Maxim’s Movie Reviews and Opinions Blog

Honest independent fun-to-read movie reviews and opinions

 

Entries from September 2008

Mad Money (2008) PG-13 1h 44min

September 30th, 2008 · No Comments

Mad Money (2008)

Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah and Katie Holmes star in this comedy inspired by real events about janitors who stole money from Federal Reserve Bank. Directed by Callie Khouri.
The plot: Bridget Cardigan (Diane Keaton) is close to retirement and when her husband (Ted Danson) gets downsized they are two hundred thousand dollars in [...]

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Tags: Chick Flick · Comedy · Crime/Gangster · DVD · Movies · USA

Hot New DVD and Blu-Ray Releases This Week (Sep 30, 2008)

September 28th, 2008 · No Comments

These movies come out on DVD and Blu-Ray this week.
Iron Man
(2008) PG-13
After ultrarich inventor and weapons maker Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) escapes from kidnappers using makeshift power armor, he turns his invention to good by using it to fight crime. But when he must face the evil Iron Monger, his skills are stretched [...]

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Tags: Additional Articles · DVD · Movies

Eagle Eye (2008) PG-13 118min

September 27th, 2008 · 4 Comments

Eagle Eye (2008)

Eagle Eye is the new product of Steven Spielberg’s Dreamworks studio, starring Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson, Michael Chiklis and Billy Bob Thornton.
The plot: Two unrelated people, a copy shop clerk Jerry Shaw (LaBeouf) and a young single mom Rachel Holloman (Monaghan) are thrown together by a phone call from a [...]

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Tags: Action · Movies · Mystery · Thrillers/Suspense · USA

Apocalypto (2006) R 139min

September 24th, 2008 · No Comments

Apocalypto (2006)

Apocalypto, 3-Oscar-nominated drama is written and directed by Mel Gibson and produced by his company, ICON Productions and distributed by Touchstone Pictures.
The plot: Before conquistadors arrived in America, the Mayan culture was already in decline. The priests convinced people that the solution to their problem is in building more temples and performing more [...]

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Tags: Action · Adventure · DVD · Drama · Epics/Historical · Movies · Thrillers/Suspense · USA

In Bruges (2008) R 107min

September 23rd, 2008 · No Comments

In Bruges (2008)

In Bruges is Martin McDonagh’s (2006 Oscar winner for script for ”Six Shooter”) directorial debut, starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes.
The plot: At Christmas time two Irish hit men are hiding after they did a job that didn’t go as planned - they are sent by their employer Harry to Bruges, Belgium, to lie low. There [...]

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Tags: Dark comedy · Thrillers/Suspense · UK

Hot New DVD and Blu-Ray Releases This Week (Sep 23, 2008)

September 21st, 2008 · 1 Comment

These movies come out on DVD this week:

Sex and the City – The Movie (2008)
“Sex and the City” fans rejoice! Carrie Bradshaw and her girls Charlotte, Samantha and Miranda are back, and this time, they’re coming to the big screen with this highly anticipated adaptation of the HBO comedy series. Golden Globe winner Sarah [...]

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Tags: Additional Articles · DVD · Movies

The Good German (2006) R 105min

September 21st, 2008 · 3 Comments

The Good German (2006)

Steven Soderbergh (Good Night, and Good Luck, A Scanner Darkly) directed this 2006 after-WWII drama starring George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Jerry Maguire based on Joseph Kanon’s novel.
The plot: July 1945. Stalin, Roosevelt and Chirchill are meeting to divide liberated Europe. Journalist Jake Geismer (George Clooney) arrives to cover the Potsdam conference. He [...]

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Tags: Black and White · DVD · Drama · Film Noir · Movies · Mystery · Thrillers/Suspense · USA

Persepolis (2007) PG-13 138min

September 18th, 2008 · No Comments

Persepolis (2007)

Persepolis is a political film describing life in Iran over the past 40 years in the form of… animated story.
The plot: Marjane Satrapi, director and writer of the movie, uses the comic and now the cartoon to tell the story of her life (with some artistic liberties). She was born in 1969 in [...]

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Tags: Animation · Black and White · DVD · Drama · France · Movies

The Counterfeiters (2007) R 1h 38min

September 16th, 2008 · No Comments

The Counterfeiters (2007)

A.k.a. Die Fälscher, this 2007 Oscar-winning drama was written and directed by Austrian director Stefan Ruzowitzky (All The Queen’s Men) based on “The Devil’s Workshop”, the book by Adolf Burger.
The plot: This movie is based on real events, when in 1932 Nazis during World War II created a largest counterfeiting operation in [...]

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Tags: DVD · Drama · Foreign · Movies · War

Hot New DVD and Blu-Ray Releases this week (Sep 16, 2008)

September 14th, 2008 · No Comments

These movies come ot on DVD and Blu-Ray the week of 16 September, 2008.

Made of Honor
(2008) PG-13
Happy-go-lucky playboy Tom (Patrick Dempsey) finally decides to propose to his best friend, Hannah (Michelle Monaghan), when she returns from a trip. But when she gets home, she announces that she’s engaged … and asks Tom to be [...]

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Tags: Additional Articles · DVD · Movies

Best Films of 2008

September 14th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Below are the movies released or planned to be released in 2008 to the movie theaters of United States. They are ordered by approximate release date. The list of 200 movies is not complete by any means, so if you find movies not on it, leave us a comment.
Pick up to 10 movies that you [...]

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Tags: Additional Articles · Movies

In The Valley of Elah (2007) R 121 min

September 11th, 2008 · No Comments

In The Valley of Elah (2007)

This crime drama is based a true story by Mark Boal and published in Playboy Magazine. Written, directed and produced by Paul Haggis (Letters from Iwo Jima Crash and Million Dollar Baby) and starring Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Josh Brolin and Jason Patric. 
The plot: When his son is reported [...]

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Tags: Crime/Gangster · Drama · Movies · Thrillers/Suspense

Foyle’s War (2002-2008) TV-PG

September 8th, 2008 · No Comments

Foyle’s War (2002-2008)

“Foyle’s War” is British TV drama series that marry history of World War II and detective mystery.
The plot: English Channel is the only thing that separates Britain from the Nazi invasion. In a small town of Hastings in the vulnerable Southern coast. While the whole Europe is at war, people of Hastings [...]

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Tags: DVD · Detective/Mistery · Drama · Foreign · Movies · Mystery · TV · UK

Hot New DVD and Blu-Ray releases this week (Sep 9, 2008)

September 6th, 2008 · No Comments

These movies come out on DVD and Blu-Ray the week of September 9, 2008.

The Forbidden Kingdom
(2008) PG-13
Kung fu legends Jackie Chan and Jet Li star in this exciting adventure about a martial arts movie fanatic named Jason (Michael Angarano) who discovers a mystical Chinese staff in a local pawnshop that transports him to war-torn [...]

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Tags: Additional Articles · Movies

More media servers support Netflix

September 4th, 2008 · 12 Comments

Recently MediaMall Technologies announced Beta 3 version of its PlayOn media server. MediaMall currently bundles its ActiveTV media server with several networking media players, including D-Link DSM 520 and DSM 720. Both ActiveTV and PlayOn servers come with default configuration containing several hundred “channels”, including CNN, Hulu, Reuters, NPR, Yahoo!, VH1, MTV, ESPN, BBC [...]

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Tags: Additional Articles · Hardware · Home Theater

“Traitor” is this year’s “Departed”

September 2nd, 2008 · No Comments

Traitor (2008) PG-13

I did not have high expectations for this movie, but I knew that given right material and direction, Don Cheadle can perform miracles on screen. His roles in “Hotel Rwanda” and “Crash” won him Best Actor nominations. This time he also showed himself as very talented producer. Guess who else produced this movie? [...]

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Tags: Drama · Movies · Thrillers/Suspense · USA