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The Avengers

Action heroes team up. You will be saved.
Robert Downey, Jr. and Scarlett Johansson

“The Avengers” is the smorgasbord comic book movie we’ve been waiting for years to see. Many middling films were made (I’m looking at you “Thor,” “Hulk,” and “Captain America”) just in order to set up origins for this one. And it fell to director Joss Whedon to make this all come together. But he should have known better than to do so through nothing, but action sequences. It starts with ... more >

REVIEW – “The Avengers”

An Experience worth the capital letter
Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson and Samuel Jackson
Directed by Joss Whedon

Comic book mavens rejoice, for Marvel Studios has concocted a heady and wonderful sensory brew in “The Avengers.” Weaving together the origin stories of Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, and Captain America, “The Avengers” packages a star-studded cast, one that could easily have imploded under its own weight, into a fleet-footed, yet cohesive, plotline. Nefarious forces from other worlds threaten Earth, ... more >

Mark Ruffalo

Mark Ruffalo’s tortured, emotional parable tries to deal with complicated issues of godliness, faith healing and betrayal, and unfortunately doesn’t succeed. Ah, well, this likable actor is not the first to bite off more than he can chew as a new director. “Sympathy for Delicious,” screened at the 2010 Sundance Festival and finally getting limited U.S. distribution, tells the story of ... more >

A Midsummers Family Comedy with a Twist of Lemon

 [rating=2] Does the American family need a viable father figure again? A comedy focusing on a lesbian-headed family, “The Kids Are Alright” asks that question, whether writer-director Lisa Cholodenko knows it or not. And it seems to say so, before it changes its mind and says no. I don’t know, and I’m not sure the film does, either. Joni (“Alice in Wonderland” star Mia Wasikowska) and ... more >

Zodiac

Excellent film brings out top performances from cast
Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo
Directed by David Fincher

After Wong Kar-Wai’s My Blueberry Nights (starring Jude Law and Norah Jones) opened the 60th festival yesterday, David Fincher’s Zodiac screened for an international delegation of journalists early this morning at the Grand Theatre Lumiere. Zodiac, which already got its release in the US, is about the namesake serial killer who terrorized San Francisco’s Bay Area in the 70s only to disappear into ... more >