What differentiates Sacha Baron Cohen from the vast majority of his contemporaries is his willingness to take on taboo subjects. Despite the rise of R-rated comedies over the past decade or so, it’s difficult to say that many of them tackle the issues that most people are uncomfortable talking about. Their sexual content and foul language might be funny, but they lack the edge that only comes when you parody something that our “open” society prefers to leave alone.

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Rod Steiger offers one of the best portrayals of the legendary “Scarface” in this straightforward account of the life of perhaps the most fascinating underworld figure in American history.

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As Ichabod Crane, as Willy Wonka, Ed Wood, the Mad Hatter, or Sweeney Todd, Depp’s persona is quirky and stiff, wide-eyed and full of suspicion/mischief/barely hidden insanity. The characters into whose skins he slips under Burton’s direction are all beginning to feel suspiciously familiar – and Barnabas Collins isn’t an exception.

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Christopher Walken plays—as only Walken can—Frank White, a drug dealer whose release from prison sets the film and the violence in motion. It would be a stretch to say that White has returned from prison a changed man, but he has returned as a man with a mission.

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Not to compare actors to superheroes, but this cast could easily have exploded in our faces; like their characters, each of these actors is famous in his or her own right. Some are A-list while others hover just below, and it takes a persuasive genius (shall we call Whedon a Nick Fury of sorts?) to gather them and get them to fight for a common cause.

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Whatever you felt about the The Expendables, you are meant to feel ten times over about the sequel. That is about the most substantial analysis this trailer can stand.

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Few filmgoers noticed Charley Varrick when it came out in 1973. After all, The Godfather, that ultimate game-changing gangster film, had been released a year earlier. So who was going to fuss over this nugget about a small-time bank robber fleeing with the mob’s money?

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The Five-Year Engagement Directed by Nicholas Stoller Screenplay by Jason Segel, Nicholas Stoller Starring: Jason Segel, Emily Blunt, Alison Brie, Chris Pratt How long is The Five-Year Engagement? 124 minutes. What is The Five-Year Engagement rated? R for sexual content, and language throughout. CLR Rating: Emily Blunt and Jason Segel in The Five-Year Engagement Photo: [...]

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Meanwhile, the West Indies are buzzing with the imminent Pirate Of The Year Awards. The most fearsome captains are caught up in furious last-minute plundering for a shot at the coveted prize. The Pirate Captain (Hugh Grant) is one such contender, but his lovable antics and luxuriant beard are beginning to pale against his modest record of villainy. To distinguish himself from his flamboyant rivals, he must lead his loyal crew of knuckleheads into an adventure like none other. Who could imagine that a chance encounter with Charles Darwin, sailing homeward on the Beagle, would provide the opportunity?

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The Raven is a piece of historical fiction about what happened during Edgar Allan Poe’s (John Cusack) mysterious last days. The film theorizes that he spent his final week, give or take, working as a consultant to the Baltimore Police Department who were trying to capture an unstoppable madman whose kills were inspired by Poe’s works.

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Writer-director Michael Corrente took the title and setting for his first movie from the Italian-American section of Providence, Rhode Island. Corrente grew up nearby, and he clearly knows his territory.

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The rites themselves have changed in practice if not in spirit, and the movie rekindles enough of its ancestor’s spirit that it’s hard to imagine a better result. What more were all the naysayers expecting?

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In the mist-shrouded Ivory Coast jungle, all appears green and beautiful. The leafy trees shelter and sustain countless forms of life. We join a group of chimpanzees, in a serene moment, as they welcome a newly born male named Oscar into their midst. Oscar is going to learn a lot about the world in a hurry, and our job is to laugh, sigh, and gasp at his every discovery.

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While it is ostensibly just an action vehicle for Stallone, First Blood is an honest portrayal of how long-lasting the psychological effects of war can be for some people.

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“The Sicilians,” the agent said, “are very serious about what they do.” We see a lot of that in Mafioso, director Alberto Lattuada’s dark comedy that says so much about both the criminal organization and the fascinating island of Sicily that gave birth to it. In a 2010 article in the Daily Beast, Martin Scorsese listed the film as one of the 15 gangster movies that had the most profound effect on him as a writer and director. He cited Mafioso as “one of the best films ever made about Sicily.”

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