Maxim’s Movie Reviews and Opinions Blog

The International

The plot: An Interpol agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) and Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) are trying to bring to justice a bank that had become an institution of choice for international organized crime and involved in international arms trade. They are unable to get any potential witnesses to talk [...]

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Taken (2008)

This action thriller is directed by Pierre Morel, who is mostly known for his work as cinematographer (War (2007), Love and other disasters (2006), The Transporter (2002)). Of course, a French director could not make an action movie without the best French action director Luc Besson (directed the Transporter movies, The Professional (1994) [...]

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Revolutionary Road (2008)

“Revolutionary Road” is a drama set in 1950s based on Robert Yates’s novel and directed by Sam Mendes (Jarhead, Road to Perdition, American Beauty) starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Kathy Bates.
The plot: A young couple living in mid-1950s in a Connecticut suburb is going through mid-life crisis while trying to raise [...]

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Transsiberian (2008)

The plot: An American couple, Roy (Woody Harrelson) and Jessie (Emily Mortimer) take a 7-day train ride from China, where they completed  a church humanitarian mission, to Moscow on Trans-Siberian railroad. On the train they meet another young couple, a Spaniard Carlos (Eduardo Noriega) and his girlfriend Abby (Kate Mara). Carlos may be running [...]

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RocknRolla (2008)

This is the first installment of director Guy Ritchie’s trilogy, also written by him.
The plot: When Russian mobster sets up a real-estate scam in London, all the underworld characters appear to get their share of the multi-million euro deal up for grabs. Some of those characters are small-time crooks like One-Two (Gerard [...]

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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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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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Death Race (2008)

The Death Race is an action movie based on 1975 film Death Race 2000 and written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. Both movies were produced by Roger Corman. The original movie was starring David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone. The new movie has Jason Statham in the main role.
The plot: In the [...]

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Wanted (2008)

Russian director Timur Bekmambetov is already known to American audience by his films Night Watch: Nochnoy Dozor and Day Watch: Dnevnoy Dozor and the next part, Twilight Watch: Sumerechniy Dozor based on Sergei Lukyanenko’s bestselling book. That movie went out in limited release. Those who are old enough remember two dramatic movies he made about Soviet [...]

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Another wonderful movie based on the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri directed and produced by Mira Nair (Monsoon Wedding (2001), Vanity Fair (2004)) starring Irfan Khan and Kal Penn.
The plot: In the late 60s-early 70s Ashoke Ganguli (Irfan Khan) was traveling on the train to his grandfather in Calcutta and reading a book by Nicholai [...]

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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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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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Director: Sean Penn
Writer: Sean Penn (screenplay), Jon Krakauer (book)
Producers: David Blocker, Frank Hildebrand, John J. Kelly, Art Linson, Sean Penn, William Pohlad
Original Music: Michael Brook, Kaki King, Kaki King
Cinematography: Eric Gautier
Art Direction: John Richardson, Domenic Silvestri
Paramount Vantage | River Road Films | Art Linson Productions | River Road Entertainment
The plot: a young man Christopher [...]

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Wow! What a movie! This is Tim Burton at his best. I could not think of a better director to make this screen adaptation of the Broadway musical.
The plot: After had been convicted for a crime he was innocent of and spending 15 years in exile doing hard labour before he escaped, Benjamin Barker [...]

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Christopher Hampton based his screenplay on the novel by Ian McEwan, and Joe Wright directed.
Joe Wright is a very talented director. In 2007 Joe became youngest director presenting at Venice Film Festival. At 34 years old he was already famous as director of Pride & Prejudice (2005), in which he directed Keira Knightley in [...]

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A charming, clever and though-provoking movie that beaten Star Wars at the 1977 Oscars for best film. Not very exciting or gripping, even boring at times, but enjoyable romantic comedy.

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