Lights Camera Jackson

Movie Reviews, Entertainment News and Views from Lights Camera Jackson

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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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‘Elysium’ Review

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“Elysium” is writer/director Neill Blomkamp’s follow-up to his 2009 Best Picture Academy Award nominee “District 9”. He teams-up again with that film’s breakout star, Sharlto Copley, who joins Oscar winners Matt Damon and Jodie Foster in yet another of 2013’s movies in which Earth is no longer a great place to live. Let’s spin the […]
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‘Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters’ Review

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2010’s “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief” aimed to become the next “Harry Potter”: an adaptation of a popular book series about a heroic boy-figure and his best friends fighting to save their world and ours. Even though it only grossed $89 million in the US, a $227 million worldwide total was good […]
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‘2 Guns’ Review

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In what was a summer of the “action crime comedy”, “2 Guns” pulled-off this genre better than some (“R.I.P.D”, “The Heat”) and not as good as others (“Red 2”, “White House Down”). But even though it features two big stars, “2 Guns” is unnecessarily too complex, and ends-up being too ridiculous for its own good. […]
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‘The Smurfs 2’ Review

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“The Smurfs” was a surprise box office hit back in 2011. Just two short years later, the lovable little blue creatures are facing-off against the evil wizard Gargamel once again in “The Smurfs 2”, which is even Smurfier than the original. Appropriately, Narrator Smurf begins the film, voicing-over a clever pop-up book sequence. He reminds […]
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‘Blue Jasmine’ Review

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Woody Allen’s latest dramedy, “Blue Jasmine”, is not as magical or charming as his 2011 Oscar winner “Midnight in Paris”. However, it’s a major improvement from 2012’s bland romantic disappointment “To Rome with Love”. And it’s just another example of why Allen’s late-career films are much better when he’s behind the camera and not in […]
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‘Blackfish’ Review

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I see several documentaries each year: Nature films, concert-docs, profiles of famous and sometimes not-so-famous people. Normally one or two stand-out above the rest. One of my top 10 films of 2012 was “Searching for Sugar Man”, which went on to win numerous awards, including the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. I am confident to say […]
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‘Fruitvale Station’ Review

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“Fruitvale Station” won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for drama at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. It depicts the real-life events involving Oscar Grant on New Year’s Eve 2008 and New Year’s Day 2009 in Oakland, CA. What happened sparked a tremendous amount of outrage and controversy, and the film currently has […]
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‘The Wolverine’ Review

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The Wolverine himself, Oscar nominee Hugh Jackman, said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, “we could have done better” with the first X-Men spinoff, 2009’s “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”. I actually liked that film, but many comic book fans were hoping for more. Unfortunately, “The Wolverine” gives you less than what you’re looking for in a […]
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‘R.I.P.D.’ Review

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After seeing the trailer for “R.I.P.D.” the very first time I predicted it was going to be a disaster. And it turns out I was right. Combine a lame story, embarrassing performances and production problems (the film wrapped in Jan. 2012 and it wasn’t released until this July) and you end-up with a film that’s […]
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