Trashwire
Movie reviews, Whatcha Watchin podcast, and more
Category: Movies
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‘The Congress’ Trailer Takes Us Into Immortal Stardom
More than two decades after catapulting to stardom with The Princess Bride, an aging actress (Robin Wright, playing a version of herself) decides to take her final job: preserving her digital likeness for a future Hollywood. Through a deal brokered by her loyal, longtime agent (Harvey Keitel) and the head of Miramount Studios (Danny Huston),…
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‘The Battered Bastards of Baseball’ Premieres on Netflix July 11th
The Battered Bastards of Baseball is one of baseball’s last great, unheralded true stories. In 1973, Hollywood veteran Bing Russell (best known for playing Deputy Clem on “Bonanza”) created the only independent baseball team in America at the time, the legendary Portland Mavericks. Bing operated without a Major League affiliation while playing in a city…
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The Deadly Old Timers Are Back In ‘The Expendables 3’
Expect explosions, clichés, and unbelievable scenarios and you won’t be disappointed. Barney (Sylvester Stallone), Christmas (Jason Statham), and the gang find themselves battling Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson), a former co-founder of their team who has since gone to the dark side. Stonebanks had become a ruthless arms trader, whom Barney thought he had killed years…
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James Franco and Seth Rogen take on Kim Jong-un in ‘The Interview’
In the action-comedy The Interview, Dave Skylark (James Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapoport (Seth Rogen) run the popular celebrity tabloid TV show “Skylark Tonight.” When they discover that North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un is a fan of the show, they land an interview with him in an attempt to legitimize themselves as journalists. As…
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For your consideration: 12 Years a Slave
12 Years A Slave will be a must-see film, not just in 2013, but for many years to come. You can expect this film to be shown in classes and universities from now on, not only for its historic value, but also for its excellence in the art of story telling and filmmaking. Is it…
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For your consideration: Inequality for All
Inequality For All is a documentary, but it feels more like a college lecture. A lecture well worth sitting through! Do you remember back in college when you would have one professor whose lectures you looked forward to? A professor that would not only enlighten you, but empower you? Well if politics, labor, and the…
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For your consideration: Captain Phillips
You know the old saying, “There are three sides to every story. Yours, theirs, and the truth.” Well, we may need to add one. Yours, theirs, the truth, and the Hollywood version. There has been a lot of controversy over the portrayal of Captain Richard Phillips as a hero. Many of his actual crewmembers heavily…
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For your consideration: Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Forest Whitaker stars as Cecil Gaines, who for 34 years served as a butler in the White House. The film is loosely based on the real life of Eugene Allen, who I’m sure was a much more interesting man than the character Cecil Gaines. Lee Daniels’ The Butler tries to cover entirely too much in…
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For your consideration: All Is Lost
All Is Lost is a survival story of one man, played by Robert Redford, who encounters some big trouble on the Indian Ocean and must struggle to survive. The premise may be interesting, a la Cast Away, but I was lost and unimpressed with All Is Lost. There is a good reason why feature-length films…
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For your consideration: Cutie and the Boxer
This documentary shares the love and life of an unusual artistic couple, Ushio Shinohara and his wife Noriko. They first met in 1969. Ushio was a 41-year-old avant-garde artist in New York City. Noriko was a 19-year-old art student who idolized Ushio’s art and passion for his work. Ushio’s work often gained notoriety, appearing in…
