The Playlist

Happy Cinco De Mayo: Here Are 5 Films To Raise A Glass To

By Diana Drumm
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May 5, 2013 12:42 PM
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8 Comments

Features

Bring out the Cuervo, it’s Cinco de Mayo! Contrary to popular belief, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day and, although Mexican public schools are closed for the day (isn’t that the real definition of a holiday?), it is celebrated more, ahem, seriously, in the United States than Mexico. So you know, the Mexicans beat the French at the Battle of Puebla and Mexican ex-pats living in Civil War-era California turned it into a holiday. Fun fact, the Battle of Puebla also marks the last time a European force invaded anywhere in the Americas (we’re talking proper military invasions – not U-boats off of Maine’s seacoast during WW2 or the 1960’s British Invasion).

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Review: 'Side Effects' A Satisfying, Twisty Psychodramatic Thriller From Steven Soderbergh

By Drew Taylor
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February 1, 2013 9:00 AM
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4 Comments

Reviews

"Side Effects," a twisty-turny psychodrama and thriller, will occupy a special place in the Steven Soderbergh oeuvre. Since his highly influential debut "sex, lies, and videotape" single-handedly launched the American independent film revival, his body of work has included 26 films that have covered an absurd amount of topical ground, nevermind all the genres he's dipped into. If all goes according to plan, "Side Effects," will be the last Steven Soderbergh movie ever released theatrically. In some ways this puts an almost unfair amount of pressure on the complex little thriller, especially considering that the film may be better suited for premium cable than his upcoming HBO Liberace biopic "Behind the Candelabra." The picture's conspiratorial late-night tone and fleshy after hours luridness was practically built for watching at night, when our parents think we've gone off to bed (think '80s films directed by folks like Adrian Lyne). Like much of his recent output, "Side Effects" is a somewhat slight genre exercise, but given that it's Soderbergh, it's stylistically unparalleled, totally gripping and occasionally devastating in its emotional presentation thanks to its two leads Rooney Mara and Jude Law.

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Watch: Take Another Dose With The New Trailer For Steven Soderbergh's 'Side Effects'

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 31, 2013 2:47 PM
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1 Comment

News

So, we may have had four weeks of movies already in the new year, but frankly, 2013 doesn't start for us cinematically until next week, when Steven Soderbergh's "Side Effects" arrives. It seems to be the first movie of the year that wasn't dumped or forgotten about by the studios, and made with some real intent and purpose. And now another whole new look at the picture has arrived.

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Watch: 'Side Effects' Goes Over The Counter With 3 More Clips

By Ken Guidry
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January 31, 2013 10:25 AM
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0 Comments

News

Steven Soderbergh’s penultimate film “Side Effects” is, for many people, the first film of 2013 that’s worth seeing. Starring Jude Law, Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta-Jones, the psychological thriller already unveiled a couple of clips, and now three more have arrived for people to take a gander at before the movie comes out a week from now.

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A Good Day To Sequel Hard: First Trailer For 'Red 2' Pits Bruce Willis Against Helen Mirren

By Kevin Jagernauth
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January 17, 2013 8:52 PM
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5 Comments

News

Okay, we get why there's a sequel to "Red" -- it made just under $200 million worldwide. But seriously, do you remember anything about that movie? Have you been itching for a sequel? In what might be the most unnecessary sequel of 2013 (and yes, that includes "300: Rise Of An Empire"), "Red 2" is coming.

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Review: 'Broken City' Is A Political Corruption Thriller That Never Quite Comes Together

By Drew Taylor
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January 16, 2013 5:38 PM
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0 Comments

Reviews

A lot of what's broken about "Broken City" -- the new political thriller by Allen Hughes, who with his brother Albert directed the highly influential inner-city dramas "Menace II Society" and "Dead Presidents" before veering off into more comic book-y territory with historical thriller "From Hell" and post-apocalyptic yarn "Book of Eli" -- is encapsulated by its opening sequence. Mark Wahlberg, as a gruff New York City cop (is there any other kind?), stands over a bullet-riddled body, his gun still smoldering, while the soundtrack (by "The Social Network" co-mastermind Atticus Ross) churns with a kind of industrial grind. Hughes seems to be attempting to reconcile the two halves of his career, in this scene and in the rest of the movie, wrangling his pointed look at inner city life with flashier Hollywood slickness and the result is utterly boring mush, anonymous and ambitionless.

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Watch: Mark Wahlberg Investigates The 'Broken City' In 3 New Clips

By Cain Rodriguez
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January 10, 2013 12:09 PM
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0 Comments

News

Like Jason Statham, Mark Wahlberg reliably brings audiences out to the theaters, which is how we get something like last year’s mid-budgeted action thriller “Contraband” or the upcoming Allen Hughes-helmed “Broken City.” While the January release date suggests yet another generic Wahlberg actioner, “Broken City” boasts Russell Crowe in a co-starring role, and three new clips have hit the web showcasing the actor sliming it up.

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New Images From Steven Soderbergh's 'Side Effects,' Scott Z. Burns Calls Film "His Attempt At Modern Noir"

By Charlie Schmidlin
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January 10, 2013 11:09 AM
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0 Comments

News

“Gangster Squad” may have earned the title of First Major DisappointmentOof 2013, but new movies from both Park Chan-Wook and Steven Soderbergh around the corner, are enough to keep morale high. Park is of course taking a gamble with his first English-language film “Stoker,” but with the Rooney Mara/Channing Tatum thriller “Side Effects,” Soderbergh has his retirement in mind, looking to exit on a high note as two new images and a few choice quotes appear to suggest.

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Watch: New Trailer & Pics From 'Broken City' Starring Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe & Catherine Zeta-Jones

By Kevin Jagernauth
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December 17, 2012 9:04 AM
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0 Comments

News

It's going to be a big 2013 for Mark Wahlberg, with at least three movies on the way, and possibly four (depending on where Peter Berg's "Lone Survivor" lands). But before he pumps iron in Michael Bay's "Pain & Gain," or gets set up by the mob with Denzel Washington in "2 Guns," Wahlberg will starting off the year in the grimy "Broken City."

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Review: 'Lay The Favorite' A Comedy That's An Empty Bet

By John Lichman
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December 5, 2012 4:19 PM
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0 Comments

Reviews

“You can't blame Stephen Frears for trying” seems to be the mantra for "Lay the Favorite," a mild romp through the T&A world of Las Vegas, gambling and literary adaptation. After all, "High Fidelity" is an iconic film to obsessive nerds (Need proof? See: every listicle on the Internet) and Frears is no slouch to crafting strong and/or sexy female characters (Tamara Drew, Cherí, The Queen). But what happens when he tries to mash them up and form the unholy love child of a stat geek and a bubbly idiot savant who used to be a stripper?

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