Maxim’s Movie Reviews and Opinions Blog

The Golden Compass (2007)
After overhearing a shocking secret, precocious orphan Lyra Belacqua (Dakota Blue Richards) trades her carefree existence roaming the halls of Jordan College for an otherworldly adventure in the far North, unaware that it’s part of her destiny. Nicole Kidman, Daniel Craig and Sam Elliott co-star in this fantasy-laden family adventure based [...]

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Harold And Kumar From Guantanamo Bay (2008)

John Cho and Kal Penn of “Harold & Kumar go to White Castle” are back for a sequel written by Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, who also directed the film this time around.
The plot: The plot picks up right when Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) come [...]

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This is the sequel to 1998 Oscar-winning drama “Elizabeth”, also directed by Shekhar Kapur (The Four Feathers) starring Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, Clive Owen and Samantha Morton.
The plot: The original 1998 movie left us in 1555. The “Golden Age” picks up the story in 1588. A still-young-looking Elizabeth I (Cate Blanchett) is still childless, [...]

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Evan Almighty (2007)

A.k.a. “Bruce Almighty-2″, this is a sequel directed by same Tom Shadyac and starring Morgan Freeman as God and Steve Carell as TV anchorman-turned Congressman Evan Baxter.
The plot: Evan Baxter retires as Buffalo newscaster to become the Congressman for his state with the slogan “Change the World!”. Then magic begins to happen: [...]

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“Forgetting Sarah Marshall” is a comedy directed by Nicholas Stoller who is well known for co-writing Fun With Dick and Jane with Judd Apatow – his directorial debut. It is written by Jason Segel, an actor from a few episodes of CSI and Alias, and most recently was cast in Knocked Up, and now [...]

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I owned this remote for almost 2 years now and I loved it. Why? Because it replaced the 7 remotes that I had to use to control my home theater. Mind you, 2 years ago it was selling for about $250. Who in the right mind would pay so much for a remote when [...]

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“The Brave One” is a drama directed by Neil Jordan and stars Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard.
The plot: A New York woman, a radio show host Erica Bain (Jodie Foster), was brutally beaten and her fiancé, David (Naveen Andrews), killed when they took a walk in the park late at evening. She goes on [...]

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Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)
Texas congressman Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) sets a series of earth-shaking events in motion when he conspires with a rogue CIA operative (Philip Seymour Hoffman, in an Oscar-nominated role) to aid Afghan mujahedeen rebels in their fight against the Soviet Red Army. Julia Roberts, Emily Blunt and Amy Adams co-star in [...]

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Enemy of the State (1998) DVD

Ridley Scott’s brother Tony directed this action flick starring Will Smith, Jon Voight, Gene Hackman, Lisa Bonet, Jack Black, Gabriel Byrne, and . He’s also known for producing series Numb3rs and The Company and films like Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford and directing such movies [...]

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“Smart People” is a comedy and drama based on novel by Mark Poirier and directed by Noam Murro, an award winning director [of commercials]. Correct me if I’m wrong, but “Smart People” appears to be the first feature film he directed. I went to the theater with very low hopes. This movies was made [...]

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The plot: The reality/documentary follows Cody Maverick (Shia LaBeouf), a teenage Royal Penguin, and his friend Chicken Joe (Jon Heder), as Cody leaves his hometown of Shiverpool, Antarctica, to participate in “Big Z Memorial Surf Off” competition commemorating deceased surfing star Big Z (Jeff Bridges) on Pen Gu Island.

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Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
John C. Reilly stars as fictional pop star Dewey Cox in this parody of the increasingly predictable rags-to-riches music biopic. On his hard-knocks journey toward stardom, Dewey crosses paths with the likes of Elvis, Buddy Holly and the Beatles. Before long, Dewey is writing hits, making women swoon and [...]

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“Our Folks” is a classic Polish comedy.
The plot: Two quarreling families were expatriated from Eastern Poland (now Belarus) to Western part of Poland that used to be German before the WWII. By accident they end up being settling on neighboring farms again.
The good: This film thrives on exploiting stereotypes, taking it to extreme: two [...]

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George Clooney, fresh from directing “Michael Clayton”, delivers another great movie – this time a romantic sports comedy.
The plot: 1925. Jimmy “Dodge” Connolly (George Clooney) is a charming, middle-aged [American] football player for Bulldogs in the struggling 1925 football league, who wants to bring his team into the world of professional football – the [...]

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Yet another sport farce comedy with Will Ferrel and Jon Heder. Directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck.
The plot: Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder of Napoleon Dynamite and The Benchwarmers, he also did a lot of voice overs, such as in Monster House, Robot Chicken, Surf’s Up) was a child ice-skating prodigy adopted from the [...]

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The Black Dahlia (2006) DVD

A sophisticated film noir from the director of Scarface, The Untouchables, Casualties Of War, Mission: Impossible, Snake Eyes, Mission To Mars and Redacted – Brian De Palma. It’s based on James Ellroy’s Novel “The Black Dahlia” inspired by the real murder of Elizabeth Short.
The plot: 1946. Hollywood. Two cops-partners, former [...]

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