Lights Camera Jackson

Movie Reviews, Entertainment News and Views from Lights Camera Jackson

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‘Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return’ Review

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“The Wizard of Oz” is considered to be one of the greatest films of all-time – one that simply can’t be touched. However, that’s exactly what’s been done over the past 75 years, with musical spinoffs (such as “The Wiz”), prequels (last year’s Disney blockbuster “Oz: The Great and Powerful” and Broadway sensation “Wicked”), and […]
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‘The Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films 2014’ Review

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I’ve been going to screenings of The Oscar Nominated Animated Short Films for the past five years and I’ve had the pleasure of watching some truly memorable shorts, including “Wallace & Gromit in A Matter of Loaf and Death”, “Logorama” (if you’ve never seen it look it up on YouTube), and great entries from Disney, […]
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‘Ride Along’ Review

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“Ride Along” is the first box office smash of 2014 thanks to the appeal of its two stars: rapper turned actor Ice Cube and comedian Kevin Hart. The two play-off each other nicely in this solid, but not hysterical buddy-cop action comedy. The all-too-simple premise features Cube as veteran Atlanta PD detective James Payton. His […]
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‘Her’ Review

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Director Spike Jonze is known for his visually vivid films with quirky stories, including “Being John Malkovich”, “Adaptation”, and the dark, big screen version of the children’s book “Where the Wild Things Are”. In his latest, the futuristic romantic drama “Her”, Joaquin Phoenix stars as Theodore, a successful greeting cards writer who’s just getting over a divorce. […]
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‘Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom’ Review

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Four years ago Morgan Freeman received a Best Actor Oscar nomination for playing legendary South African activist Nelson Mandela in the rugby-based film, “Invictus”. Now, Idris Elba takes-on the task of playing the iconic figure in “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”, which is based on Mandela’s autobiography. This is a full-on life story. The movie […]
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‘All Is Lost’ Review

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The pitch meeting for “All Is Lost” must’ve gone something like this: “Robert Redford…in a boat for 90 minutes…lost at sea…and he may have a chance to win his first acting Oscar.” And obviously it worked. This film is a floating one-man show. Redford is the only performer seen on screen for the entire movie, playing the only […]
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‘Free Birds’ Review

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In the animated comedy, “Free Birds”, a pair of turkeys named Reggie and Jake (voiced by Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson) travel back in time to the first Thanksgiving in 1621 so they can get their kind off the menu. When I first heard this concept, I thought it was unique, clever and had a […]
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‘Rush’ Review

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The tagline for “Rush” is “Everyone’s Driven by Something”. I was driven to see Ron Howard’s latest because of the very promising trailer (even though it gives away too much). “Rush” has a good cast, a well-respected director and an Oscar nominated screenwriter – Peter Morgan. And I was driven by something during the film: […]
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‘The Spectacular Now’ Review

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“The Spectacular Now” stars Miles Teller as Sutter, an 18-year-old high school senior whose philosophy is to live in the moment/live in the “Now”. While I can relate to that, Sutter isn’t taking his “Now” too seriously. He works at a clothing store, but doesn’t care much about academics or his future. He likes to […]
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‘Planes’ Review

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“Planes” is a Disney animated film. However it’s not a Pixar film or from Walt Disney Animation Studios (which recently made “Bolt”, “Tangled” and “Wreck-It Ralph”). Instead, “Planes” was created by DisneyToon Studios, who usually make Direct-to-DVD films. And that’s exactly what this film was supposed to be. That is, until late last year, when […]
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