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Maxim's Movie Reviews and Opinions

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Fun-to-read independent reviews of movies in theatres, on TV and DVD. FREE subscribtion to latest reviews via email, website and your favorite feed reader such as Google Reader.

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• The Kingdom (2007) R 110min

  Posted on Monday October 8th, 2007 at 01:24 in a, action, adam, al qaeda, and, animated, arabia, ashraf, Background, barhom, barhom  he, bateman

  A clone of "Clear and Present Danger" set in Saudi Arabia in present days. Not very deep, but the action and suspense of the second half of the film is quite good. The film makes the point is there's ...

• The Proposition (2005) R 104min

  Posted on Sunday October 7th, 2007 at 01:55 in a, aboriginal, and, apocalypse, arthur, australia,  after, bloody, bodies, burns, captain, charlie

  Not a perfect, but definitely memorable film. Photography of Australian outback with it's desolate beauty and gorgeous sunsets was superb. I could almost feel blood and dust in my mouth. I wish I'd se...

• The Fall Of Fujimori (2005-2006) NR 83min

  Posted on Friday October 5th, 2007 at 14:10 in 1992, a, biographical, bribery, campaign, congress, corruption, coup, decreased, democracy, dictator, dissolved

  Anyone can use archive footage and narate it with dramatic voice and music, but this documentary feels like a college-grad's essay. Worth watching but don't expect much....

• The Road to Guantanamo (2006) R 95min

  Posted on Wednesday October 3rd, 2007 at 12:54 in 9 11, a, abuse, afghanistan, and, award i, base, bay, below guantanamo, blend, constant, created

  This movie was a big hit in Europe. I was on vacation in Paris at the time it came out in theatres, and every Parisian movie theatre that I passed by was showing it. I have not seen this movie advert...

• The Italian (2005)

  Posted on Thursday September 27th, 2007 at 01:49 in 5 start, a, abandoned, acts, adoption, and, basically, child actor, conscience, drama, DVD, employed  the

  An Italian family wants to adopt a child from a Russian orphanage, and six-year-old Vanya (Kolya Spiridonov) is their pick. Which is why kids at the orphanage immediately gave him name “Italiane...

• Downfall (2004)

  Posted on Tuesday September 25th, 2007 at 03:12 in 12 15, a, alexandra, and, army hitler,  chaos, berlin, biographical, brainwashed, bruno, captivating, caring

  “Der Untergang” is a very realistic Oscar-nominated drama directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel about last days of Hitler told by his stenographer Traudl Junge (Alexandra Maria Lara). The deta...

• Gridirion Gang (2006) PG-13 120min

  Posted on Monday September 17th, 2007 at 02:04 in a, action, and, camp, chronicling, creation, decides, detention, documentary, emmy award, excerpts, facility

  Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays a juvenile detention camp officer decides that in order to rehabilitate the inmates and turn them from violent gang members into team players he can organ...

• Shoot ‘Em Up (2007) 86min R

  Posted on Sunday September 16th, 2007 at 01:41 in a, action, and, belucci, chased, cliché paul, clive, crime gangster, delivered, Democratic, dq, enough

  Saw it just 30 minutes ago. The plot: Mr. Smith (Clive Owen) is sitting at the bus stop, minding his business and chewing on his carrot (well, everybody has a habit, and this guy loves carrots, which ...

• Flushed Away (2006)

  Posted on Tuesday September 11th, 2007 at 12:36 in a, and, animated, animation, asks, characters, Company, DVD, funniest, hugh, humor aardman, intruded

  “Flushed Away” did not make me laugh, just a forced smile here and there. It’s not entirely bad, but not exciting either. I watched this 3D animated feature on DVD, so I don’...

• 3:10 to Yuma (2007)

  Posted on Monday September 10th, 2007 at 04:59 in a, adds, and, bale, ben, characters, charisma, christian, civil, connected, crowe, dan

  \nIt’s nice to see the revival, or a come back, of the Western genre. I have seen the 1957 version, and not 50 years later this remake brought Elmore Leonard’s short story back to the scre...

• The Last King Of Scotland (2006)

  Posted on Wednesday September 5th, 2007 at 03:08 in a, affair, amin, amin excellent, and, as they, biographical, called, decorated, drama, dramatic, DVD

  *** May contain spoilers *** The plot: Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy), Scott, graduated from medical school and randomly picked Uganda to practice his skills. He arrived in the poor, but beautiful...

• After the Sunset (2004)

  Posted on Monday September 3rd, 2007 at 02:07 in a, agent, and, brosnan, charisma, couple, fbi, harrelson, hayek, her any, island, lloyd

  I‘ve seen this movie in theatre couple of years ago, and now it was again on TNT in HD. I remember from the first time I saw it that there was a lot of confusion because at the same exact time ...

• Stardust (2007)

  Posted on Sunday September 2nd, 2007 at 16:24 in a, accompanied, Acting, adult, Adventure, and, bride, captain, claire, cold hearted, costumes, danes

  Went to see it late last night with friends. I did not know what the movie is about. I heard from completely forgettable commercials that the movie has Michelle Pfeiffer and De Niro in it, so I thoug...

• War (2007)

  Posted on Friday August 31st, 2007 at 09:52 in a, action, and, asian, assassin, bar, called, car motorcycle, chases, classic, crank, crawford

  The plot: Jack Crawford (Jason Statham) is an FBI agent from Asian crime division seeking revenge for the murder of his partner (John Lone) and his family. Although his 3 year-long quest for vengeance...

• Pan’s Labyrinth (2006)

  Posted on Thursday August 30th, 2007 at 00:31 in a, a servant, amazingly, an, and, baby, baquero, capitán, creates, DVD, fantasy, foreign

  Mexican director Guillermo Del Torro, who is familiar to American audience for directing Hellboy and Blade II, has written and directed “El laberinto del fauno”, which in 2007 has been no...

• Full Lunar Eclipse (August 28, 2007)

  Posted on Tuesday August 28th, 2007 at 06:14 in 300mm, a, and, bad, began, button overall, eclipse, eclipse it, eventually, exposure, image stabilizing, increase

  Yours truly stayed up all night to watch and make pictures of the Lunar eclipse. It was gorgeous! I took my 15×60 binoculars, Canon 20D camera with tripod and 300mm zoom image-stabilizing lens, ...

• The Time Machine (2002)

  Posted on Saturday August 25th, 2007 at 01:07 in a, Acting, adaptation, Adventure, and, badly, costumes, departed, descent, designed, digital, DVD

  This adaptation of H.G. Wells’s classic is a big departure from the novel. Here an inventor living in New York is trying to go back in time using his invention to save the life of his girlfrien...

• The Lost City (2005)

  Posted on Friday August 24th, 2007 at 23:31 in 1917, a, and, andy, aristocratic, batista leaves, bolshevik, country, drama, dustin, DVD, epics historical

  *** This review may contain spoilers *** A film by Andy Garcia starring himself, Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray and Elizabeth Peña - quite a constellation of stars. It begins in 1958 in one of pre...

• Black Dog (1998)

  Posted on Thursday August 23rd, 2007 at 02:14 in a, action, car crews, cargo jack, catchy, cautious  but, crews, damn, dancer, directed, dirty, driver

  I must have seen this movie a 100 times already, but I can watch it more. It’s one of my favorite movies along with Rush Hour (1), The Police Academy (1) and Lethal Weapon (1). And probably th...

• The Sentinel (2006)

  Posted on Tuesday August 21st, 2007 at 02:09 in a, agent, agent  the, agents, all do, and, appears, basinger, Calling, comedic, conduct, DVD

  Michael Douglas is playing a Secret Service agent who was credited with saving president Raegan’s life, and the beautiful Kim Basinger is playing president’s wife. Michael Douglas (don...

• Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (2005)

  Posted on Sunday August 19th, 2007 at 14:13 in a, actor comedian, al jazeera, albert, american, an, and, arab, brooks, comedian, dalton, delivered

  A struggling actor/comedian Albert Brooks, played by a comedian Albert Brooks (The Simpsons Movie, The in-laws, Doctor Dolittle, Taxi Driver, Real Life, Lost in America etc.), receives a letter from t...

• Silent Hill (2006)

  Posted on Sunday August 19th, 2007 at 02:48 in 2, a, abandoned, adaptation, alessa, and, back story of, cult, cybil, details, drama, dreams

  Based on video game, which I haven’t played. Since I’ve seen other game-to-movie adaptation I didn’t expect much. “Doom”, for example, was a really bad movie. It̵...

• Monster House (2006)

  Posted on Friday August 17th, 2007 at 00:29 in a, and, animation, babysitter, Candy, capture, cast, cops  i, DVD, elizabeth, express, Feature

  Starts with music typical for horror movies and the image of the fall. Liefs all turn brown and red. Probably middle of October, which implies that Halloween is soon. Oh, yeah - that’s what kid...

• The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy (2005)

  Posted on Thursday August 16th, 2007 at 01:45 in a, adams, Adventure, and, and tribute, autograph  marvin,  by, character, demolition, died, doors, douglas

  I love the Douglas Adams’s book (the 5-part trilogy). It was not easy to read, but it was hilarious. The twisted logic, the irony and the wild imagination in every story of the book - so funny...

• Brokeback Mountain (2005)

  Posted on Wednesday August 15th, 2007 at 23:03 in a, and,  jack, banned, brokeback, change, cowboy, cowboys, del, drama, DVD, ennis

  It’s been two years this the “Gay cowboys” movie came out in theatres, and the subject has been bread and butter of movie critics, stand-up comedians and late night TV show hosts. A...

• Delicatessen (1991)

  Posted on Monday August 13th, 2007 at 12:34 in a, amelie, and, basement, belongs, butcher, cello, clown, cult films, dark, daughter, delicacies

   This movie is directed by Jean-Pierre Jeonet, same guy who directed “Le Fabuleux destin d’Amelie Poulain” (aka “Amelie” in US release), which was so big in Europe and w...

• Rush Hour 3 (2007)

  Posted on Sunday August 12th, 2007 at 02:59 in a, action, and, beat, began, carter, chan, chris, complement, completely, customs, detective

  Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are back for the third installment of the cop buddy comedy (hasn’t this summer been good for all sorts of threequels?) and they are after Chinese triads this time -...

• Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)

  Posted on Friday August 10th, 2007 at 17:29 in 1945, a, action, actors, aerial, and, anti tank, bomber, bombing speaking, camera man, dig, dirt on

  Clint Eastwood directed this Oscar-winning war movie, which in many respects is a sequel to “The Flags Of Our Fathers”, or to be more precise, the look at the same events from the other s...

• Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple (1984-2007)

  Posted on Wednesday August 8th, 2007 at 09:25 in a, an, by joan, detective the, detective mistery, DVD, english, hickson, is a, jane, lady, lady miss

   I was a big fan of these BBC series when they were broadcast on TV in the 80s. When I was a kid I was hungry for all sorts of detective stories, especially of Agatha Christie’s books. I’...

• Bridge To Terabithia (2007)

  Posted on Wednesday July 25th, 2007 at 01:31 in a, abandoned, Acting, an, and, artist, attend, award, bring, broke, brought, bullies

  Warning: this is Disney. This is a good sweet movie, but it’s a fairy tale for kids. The plot: a 10-year old boy Jess from a poor family wants to be the fastest runner in his class, but he is o...