The Santa Clause

Of course Tim Allen plays a toymaker in a movie in which he is forced to become the new Santa. What other job could he have? Allen plays a toy creator named Scott Clavin, and this is one of the funniest of his performances. He has as much biting sarcasm as you would want from him, at a time when he...

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All the Star Wars Movies Ranked

You probably have seen all or most of the major theatrically released Star Wars movies, but with an animated film, made-for-TV productions, who knows how many stand-alone films, and an infamous holiday special, there are many more out there than just the eight episodes. Some are good, some are...

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Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the eighth part of the nine episodes in the series, is as operatic as this fantastic franchise has ever been. In the hands of a new writer and director, Rian Johnson, this is a film that enjoys embracing the formulas that have made these films so endearing for so long...

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Jackie Brown

“AK-47, the very best there is. When you absolutely, positively got to kill every mother fucker in the room, except no substitutes.” Jackie Brown was the third film Quentin Tarantino directed, serving as an interesting, albeit less memorable, conclusion to his 1990s quasi-trilogy that included Reservoir...

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Thor: Ragnarok

We come from the land of the ice and snow From the midnight sun, where the hot springs flow The hammer of the gods  We'll drive our ships to new lands To fight the horde, and sing and cry Valhalla, I am coming! I admit to being disapponited by this year's comic book films. (And yeah, I get that...

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Star Wars Nostalgia

Star Wars percolates with nostalgia. In fact, the only essential problem with some of the most recent Star Wars films is that they are too nostalgic. The original definition of nostalgia was as a form of melancholy. Indeed, the word itself is comprised from the Greek roots of “homecoming”...

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Drag Me to Hell

A child being chased by a demon is a rather morbid way to start a rather morbid movie. Keep in mind this movie is also a comedy. It's not one that will likely make you laugh out loud, but its blend of horror and humor will remind you that before he was with Spider-Man, director Sam Raimi made the...

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Wonder Woman

In the new superhero movie Wonder Woman, we are presented with perhaps the most interesting and thrilling character of the year. A woman who is tough, kind, compassionate. She's a warrior and yet also a passifist. It's just too bad that the movie she is in is subpar. In Wonder Woman, the story is bland...

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Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father

Charismatic, completely selfless, laid-back, so intelligent. This is how many describe a young man named Andrew Bagby. With surgical precision in its massive use of editing, we're introduced to Andrew through these interviews and archival footage, like movies he made with his friends when he was a kid. Andrew loved appearing in the films of his buddy Kurt Kuenne, the director of Dear Zachary, when...

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Yellow Submarine (And a Special Top-100 List)

yellow submarine 1. a kiddie song by the Beatles. Ever heard of them? 2. a cool animated cult classic movie based on the hit Beatles song. It's a funky mind-expanding trip. Show this at your party for a wild psychedelic ride. 3. a marijuana joint. A reefer. Every color imaginable is present in...

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Alien: Covenant

"The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their forefathers. Therefore, this is what Jehovah says, 'Here I am bringing on them a calamity that they will not be able to escape. When they call for help, I will not listen to them." Alien: Covenant, the sixth...

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Nobody Did It Better

Roger Moore, who passed away last week, did it better than just about everyone else. In terms of James Bond, his most famous role, he was the only one of the six who understood the farcical, fictitious, facetious nature of the character. Spies, frankly, don't look like James Bond, they don't dress...

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