Film review: THE BIG SHORT, from ‘Built For Speed’

The Big Short sounds like the title of a caper comedy and in a sense it is although the caper is a particularly dubious one, the multi-billion dollar exploitation of a dysfunctional and seemingly corrupt financial system by greedy unscrupulous bond traders that led to the GFC and the financial devastation of millions of working people in 2008. Directed by

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Film review: FOXCATCHER, from ‘Built For Speed’

The riveting true-crime drama Foxcatcher explores the strange and catastrophic relationship between champion American wrestling brothers Dave (Mark Ruffalo) and Mark Schultz (Channing Tatum) and their disturbed patron, du Pont chemical company head John du Pont (Steve Carrell).  Mark Schultz won a gold medal in freestyle wrestling at the LA Olympics in ’84 but neither lucrative endorsements nor regular income

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Film review: ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES, from Built For Speed

The Ron Burgundy Anchorman films are the contemporary equivalent of the Austen Powers movies; heavily art-directed, retro-themed pop-cultural parodies where a naïve, politically-incorrect but lovable central character manages to triumph despite his overwhelming stupidity. The first Anchorman film was a fun, endearing fitfully amusing satire of 1970’s sexism and the news reading profession that allowed Will Ferrell to gloriously indulge

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Film review: THE WAY WAY BACK, from Built For Speed

The lightweight comedy/drama The Way Way Back is an archetypal “shy teen comes-of-age” film.  As such, the storyline and many of the characters seem very familiar as if they were plucked from other movies but this doesn’t diminish this film’s considerable charm. For a relatively small, low-key film, it features a remarkable cast of name actors including Steve Carrell, Toni

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Film review: DESPICABLE ME 2, from Built For Speed

2010’s Despicable Me was a fun and sometimes genuinely funny computer-animated spy movie parody.  Amid all the typical frenzied sight gags was a touching story about the bald-headed, pointy-nosed, Russian-accented, kyphotic super-villain Gru (Steve Carrell) who was redeemed when he unexpectedly became a single dad to three cute little moppets. In the clever, amusing but erratic sequel, Gru is trying

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