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The Wrecking Crew

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  • Title: The Wrecking Crew
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The Wrecking CrewFilled with interviews, classic clips, stills, and tunes, the documentary from director Denny Tedesco (whose father was part of the group now known as “The Wrecking Crew”) takes a look back at the Los Angeles studio and session musicians that played anonymously on many records in the 1960s for The Beach Boys, Phil Spector, Frank Sinatra, Sonny & Cher, Bing Crosby, Elvis, The Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, Bobby Vee, the Partridge Family, David Cassidy, Jan & Dean, the Mamas & the Papas, the 5th Dimension, the Association, the Carpenters, Glen Campbell, Cher, John Denver, Simon & Garfunkel, the Grass Roots, and Nat King Cole.

Likely more appealing to music geeks than those not already interested in the topic, the documentary includes a great collection of music while discussing the unheralded studio musicians who helped create the songs. Available on Blu-ray and DVD, The Wrecking Crew includes over six hours of outtakes from musicians, artists, engineers, and producers, additional music, and more.

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Amy

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  • Title: Amy
  • IMDb: link

AmyYour opinion of Amy Winehouse and her place in modern music is likely to color your view of Amy. The documentary unearths an amazing amount of personal footage of the troubled singer-songwriter while also featuring interviews from those who knew her best. Chronicling her rise to stardom, her drug and alcohol abuse, her struggles with bulimia, and her inability to deal with fame, the movie isn’t always a pleasant look back. Although its story of an insecure self-destructive artist is sadly far too familiar, the documentary deals with its subject matter responsibly.

The tone of the documentary isn’t to point fingers and assign blame (although it certainly suggests certain individuals shoulder more of that burden that others such as Winehouse’s husband and father and the paparazzi), but instead to give audiences a look at the woman behind the celebrity. Presented from the view of those that loved her, the documentary is occasionally too reverential about its star.

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Shaun the Sheep Movie

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  • Title: Shaun the Sheep Movie
  • IMDb: link

Shaun the Sheep MovieThe British stop-motion animated television series gets its own movie when a little farmyard tomfoolery leads to the Farmer (John Sparkes) getting lost in the big city with a nasty case of amnesia. So it falls on Shaun (Justin Fletcher) the sheep and the rest of his flock to find their missing friend and bring him home.

Shaun the Sheep Movie is a throwback screwball comedy as Shaun and his friends scour the city for the Farmer in ridiculous costumes, cause a break-out of an animal control center, and generally cause all kinds of mischief wherever they go. Completely dialogue free, the movie’s humor doesn’t miss a beat or need to rely on any form of exposition to tell its story. Marvelously animated, the film is a joy to behold.

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Results

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  • Title: Results
  • IMDb: link

ResultsWriter/director Andrew Bujalski‘s Results about a recently-wealthy client’s (Kevin Corrigan) impact on the lives of two personal trainers (Guy Pearce and Cobie Smulders) in Austin, Texas boasts a strong cast and an unique indie feel but suffers from not being funny enough to be a true comedy, dark enough to be dark comedy, or dramatic enough to be taken seriously. Results intermittently entertains while teasing the audience with a cast (that also includes Giovanni Ribisi, Anthony Michael Hall, and Constance Zimmer) that is far better than its source material.

Pearce is all-in as Trevor, the odd-duck owner of a local fitness center whose life is complicated by the employee he loves (Smulders) and the untethered client whose infatuation with the woman throws all their lives into chaos. Anthony Michael Hall has a small humorous role as the guru whose philosophy Trevor has based his entire business on. Trevor’s eventual encounter with his idol needs to be either funnier or more soul-crushing but, like the entire movie, the script flounders when hard choices must be made.

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Southpaw

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  • Title: Southpaw
  • IMDb: link

SouthpawDirector Antoine Fuqua‘s Southpaw is a relatively straightforward story of an athlete getting up off the mat after being knocked down by life. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as an undefeated boxing champion nearing the end of his career whose life is struck by a series of tragic events which cause him to reevaluate his priorities, attempt to become a better father to his daughter (Oona Laurence), and reclaim a life, both in and out of the ring, which he once took for granted.

The movie is highlighted by performances by Gyllenhaal, Laurence, and Rachel McAdams as the boxer’s wife. Both Forest Whitaker add 50 Cent a little life to the party as well, but neither is asked to color outside the lines of very basic characters.

Boxing fans are likely to get more out of the movie than others, although I think the first-person perspective used in spots during the climactic in-ring battle is a little disorienting.

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