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Movie Reviews: Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Jack Reacher, Promised Land and Monsters, Inc. 3-D

Find movie reviews from and movie times for theaters across Clayton, Richmond Heights and St. Louis.

 

Editor's Note: All reviews and information aggregated from MoviefoneFor reviews from Mark Glass, a Clayton resident and member of the St. Louis Film Critics Association, please see his Local Voices section on Patch.

Want to add your own review? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Django Unchained

"A sharp shock of a film in an Awards season very full of movies so noble they become immobile. It's wildly unlikely to get much love from the Academy, and that's fine-bluntly, it's too good for them. With its bloody stew of history and hysteria, action taken from movies and atrocities taken from fact, Django isn't just a movie only America could make-it's also a movie only America needs to." Boxoffice Magazine. Full Review.

"Exactly what you might expect from the fearless, controversial director of "Pulp Fiction" - it's overlong, raunchy, shocking, grim, exaggerated, self-indulgently over-the-top and so politically incorrect it demands a new definition of the term. It is also bold, original, mesmerizing, stylish and one hell of a piece of entertainment." Rex Reed of New York Observer. Full Review.

"Django Unchained also has the pure, almost meaningless excitement which I found sorely lacking in Tarantino's previous film, Inglourious Basterds, with its misfiring spaghetti-Nazi trope and boring plot. I can only say Django delivers, wholesale, that particular narcotic and delirious pleasure that Tarantino still knows how to confect in the cinema, something to do with the manipulation of surfaces. It's as unwholesome, deplorable and delicious as a forbidden cigarette." Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian. Full Review.

Do you plan on seeing this movie? Have you seen it already? Leave a review of the film with a comment below.

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Les Miserables

"Stirring and striking, Hooper's epic musical won't be wanting for awards and plaudits. Danny Cohen's cinematography is stunning and Hathaway's Oscar is guaranteed." Neil Smith of Total Film. Full Review.

"Russell Crowe's pained vocal stylings (they sound more like barks) as relentless Inspector Javert can be forgiven after hearing Hugh Jackman's old-pro fluidity in the central role of Jean Valjean, hiding a criminal past." Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York. Full Review.

"Fortunately, this sprawling epic is well-anchored. There cannot be a better big-screen showman than Jackman." Elizabeth Weitzman of New York Daily News. Full Review.

Do you plan on seeing this movie? Have you seen it already? Leave a review of the film with a comment below.

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Jack Reacher

"In terms of pure pop entertainment value, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more smartly constructed, beautifully shot, pulse-pounding movie this holiday season." Drew Taylor of The Playlist. Full Review.

"A superior thriller, with Cruise and McQuarrie slotting together like a bullet in a clip. Like Reacher on the firing range, the aim isn't always true – but the misses are fractional." James Mottram of Total Film. Full Review.

"Tom Cruise is in fine form as mysterious tough guy Jack Reacher finally reaches the big screen." Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter. Full Review

Do you plan on seeing this movie? Have you seen it already? Leave a review of the film with a comment below.

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Promised Land

"Krasinki's soft-sell script, lets the movie's ideas get absorbed without grandstanding or pretension. Its issues go down with a smile and common sense, which turns out to be exactly the right formula." Joe Neumaier of New York Daily News. Full Review.

"Though the film eventually caves to sentiment and stereotype, its alert performances and muted rhythms offer much to enjoy in the interim." Jeanette Catsoulis of NPR. Full Review.

"Director Gus Van Sant finds the human side of a knotty issue. No polemics. Just the face of a new America in crisis." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone. Full Review.

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Monsters, Inc. 3-D

"It's the Pixar animators who keep grown-ups as riveted as the kids with visual marvels that dazzle and delight." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone. Full Review.

"There hasn't been a film in years to use creative energy as efficiently as Monsters, Inc." A.O. Scott of The New York Times. Full Review.

"Who doesn't need what this movie has to give?" Joe Morgenstern of Wall Street Journal. Full Review.

Related Topics: Movie Reviews

LaVon Maxwell

11:37 am on Sunday, December 30, 2012

Went to see Django and I loved it. Living in a predominantly white community, I was the only black in the audience. The language didn't bother me at all because during that era that's what they used. The only thing that bothered me a little bit was the bloodshed until Django came out on top. I see Django as a Black Western. Can't wait for it to come out on dvd, so I can buy it. I personally give Django 10 stars. Jamie Fox better win a award for his role. This is just my opinion.

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Pittsburgh Kid

5:37 pm on Sunday, December 30, 2012

Jack Reacher was really satisfying. I had never read any of the Lee Childs' books and decided to read "One Shot," which this movie is based on. I don't think the fact that Tom Cruise did not size up to Reacher's physical measurements detracted from the movie it all. I recall Tom Clancy not liking Harrison Ford as the Jack Ryan character but I liked the books and Ford as Ryan. I might go see it again.

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R. Caddell

12:17 pm on Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Les Mis- Best movie I have seen in a long time. One that must be seen on the BIG screen to appreciate it's full effect. Oh yeah better take a box of kleenex.

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Bernie Cawthon

4:44 pm on Tuesday, January 1, 2013

I Just saw the Jack Reacher movie. As a longtime Lee Child fan, having read all of his novels, I was aprehensive about height disadvantaged Tom Cruise playing the 6 foot eight (or so) Reacher. After viewing the movie I will admit that Cruise did a better than adequate job. I will go see the next one in the series, for sure.

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flyoverland

8:18 am on Wednesday, January 2, 2013

I think I will pass. As an avid reader of Childs' books, my concept of Reacher is not a 5'8" Scientologist.

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