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TOM MEEK

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Review: Tai Chi Zero

Mashup, hodgepodge, or remix — call it what you will, this kung fu odyssey from former action star Stephen Fung offers intermittent pleasures and freaky twists.

By: TOM MEEK | October 24, 2012

Review: Escape Fire: The Fight to Rescue American Healthcare

Matthew Heineman and Susan Frömke's documentary tackles a familiar topic but doesn't weigh in on the Obamacare issue so contentious in the upcoming election.

By: TOM MEEK | October 02, 2012

Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days

Half-assed
Maybe the Kid is going through a rough adolescent patch — but he was no great shakes to begin with.

By: TOM MEEK | August 07, 2012

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

The franchise matures
The franchise that began as a tame kiddie pleaser about four pampered zoo animals lost in the wild has matured and sharpened its teeth, perhaps thanks to Noah Baumbach ( The Squid and the Whale ) collaborating on the script.

By: TOM MEEK | June 07, 2012

Review: God Bless America

Bobcat Goldthwait tackles vapid celebrity culture
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture ( i.e. , Paris Hilton, the Kardashians, and American Idol ) and the indignity of being an office drone.

By: TOM MEEK | May 17, 2012

Review: The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Dry romp on the high seas
Peter Lord, animator behind claymation staples Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run , directs this very British, very dry romp on the high seas during the time when Britannia did indeed rule the waves.

By: TOM MEEK | April 24, 2012

Review: God Bless America

Bobcat Goldthwait's best work yet
The latest dark comedy from Bobcat Goldthwait tackles both vapid celebrity culture (i.e., Paris Hilton, the Kardashians and American Idol) and the indignity of being an office drone.

By: TOM MEEK | April 18, 2012

Review: Undefeated

Reflections on race and opportunity
Dan Lindsay and T. J. Martin's Oscar-winning documentary about an underequipped high-school football team competing against big-time programs across Tennessee offers a potent contemplation on race and opportunity.

By: TOM MEEK | March 15, 2012

Review: Dr. Seuss' The Lorax

3D animated spectacular
Regrettably, this team loses a lot of Seuss's quirkiness, though not the message about corporate greed and slash-and-burn imperialism.

By: TOM MEEK | March 01, 2012

Review: Ghost Rider 3D: Spirit of Vengeance

Movie hell
The filmmakers deliver some gorgeous landscape shots of Asia Minor and leverage the 3D perspective to good effect, but the time between such moments of relief can seem like an eternity of movie hell.

By: Tom Meek | February 21, 2012

Review: Underworld: Awakening

Brief but bloody
The Underworld series got long in the tooth early, but here, in the fourth installment (directed by Swede Måns Mårlind), it grows new fangs.

By: TOM MEEK | January 24, 2012

Review: Joyful Noise

Rafter-rocking gospel singing
There's not much joy but there's plenty of noise of the rafter-rocking gospel singing variety in Tony Graff's musical dramedy.

By: TOM MEEK | January 10, 2012

Review: In the Land of Blood and Honey

Angelina Jolie's feature directorial debut
Jolie has loosely reworked the story of Romeo and Juliet in an infamous setting familiar from CNN but here seen from the inside.

By: TOM MEEK | January 05, 2012

Review: Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

Helium-infused banter
For 50 years, Alvin and the Chipmunks have been driving parents nuts with their helium-infused banter and shrill bastardizations of pop music.

By: TOM MEEK | December 13, 2011

Review: Trespass

Home invasion
If Rod Lurie's errant remake of Straw Dogs didn't tickle your morbid fear of home invasion, then perhaps the latest from Joel Schumacher ( Falling Down ) might do the job.

By: TOM MEEK | October 13, 2011

Review: Shark Night 3D

Sharks on a Plane may have been a better idea
David R. Ellis's dimensionally enhanced thriller doesn't knock off Jaws so much as it reconfigures Deliverance , with a slight nod to Friday the 13th .

By: TOM MEEK | September 06, 2011

Review: Chasing Madoff

Jeff Prosserman's documentary
Few will dispute the evil avarice behind the $50 billion Ponzi scheme Bernie Madoff masterminded.

By: TOM MEEK | August 23, 2011

Review: Glee: The 3D Concert Movie

First-rate fluff
The little TV series with the can-do pipes rolls out a concert tour that's essentially a love-in with its fan base.

By: TOM MEEK | August 16, 2011

Review: La Rafle

The psyche of Hitler
In La Rafle , director Rose Bosch boldly tackles the psyche of Hitler, showing the Führer enjoying the high life with Eva Braun as he instructs his minions to pressure France to hand over its Jews so he can sate his genocidal bloodlust before the Allies fully catch on to his heinous mission.

By: TOM MEEK | July 19, 2011

Review: Viva Riva!

A gritty get-down
One thing about Djo Tunda Wa Munga's plucky Third World noir: it never slows down.

By: TOM MEEK | July 05, 2011

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