanie Szostak

R.I.P.D.

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: A murdered cop finds himself in the afterlife and conscripted into the Rest in Peace Department, a law enforcement agency for the dead. The Lowdown: A charmless mix of Men in Black and Ghostbusters that’s only barely watchable, thanks to Jeff Bridges.
Starring: (voices) Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Michael Pena, Bill Hader, Luis Guzman

Turbo

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: An everyday garden snail who dreams of speed get superpowers in a freak accident and sets his sights on winning the Indy 500. The Lowdown: Mostly harmless, yet slightly below-average in almost every sense.
Starring: Jeremy Scahill, Nasser al-Aulaqi, Jerome Starkey, Andrew Exum

Dirty Wars

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: A globe-trotting American journalist illustrates the ways in which the war on terror has spiraled out of control. The Lowdown: A solemn, heady, but uneven and often-flawed documentary that’s at its strongest when mixing humanity with politics.
Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Chris Rock, David Spade, Salma Hayek

Grown Ups 2

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: A day in the life of the families of the original Grown Ups. The Lowdown: A chintzy, lazy, plotless comedy, whose jokes rely solely on raising the bar on bodily function humor.
Starring: Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods, Richard Jenkins

White House Down

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: A squad of right-wing extremists take over the White House, and it’s up to an ex-military bodyguard and the president himself to stop their dastardly plan. The Lowdown: A completely silly, nonsensical and far-too-long actioner that’s only made watchable by a charismatic cast, all of whom are far too talented for this kind…
Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, Fana Mokoena, Peter Capaldi

World War Z

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: After an outbreak of zombies crushes civilization, a U.N. investigator sets out to find a cure. The Lowdown: An occasionally entertaining take on a worn-out subgenre.
Starring: (voices) Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, Steve Buscemi, Peter Sohn

Monsters University

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: A prequel to Monsters, Inc., chronicling the college years of monsters Mike and Sully. The Lowdown: A handsome-looking, painless animated flick whose run-of-the-mill story makes it unmemorable.
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson

This Is the End

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: A group of actors — playing exaggerated versions of their real-life selves — are trapped in a house during the Apocalypse. The Lowdown: A generally one-note, incredibly uneven, crass comedy that meanders and is far too in love with itself.
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Rose Byrne, Aasif Mandvi, Josh Brener

The Internship

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: Two washed-up, unemployed salesmen try to sneak their way into a job at Google via a competitive internship. The Lowdown: A generally harmless, horribly contrived comedy that’s not very funny.
Starring: Will Smith, Jaden Smith, Sophie Okonedo, Zoë Kravitz

After Earth

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: In the distant future, a father and son crash their spacecraft onto Earth, which has now become a dangerous, uninhabitable planet for humans. The Lowdown: Despite some ambition and a surprisingly grim tone, the film suffers from its simplistic nature, silly acting and too much goofy sci-fi nonsense.
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, Woody Harrelson, Mélanie Laurent

Now You See Me

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: Four stage magicians perform an improbable heist live on a Vegas stage, and it’s up to a nay-saying detective and a professional debunker to thwart their next moves. The Lowdown: Convoluted and never as clever as it thinks it is. But as simple, pure entertainment, it’s none too shabby.
Starring: Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Ken Jeong, John Goodman

The Hangover Part III

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: The boys of the Hangover movies return, as they’re forced to track down drug dealer Chow and return the money he’s stolen before their friend is murdered by a crime boss. The Lowdown: A surprisingly straightforward and unfortunately sentimental end to the franchise that feels limp and pointless.
Starring: Tashiana Washington, Ty Hickson, Meeko, Zoë Lescaze

Gimme the Loot

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: Two small-time graffiti artists concoct a plan to tag the large, mechanized apple at the Mets’ Citi Field, but must scrounge up $500 to make it happen. The Lowdown: A small, natural-feeling indie flick with a ton of heart.

Review and photos: Danny Brown and Kitty

Posted on by Justin Souther

I read somewhere once long ago about Steve Albini’s thoughts on live music. Basically, he posited, there are two kinds of artists — those who care only about the live show and use their recordings as a document of them, and, of course, vice versa. Brown falls somewhere closer to the former. It’s just him, a microphone, his DJ Skywlkr and a whole, whole lot of energy. Photos by Rich Orris

Starring: Saskia Rosendahl, Kai-Peter Malina, Nele Trebs, Andre Frid, Mika Seidel

Lore

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: At the end of World War II, the children of a Nazi officer must make their way, by themselves, across occupied Germany. The Lowdown: An occasionally ugly, emotionally detached film that scores points for its complexity and ability to never cop out.
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie, Tony Shalhoub, Ed Harris

Pain & Gain

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: The real-life tale of three dim-witted, steroid-riddled bodybuilders’ kidnapping and extortion scheme that eventually goes awry. The Lowdown: While occasionally falling prey to director Michael Bay’s worst habits, the finished product is incredibly entertaining, wonderfully absurd and boasts a superb cast — assuming you can handle Bay’s overbearing directorial style.
Starring: Bill Blakemore, Geoffrey Cocks, Juli Kearns, John Fell Ryan, Jay Weidner

Room 237

Reviewed by Justin Souther on
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The Story: Five subjects give their thoughts and — sometimes bizarre — theories on Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The Lowdown: An entertaining — assuming you don’t take the ideas being presented too seriously — look at the way art and film are often overly-dissected and analyzed.