Lights Camera Jackson

Movie Reviews, Entertainment News and Views from Lights Camera Jackson

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‘One Direction: This Is Us’ Review

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First there was Hannah Montana. Next came The Jonas Brothers, followed by the late Michael Jackson, Justin Bieber and Katy Perry. All of these artists have been the subjects of recent concert documentaries (or “con/docs” as I like to call them). The latest on this evergrowing list is the British boyband One Direction. When I […]
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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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‘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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‘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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‘Turbo’ Review

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When it came out this summer “Turbo” drew obvious comparisons to “Cars”, Disney/Pixar’s animated film about auto racing. But this clever DreamWorks creation can stand-out on its own, thanks to a simple, but sincere script which contains a whole lot of heart. Turbo (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) is a snail with a dream: He wants […]
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‘Despicable Me 2’ Review

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No recent film can better be defined as “short, sweet, and to the point” than the animated sequel “Despicable Me 2”. The 2010 original was a pleasant surprise, as we were introduced to supervillain Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) whose evil ways were changed forever by three orphan girls, Margo, Edith and Agnes. And the […]
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‘Epic’ Review

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“Epic” is the latest animated feature from Blue Sky Studios – the makers of the hugely successful “Ice Age” series. It’s directed by the studio’s co-founder Chris Wedge and is loosely based on the children’s book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs by William Joyce. All the elements were in place for this […]
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‘The Croods’ Review

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“The Croods” is DreamWorks Animation’s first film of 2013 (they followed with “Turbo” 4-months later). It’s directed by Kirk DeMicco (“Space Chimps”) and two-time Oscar nominee Chris Sanders (“How to Train Your Dragon”, “Lilo & Stitch”). While “The Croods” isn’t as funny or charming as any of those films, it is visually stunning and has […]
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‘Oz: The Great and Powerful’ Review

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Somewhere…Over the Rainbow…a Disney executive thought it’d be a good idea to re-vamp one of the most popular stories of all-time. The 1939 movie, “The Wizard of Oz”, is a classic. So why mess with something so memorable and so good? Sam Raimi (director of the original “Spider-Man” trilogy) helms this prequel to the film […]
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‘Escape from Planet Earth’ Review

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“Escape from Planet Earth” was the first animated film of 2013. And it will be remembered as one of the year’s worst – if it’s remembered at all. Brendan Fraser leads the all-star voice cast as Scorch. He’s a hot-shot, bright blue superhero alien from Planet Baab who loves attention. However, his brother Gary (Rob […]
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