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1. BROOKLYN’S FINEST:
The title is a bit of a tongue-in-cheek poke in the eye as this tale of cops both good and bad on the NYPD offers up a lot of grit and a lot of dirt. Directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) it’s consistent in his style of having things not end terribly well for many of its characters. Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, and Ethan Hawke are among the players – cops with trouble – family, financial, and professional. Rated 14A.
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2. GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO:
This is the Swedish original, with English subtitles, a story of intrigue, double-cross, double-dealing, and mystery. A discredited journalist is hired by a wealthy industrialist to help solve a long-in-the-past family disappearance. Working with a tattooed-and-body-pierced young female computer hacker, the layers of dirty-dealings become increasingly more pronounced. Presently being remade with an American cast, purists will say that nothing will measure up to the stunning realities of the original. Rated 18A.
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3. WHEN YOU’RE STRANGE:
Johnny Depp narrates this semi-documentary look at Jim Morrison and the Doors, the highly unusual ‘60s rock group whose impact on pop music was dramatically understated. Depp is a musician himself and is the perfect narrator for an interesting pop music journey. Rated PG.
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4. THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO:
The honest truth is that I found this film too intense in some of its more graphic sex scenes, where I literally turned away from the picture … but in the context of the work that this is, it’s difficult not to recommend it … but be warned – it’s not for the squeamish, nor is it for the prudish … I’m not much of the former, but some of the latter.
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THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY (1978)
This holds up as one of the best pop music bios ever made as Gary Busey, in what I think is the only really appealing piece of work he has ever done, teams up with Don Stroud, and Charles Martin Smith as The Crickets. They play their own instruments here, and spin out a great story.
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THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE
Far better than the second in the series, this third installment has the vampires and the werewolves working together in an uneasy truce as very bad vampires threaten Bella
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THE LAST AIRBENDER
M. Night Shymalin has built a stunning world of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water … but you really have to work to get this G-rated story.
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