Maxim’s Movie Reviews and Opinions Blog

The Hangover (2009)

Director Todd Phillips continues along the lines of his previous comedies, “The Old School” (2003) and “Road Trip” (2000).
The plot: The movie opens with one of the groom’s friends calling the bride and telling her the Doug is not going to make it. Because they lost him. In Las Vegas. [...]

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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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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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Defiance (2008)

This true-story WWII drama is directed by Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond, Glory) and stars Daniel Craig, Liev Schriber, Jamie Bell and Alexa Davalos. It is based on the book by Nechama Tec called “Defiance: The Bielski Partisans”.
The plot: In the autumn of 1941 when Hitler’s armies invaded Soviet Union in Blitzkrieg push toward Moscow, three Jewish brothers [...]

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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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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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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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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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The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2006)

This award-winning picture was directed by Tommy Lee Jones, his first work as director, and based on the book by Guillermo Arriaga, an Oscar-nominated author and play-writer. Arriaga also wrote script for Universal/Focus feature film Amores Perros (2000) starring Benicio Del Torro, Naomi Watts and Sean Penn, 21 Grams (2004) and [...]

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Paris, je t’aime (2006) R 120min

18 directors and writers combine their short stories into a collage declaring their love for Paris, a beautiful capital known as ”the city of love”. It stars many famous and wonderful French and American actors, including, but not limited to Steve Buscemi, Willem Dafoe, Juliette Binoche, Nick Nolte, Elijah Wood, Natalie [...]

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Love In Time Of Cholera (2007) R 1h 40min

This is an Golden Globe-nominated (2007) romantic drama directed by Mike Newell based on the novel by Gabriel García Márquez and starring Javier Bardem, Giovanna Mezzogiorno and John Leguizamo.
The plot: 19th century Colombia. An old man falls from a tree and before he dies he professes eternal love to his wife Fermina [...]

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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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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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The plot: Ben Finn Finnegan (Mathew McConaughey) and his wife Tess (Kate Hudson) were passionate about each other and treasure hunting, but now they are fed up with each other and decide to get divorced. Just as Tess has begun to rebuild her life, working aboard a mega-yacht owned by billionaire Nigel Honeycutt (Donald [...]

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Away From Her (2006)

This movie is a debut as a director for young Sarah Polley, based on short story “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” by Alice Munro.
The plot: A man (Gordon Pinsent) who’s wife Fiona (Julie Christie/Stacey LaBerge) loses her memory due to Alzheimer’s, has to commit her to institution. He has to [...]

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