The FilmJabber Movie Blog

What makes a son like his father? Is a son doomed to make his father’s mistakes? These questions are explored in the sweeping yet personal epic from director Derek Cianfrance The Place Beyond the Pines, which reunites him with his Blue Valentine star Ryan Gosling. At times captivating, at other times longwinded, The Place Beyond the Pines is the first good drama of the year. Unfortunately, it’s also far from perfect.

Read FilmJabber’s full The Place Beyond the Pines movie review.

When is an exorcism not an exorcism? And when is an exorcism movie not at all an exorcism movie? In Beyond the Hills, writer/director Cristian Mungis (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) takes a raw and sparing look at the true story of a failed Romanian exorcism that occurred in 2005. You’ll find no green vomit or flying objects here, as Beyond the Hills is less about exorcism and more about how dangerous blind faith can be.

Read FilmJabber’s full Beyond the Hills movie review.

Uh-oh, it’s a love triangle! Or is it a love square? Either way, Stephenie Meyer’s post-Twilight novel is now a major motion picture, and it is pretty much exactly what you’d expect it to be. The Host presents an intriguing premise and better overall production values than Meyer’s much maligned blockbuster franchise, but suffers from the same aimless and anticlimactic storytelling – and pathetically dopey romances.

Read our full The Host movie review.

You know you’re in trouble when the best line of dialogue in an entire movie is a Jay Z quote. Then again, I don’t know if I was in trouble. The new G.I. Joe: Retaliation is leaps and bounds better than its predecessor, with fast-paced action sequences and the charisma of The Rock pulsing through every scene, but it’s also absurd, absurdly absurd and fucking ridiculously absurd. Whether that’s good or bad… I just don’t know.

Read our full G.I. Joe: Retaliation movie review.

With Snow White And The Huntsmen and the abysmal Mirror Mirror, the past year has seen its fair share of Snow White projects.  By a mile the most unique offering to the category is Blancanieves, Spain’s official entry into this year’s Academy Awards.

Read FilmJabber’s full Blancanieves movie review.

I had the opportunity to sit down with writer/director Derek Cianfrance, who has a new film coming out this Friday called The Place Beyond the Pines, which stars his Blue Valentine star Ryan Gosling as well as Bradley Cooper, Eva Mendes and Ray Liotta. While I only had a few minutes with him, I asked him about his motivations to make the film, what it’s like to work with Ryan Gosling and how both men are criminal masterminds at heart.

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Denzel Washington got the glory, Mary Elizabeth Winstead deserved it. Flight won the box office ($161 million worldwide), while Smashed didn’t even register ($376 thousand… total). And yet Smashed, another 2012 movie about alcoholism, is a much more earnest and engaging drama than Flight ever was.

Read FilmJabber’s full Smashed movie review.

Note to guys: if you are literally insane, your hot and neglected wife will cheat on you with a doctor. Such is the case in A Royal Affair, a romantic and engaging drama that deservedly earned an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Picture.

Read the full A Royal Affair movie review.

What is the worst thing you’ve ever experienced? After ten adaptations, sequels and remakes, the house at 112 Ocean Avenue gets another theatrical treatment, this time in the form of a documentary that focuses on Daniel Lutz, the stepson of George Lutz and one of the individuals who experienced firsthand what happened in Amityville. It’s My Amityville Horror, and it makes the worst thing you’ve ever experienced look like a walk in the park.

Read FilmJabber’s full My Amityville Horror movie review.

The Walt Disney Company presents a new family friendly film starring two of its very own princesses – Selena Gomez and Vanessa Hudgens – all but assuring a new franchise that will eventually be spun into an ABC Family sitcom. It’s Spring Breakers, an innocent film about innocent Amish girls who find themselves stranded in Florida during Spring Break.

Read FilmJabber’s full Spring Breakers movie review.

Christopher Nolan’s The Prestige has gotten a modern makeover. Hugh Jackman has been replaced by Steve Carell, and Christian Bale by Jim Carrey. Turn-of-the-century England has been transformed into 21st century Las Vegas, and the drama has been replaced with slapstick comedy. It’s The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and while the movie isn’t incredible, it manages to pull a few laughs out of the hat.

Read FilmJabber’s full The Incredible Burt Wonderstone movie review.

Kick-Ass and Hit Girl are back! Universal Pictures has released several new stills, a movie poster and, most importantly, a red band movie trailer featuring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz and none other than Jim Carrey as absurd crime fighters doing very absurd things.

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