Lights Camera Jackson

Movie Reviews, Entertainment News and Views from Lights Camera Jackson

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‘The Huntsman: Winter’s War’ Review

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“Snow White & the Huntsman” was one of the pleasant surprises of 2012. It twisted-up a classic fairy tale with a smart script and a killer Evil Queen in Charlize Theron. She’s back, along with Chris Hemsworth, for this “Huntsman” spin-off. As Emily Blunt, who plays the Ice Queen Elsa – I mean Freya – […]
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‘The Meddler’ Review

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“The Meddler” is writer/director Lorene Scafaria’s extremely personal follow-up to her innovative 2012 indie “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World”, which featured Steve Carell and Keira Knightley finding humor, and each other, on the cusp of the Apocalypse. For her latest film, Scafaria turns to a more low-key, but just as enriching […]
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‘Barbershop: The Next Cut’ Review

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Let’s “cut” to the chase: “Barbershop: The Next Cut” is a rare threequel that works as a standalone film. 14 years after the original and 12 years after “Back in Business”, stars Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer return to tell a straightforward story, but one that has legitimate purpose: “Barbershop 3” doesn’t simply entertain, […]
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‘The Jungle Book’ Review

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Nearly 50 years after The Mouse House first adapted Rudyard Kipling’s iconic literary works for the screen with their animated musical “The Jungle Book” (the last film Walt Disney produced), a new version for a new generation has arrived. The 2016 “Jungle Book” is directed by Jon Favreau, whose diversity of films include innocent “Elf”, […]
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‘Criminal’ Review

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“Criminal” is your textbook “Popcorn Movie”. The cast includes big names: Kevin Costner, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Oldman and even Ryan Reynolds in a small role. It’s action-packed with plenty of violence – and some unexpected bloodshed. There are elements of danger, suspense, weird science and a hint of mystery. “Criminal” doesn’t break any new […]
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‘Demolition’ Review

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Jake Gyllenhaal has delivered a recent string of impressive performances in “Prisoners” (2013), “Nightcrawler” (2014) and “Southpaw” (2015). “Demolition” is another great vehicle for him, but overall, the film is not as strong director Jean-Marc Vallee’s past two efforts. His 2013 drama “Dallas Buyers Club” earned Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto Oscars, and his 2014 […]
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‘The Boss’ Review

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Melissa McCarthy has proven she can deliver plenty of laughs, both on TV and the big screen. But a pattern is starting to emerge when it comes to her movie projects: With McCarthy’s most successful films (“Bridesmaids”, “St. Vincent”, “Spy”), she and husband Ben Falcone were NOT the screenwriters, and Falcone wasn’t behind the camera […]
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‘Hardcore Henry’ Review

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“Hardcore Henry” has a unique hook: this relentless, incredibly violent, sci-fi action extravaganza was shot almost entirely with GoPro cameras, and told completely from the first-person perspective of Henry – a half-man, half-machine. Much like “Mad Max: Fury Road”, “Hardcore Henry” relies heavily on wild, zany chaos and incredible stunts. And while I wasn’t a […]
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‘I Saw the Light’ Review

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Recent biopics that dissected the lives of popular musicians and groups, including James Brown, Frankie Valli, Brian Wilson and N.W.A., all had some bold and powerful statements to make. The main problem with “I Saw the Light”, which chronicles the brief but amazing career of Hank Williams, is that it fails to give the country […]
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‘Midnight Special’ Review

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“Midnight Special” comes from “Mud” writer/director Jeff Nichols, who was clearly inspired by the sci-fi movies of his childhood when it came to crafting this script. And for the first hour or so, Nichols really makes you work to try to piece everything together. Normally that’s a good sign of things to come. Instead of […]
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