Directed by newcomer Andy Muschietti and produced by veteran Guillermo del Toro, the new horror movie “Mama” reveals how scary motherhood can be.
One woman who surprisingly finds herself in a parental role is Annabel (Oscar nominee Jessica Chastain), a black-haired, raccoon-eyed rock ’n’ roller who once let out a happy “whoop” upon discovering she wasn’t pregnant.
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“Zero Dark Thirty” is extraordinary not because it’s about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, but because Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow uses the subject to examine related, and equally important, topics.
In another filmmaker’s hands, the movie would likely have been something to tolerate during awards season before being forgotten. Yet Bigelow has created the best film of 2012.
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When Jeff Nichols began writing “Take Shelter,” his prize-winning selection at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the young, recently married director was enjoying a banner year. It was 2008, just weeks after his movie debut “Shotgun Stories” opened to critical acclaim, and he was content with his career and his family.But something was amiss.
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During an era when so many new directors come from the worlds of advertising and music video, catering to increasingly shorter attention spans and relying on gaudy visuals to engage audiences for seconds at a time, Oscar nominee John Madden (“Shakespeare in Love,” not “Monday Night Football”) is a throwback to a time when dramas drew their strength from the spoken word.
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While too conventional and unexceptional to wow or deeply move us, the Nazi-hunter drama “The Debt” qualifies as a worthy thriller.
Working with a solid story and stellar actors, director John Madden delivers satisfying action and tension. Psychological texture, albeit in smaller doses, keeps the picture from succumbing to genre cliches and provides enough substance and seriousness to qualify it as a film right for fall.
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