Trashwire
Movie reviews, Whatcha Watchin podcast, and more
Author: Alexis Gentry
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‘Safety Not Guaranteed’ steers clear of indie cliches
Most indie movies involve quirky, slightly off center, lovable weirdos who are outcasts from society, down on their luck, or just generally awkward. Safety Not Guaranteed is no different. Its lovable weirdo is a self-professed time traveler who believes he’s under surveillance by the government and utilizes a classified ad to seek out a companion…
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Scott stumbles with ‘Prometheus’
Ridley Scott’s Prometheus is billed as smart sci-fi, the unofficial prequel to his 1979 classic, Alien. With a slick trailer that mirrors the original Alien trailer, this film had fans of the franchise excited to see it resurrected to respectability after the Alien vs Predator films. Unfortunately, Prometheus lacks the groundbreaking nature of Alien and…
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Hemsworth and Stewart show range in ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’
Snow White and the Huntsman takes a Lord of the Rings-ish darker twist on the classic tale of Snow White with more dastardly deeds, more CGI effects, more rousing battle speeches and some spectacular costumes by Colleen Atwood. The film also shows us that Kristen Stewart can be more than a wooden, one-dimensional vampire girlfriend…
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All hail Sacha Baron Cohen in ‘The Dictator’
Sacha Baron Cohen can wholly become a character like few other actors working today. As we saw in Borat and Brüno, he seemingly transforms beyond recognition into whatever heavily accented, exaggeratedly foreign, brazenly funny character he is embodying. While The Dictator is more of a traditional, narrative film that his two previous mockumentaries, Cohen still…
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What does ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ say about women?
We don’t publish enough book reviews here on Trashwire—possibly because we don’t read enough books—but E L James’ Fifty Shades of Grey is such a ginormous success that it warrants a bit of commentary. Let me start off by saying that I’m no English Lit major and I’m not a big time reader, but I…
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Burton’s ‘Dark Shadows’ disappoints
Back in the 1990s, Hollywood started taking old TV shows and making them into movies, set in present day, and making fun of just how outdated they seemed by today’s standards. The Brady Bunch Movie, The Adams Family and even Pleasantville showed us that the characters of old would have a tough time fitting in…
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‘The Avengers’ gives fans the most bang for their buck
What do you get when you combine Hollywood’s most profitable superheroes in one film? You get action, effects, humor and fun. In other words, you get The Avengers. In case you’ve been living under a rock, or movies based on comic books are so not your thing, The Avengers are a team of heroes from…
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‘The Hunger Games’ a spectacular adaptation
Let’s face it, Hollywood rarely succeeds in making a book-to-screen adaptation that lives up to the original. Even True Blood, one of my favorite shows, takes quite a few creative liberties with Charlaine Harris’ Sookie Stackhouse novels. After reading (and totally loving) Suzanne Collins’ best-selling The Hunger Games, I was keeping my fingers crossed that…
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‘Casa de Mi Padre’ channels ‘Three Amigos’
When I was a kid, I loved ¡Three Amigos!, starring Steve Martin, Chevy Chase and Martin Short. It was one of those great, cheap ‘80s movies that didn’t need effects or complex characters because the guys starring in it were hilarious. The Will Ferrell comedy Casa de Mi Padre is a lot like that, but…
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Played-out plot sinks ‘Friends With Kids’
When a movie touts the fact that it features “the cast of Bridesmaids”, it’s fair to assume it will be funny. Unfortunately Friends With Kids has a played-out and predictable storyline that keeps it from ever living up to the talents of its stars.
