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Dave Good
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Moss Gropen
Andrew Hamlin
Dorian Hargrove
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Ken Harrison
Patrick Henderson
Tam Hoang
Eve Kelly
Dryw Keltz
Eva Knott
Thomas Larson
Ken Leighton
Matthew Lickona
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Bill Manson
Scott Marks
Bob McPhail
Walter Mencken
Joseph O'Brien
Sheila Pell
Ian Pike
Matt Potter
H.G. Reza
Dave Rice
Elizabeth Salaam
Jay Allen Sanford
Julie Stalmer
DJ Stevens
Matthew Suárez
Amanda Tascher
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Gian Ghio
Gian Ghio
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Votes
The Soloist
The only real bright spot from this movie is the job that Jamie Foxx does portraying Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr. He will be a likely candidate for best actor come Oscar time. The story is real; based on the novel by LA Times writer Steve Lopez. The film felt more like real life than a movie. The good thing about that is that it felt like real life. The bad thing is also that it felt like real life. There wasn’t anything exciting about this story. Ayers is one of several hundred thousand homeless people that live on our streets. Unfortunately, a lot of these people are there because nobody will help them. Ayers, like many other homeless, has a mental illness and has a hard time distinguishing real from imaginary. Lopez did the best he could to help the guys get back on his feet and put him in the right direction but in the end all he ended up getting was a friend. If you take anything from this film, recognize that the people living on the street are just that—people. They each have their own story for how they got there. They weren’t always homeless and deserve respect just like anybody else. Don’t be afraid to say hello to one next time you are walking down the streets of downtown. You never know when you may make a new friend.
— April 27, 2009 9:54 p.m.
Crank: High Voltage
This movie wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be….it was MUCH, MUCH, worse. There are not enough words in the English language to describe how truly horrible this movie was. It was like watching an hour and a half porn/heavy metal music video mixed with a video game. I feel like I lost 10 points on my IQ just by having sat through the whole thing. Let me just do a quick re-cap of some of the “highlights” of the movie. There was the part where the guy got his elbow chopped off with a machete. There was the part where the heavily tattooed thug cuts his own nipples off. There is also an overly explicit heart surgery scene, a floating/talking head in a tank, a shootout in a strip bar, and a strange gay guy with full bodied tourette’s syndrome. Add in the fact that Jason Statham’s character is somehow immune to the effects of high doses of electrical shocks and you having the making of something awful. I have thought hard about it and have decided that this is definitely the worst movie I have ever seen.
— April 27, 2009 9:44 p.m.
The Other Boleyn Girl
This is the way history is supposed to be told without leaving out all of the juicy details. If I had had all of these details when I was learning about British history in 10th grade then I would have probably paid more attention in class. All I knew was that Henry VIII had 6 wives and he desperately wanted a male heir to the throne. When Catherine of Aragon couldn’t give him a son, he strayed and found Mary Boleyn who produced a son; unfortunately out of wedlock and therefore not a true heir to the throne. A short time after Mary was pregnant, Henry had already developed a lust for her sister Anne. We know what happens after that. It is just so amazing how much influence one woman had on the history of England. Her marriage to Henry and the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon that preceded it, forced the separation of England from the Roman Catholic Church and led to the creation of the Church of England.
— April 25, 2009 11:14 p.m.
None
And just like that they are gone. With no warning at all, another one of Eastlake's restaurants shuts its doors and closes up for good. This is the 3rd restaurant, in just this mall alone, that has gone out of business joining Pei Wei and Gandolfo's Deli.
— April 19, 2009 11:39 p.m.
Body of Lies
An intriguing look at the war on terror from the CIA operatives’ standpoint. Leonardo DiCaprio is excellent as usual, in his role as a CIA spy trying to track down the leader of a terrorist group operating out of the Middle East. The movie becomes almost a lesson in geography as he jumps from country to country with stops in Iraq, Jordan, UAE, Syria, and Turkey. This movie was good but not great. Unfortunately, a weak and uninspired performance by the typically sharp Russell Crowe brought it down. Crowe’s character seemed way too relaxed to be somebody working high up at the CIA. One has to wonder if the screenwriter was trying to make a point in showing how out of touch the US government is with the war on terror by making Crowe’s character so clueless. The story is interesting, as far fetched as it may seem. My only question after watching this film was, “Does this stuff really happen out there?” I know it’s only a movie but it makes you wonder what our spies really do that nobody knows about.
— April 19, 2009 11:37 p.m.
88 Minutes
This was painfully bad. How did Pacino ever get involved with this thing? It's not even worth talking about it. I just want that 88 minutes of my life back.
— April 12, 2009 1:12 p.m.
Observe and Report
An ode to the mall security guard. Observe and Report is light on laughs and heavy on stupidity. Be warned, this is your typical Seth Rogen movie filled with F-Bombs, unnecessary frontal nudity, and inane dialogue. The whole premise of the movie is that Rogen’s character is trying to locate and apprehend a flasher who is exposing himself to women in the mall parking lot. He totally overplays his self-importance as a mall security guard so much that it ceases to be funny and just becomes plain dumb. The occasional funny moment only temporarily distracts you from what is a pretty bad movie. Anna Faris plays the bimbo blonde that works at the cosmetics counter at the department store. This isn’t much of a stretch for her because she has played similar type characters several times before. Rogen has a lot to offer to an actor but if he keeps coming out with these lame movies where he plays bumbling idiots then he is going to work himself out of a job.
— April 11, 2009 1:07 a.m.
Monsters vs. Aliens
I was a little disappointed. I thought maybe it would be funnier but it ended up being a movie for kids. I’m sure they will like it, especially with the 3-D visual effects. I do have to give credit to the animation team though. Some scenes looked so real it felt like I was watching a live action film.
— April 7, 2009 9:54 p.m.
Bennigan's
The Monte Cristo has got to be one of the highest calorie sandwiches in the city. The thing is great but be warned that you will be hurting the next day if you try to tackle one of these things by yourself. I swear I could feel myself getting fatter with each bite I took of this thing.
— April 4, 2009 11:49 p.m.
None
In only his 2nd motion picture, John Cena lights up the screen with his presence. He resembles Mark Wahlberg but has the physique of the Rock. Combine those two elements and you have the next great action movie star. He was perfect for this role. All action, and not a lot of insightful or witty dialogue needed. The movie itself was decent at best. It was simply all action and very little story. The girlfriend gets kidnapped by a guy he helped put in prison. The bad guy makes Cena go through 12 rounds, or tests, before he can get her back. Along the way there are lots of explosions, car chases, shooting, and things getting destroyed on the streets of New Orleans. This movie is basically just a simple escape and doesn’t require a lot of heavy thinking.
— April 4, 2009 11:47 p.m.
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Ken Harrison
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Dryw Keltz
Eva Knott
Thomas Larson
Ken Leighton
Matthew Lickona
Mike Madriaga
Bill Manson
Scott Marks
Bob McPhail
Walter Mencken
Joseph O'Brien
Sheila Pell
Ian Pike
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H.G. Reza
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This Week’s
Reader
This Week’s
Reader
The Soloist
The only real bright spot from this movie is the job that Jamie Foxx does portraying Nathaniel Anthony Ayers Jr. He will be a likely candidate for best actor come Oscar time. The story is real; based on the novel by LA Times writer Steve Lopez. The film felt more like real life than a movie. The good thing about that is that it felt like real life. The bad thing is also that it felt like real life. There wasn’t anything exciting about this story. Ayers is one of several hundred thousand homeless people that live on our streets. Unfortunately, a lot of these people are there because nobody will help them. Ayers, like many other homeless, has a mental illness and has a hard time distinguishing real from imaginary. Lopez did the best he could to help the guys get back on his feet and put him in the right direction but in the end all he ended up getting was a friend. If you take anything from this film, recognize that the people living on the street are just that—people. They each have their own story for how they got there. They weren’t always homeless and deserve respect just like anybody else. Don’t be afraid to say hello to one next time you are walking down the streets of downtown. You never know when you may make a new friend.— April 27, 2009 9:54 p.m.
Crank: High Voltage
This movie wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be….it was MUCH, MUCH, worse. There are not enough words in the English language to describe how truly horrible this movie was. It was like watching an hour and a half porn/heavy metal music video mixed with a video game. I feel like I lost 10 points on my IQ just by having sat through the whole thing. Let me just do a quick re-cap of some of the “highlights” of the movie. There was the part where the guy got his elbow chopped off with a machete. There was the part where the heavily tattooed thug cuts his own nipples off. There is also an overly explicit heart surgery scene, a floating/talking head in a tank, a shootout in a strip bar, and a strange gay guy with full bodied tourette’s syndrome. Add in the fact that Jason Statham’s character is somehow immune to the effects of high doses of electrical shocks and you having the making of something awful. I have thought hard about it and have decided that this is definitely the worst movie I have ever seen.— April 27, 2009 9:44 p.m.
The Other Boleyn Girl
This is the way history is supposed to be told without leaving out all of the juicy details. If I had had all of these details when I was learning about British history in 10th grade then I would have probably paid more attention in class. All I knew was that Henry VIII had 6 wives and he desperately wanted a male heir to the throne. When Catherine of Aragon couldn’t give him a son, he strayed and found Mary Boleyn who produced a son; unfortunately out of wedlock and therefore not a true heir to the throne. A short time after Mary was pregnant, Henry had already developed a lust for her sister Anne. We know what happens after that. It is just so amazing how much influence one woman had on the history of England. Her marriage to Henry and the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon that preceded it, forced the separation of England from the Roman Catholic Church and led to the creation of the Church of England.— April 25, 2009 11:14 p.m.
None
And just like that they are gone. With no warning at all, another one of Eastlake's restaurants shuts its doors and closes up for good. This is the 3rd restaurant, in just this mall alone, that has gone out of business joining Pei Wei and Gandolfo's Deli.— April 19, 2009 11:39 p.m.
Body of Lies
An intriguing look at the war on terror from the CIA operatives’ standpoint. Leonardo DiCaprio is excellent as usual, in his role as a CIA spy trying to track down the leader of a terrorist group operating out of the Middle East. The movie becomes almost a lesson in geography as he jumps from country to country with stops in Iraq, Jordan, UAE, Syria, and Turkey. This movie was good but not great. Unfortunately, a weak and uninspired performance by the typically sharp Russell Crowe brought it down. Crowe’s character seemed way too relaxed to be somebody working high up at the CIA. One has to wonder if the screenwriter was trying to make a point in showing how out of touch the US government is with the war on terror by making Crowe’s character so clueless. The story is interesting, as far fetched as it may seem. My only question after watching this film was, “Does this stuff really happen out there?” I know it’s only a movie but it makes you wonder what our spies really do that nobody knows about.— April 19, 2009 11:37 p.m.
88 Minutes
This was painfully bad. How did Pacino ever get involved with this thing? It's not even worth talking about it. I just want that 88 minutes of my life back.— April 12, 2009 1:12 p.m.
Observe and Report
An ode to the mall security guard. Observe and Report is light on laughs and heavy on stupidity. Be warned, this is your typical Seth Rogen movie filled with F-Bombs, unnecessary frontal nudity, and inane dialogue. The whole premise of the movie is that Rogen’s character is trying to locate and apprehend a flasher who is exposing himself to women in the mall parking lot. He totally overplays his self-importance as a mall security guard so much that it ceases to be funny and just becomes plain dumb. The occasional funny moment only temporarily distracts you from what is a pretty bad movie. Anna Faris plays the bimbo blonde that works at the cosmetics counter at the department store. This isn’t much of a stretch for her because she has played similar type characters several times before. Rogen has a lot to offer to an actor but if he keeps coming out with these lame movies where he plays bumbling idiots then he is going to work himself out of a job.— April 11, 2009 1:07 a.m.
Monsters vs. Aliens
I was a little disappointed. I thought maybe it would be funnier but it ended up being a movie for kids. I’m sure they will like it, especially with the 3-D visual effects. I do have to give credit to the animation team though. Some scenes looked so real it felt like I was watching a live action film.— April 7, 2009 9:54 p.m.
Bennigan's
The Monte Cristo has got to be one of the highest calorie sandwiches in the city. The thing is great but be warned that you will be hurting the next day if you try to tackle one of these things by yourself. I swear I could feel myself getting fatter with each bite I took of this thing.— April 4, 2009 11:49 p.m.
None
In only his 2nd motion picture, John Cena lights up the screen with his presence. He resembles Mark Wahlberg but has the physique of the Rock. Combine those two elements and you have the next great action movie star. He was perfect for this role. All action, and not a lot of insightful or witty dialogue needed. The movie itself was decent at best. It was simply all action and very little story. The girlfriend gets kidnapped by a guy he helped put in prison. The bad guy makes Cena go through 12 rounds, or tests, before he can get her back. Along the way there are lots of explosions, car chases, shooting, and things getting destroyed on the streets of New Orleans. This movie is basically just a simple escape and doesn’t require a lot of heavy thinking.— April 4, 2009 11:47 p.m.