Lights Camera Jackson

Movie Reviews, Entertainment News and Views from Lights Camera Jackson

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‘The Predator’ Review

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These days I rarely go into a big-budget, franchise film knowing next to nothing about what I’m about to see. However, I was able to avoid all the trailers and promotion for “The Predator” and went into this reboot cold. And I’ve never watched any of the old installments – from the ’87 original with […]
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‘Kin’ Review

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Like “Whiplash” and several other feature films in recent years, “Kin” is based on a short film. Jonathan and Josh Baker’s 2014 “Bag Man” features an African-American teen who finds a mysterious weapon and decides to use it against some bad guys. “Kin” expands upon that story and raises the stakes. 14-year-old Eli (played nicely […]
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‘The Equalizer 2’ Review

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“The Equalizer 2” is the first sequel of Denzel Washington’s career. He told Jimmy Kimmel that the script was good enough for the film to be made (unlike “Inside Man 2”, which he said didn’t make any sense at all). Washington re-teams with Antoine Fuqua, who also directed the original. These two have become one […]
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Ocean’s 8 Review

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A few months before the release of the all-female version of “Ghostbusters” in 2016, Warner Bros. announced they were developing an “Ocean’s” reboot with a prominently female cast. The reason the film’s called “Ocean’s 8” (and not another “Ocean’s 11”) is that the studio hopes this can become another trilogy. The idea is to have […]
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‘A Quiet Place’ Review

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After watching the first cut of “A Quiet Place”, Emily Blunt leaned over to husband, co-star and director John Krasinski and told him he basically made a silent film. He thought that was cool, but Blunt suggested he add more sound so the film could really come alive. But the final version of “A Quiet […]
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‘Love, Simon’ Review

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“Love, Simon” is based on the 2015 YA novel Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. 20th Century Fox, the studio distributing the film, is declaring this film the first-ever mainstream rom-com with a gay teen protagonist. Nick Robinson (from last year’s “Everything, Everything” – also based on a YA romance novel) gives a breakthrough, star-making […]
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’12 Strong’ Review

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At one point in “12 Strong”, Michael Shannon’s character says, “It’s a hell of a thing we do. How do you leave your family and go to war?” It’s an honest, but simplistic line – and that kind of sums up this well-intentioned but all too familiar film. “12 Strong” tells the true, declassified story […]
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‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Review

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“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” is the 8th installment in the core “Star Wars” saga – directly following 2015’s juggernaut reboot “The Force Awakens”, which featured the return of Harrison Ford’s Han Solo. Ford added some energy and fun to this latest trilogy. But Han’s gone (and that certainly isn’t a spoiler by now), so […]
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‘Coco’ Review

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Pixar’s latest animated film, “Coco”, is about the traditional Mexican holiday The Day of the Dead. Three years ago there was another animated film about this holiday – “The Book of Life”. So the challenge for Pixar was to take a different perspective on it, but stay true to the culture and live-up to the […]
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‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Review

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Chris Hemsworth is a likable, charismatic actor, but his Thor, from the start, has been the dullest, most uninteresting character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The God of Thunder was in need of a re-vamp, and “Thor: Ragnarok” is that film, though the makeover is only a partial success. This 3rd Thor solo movie gets […]
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