5 Razors

Zero Dark Thirty

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  • Title: Zero Dark Thirty
  • IMDB: link

Zero Dark ThirtyDirector Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Marc Boal‘s examination of one woman’s 10 year odyssey to track down Osama bin Laden is an amazing piece of filmmaking that earned the top spot on my list of the Best Movies of 2012. Jessica Chastain stars as the increasingly obsessed CIA agent who isn’t lacking in self-confidence or knowledge but could use better people skills. Plucked from high school after 9/11 the movie follows Maya’s mission to find the illusive courier Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti (Tushaar Mehra) who she is certain will lead back to bin Laden.

Bigelow delivers a hard look at the successes and failures of the operation which finally bore fruit thanks to Maya’s (Chastian) dogged determinism. The movie doesn’t shy away from controversial issues such using torture to extract information, but it neither endorses or condemns the methods used over the decade long search for the man responsible for the attacks on 9/11.

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Doctor Who – Blink

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Doctor Who – Blink
  • tv.com: link

“Don’t blink. Blink and you’re dead. They are fast, faster than you can believe. Don’t turn your back. Don’t look away. And don’t blink. Good Luck.”

Doctor Who - Blink

With this being the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who you can expect to see reviews of old episodes of the series pop up on the site from time to time. Ask anyone to list their favorite Doctor Who episodes from the new series (2005-present) and you can be sure “Blink” will show up at or near the top every single time. Not only did the episode win multiple awards, but in a poll by Doctor Who Magazine it was chosen as the second best episode of Doctor Who ever made.

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Zero Dark Thirty

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Zero Dark Thirty
  • IMDB: link

zero-dark-thirty-poster
The Best Movie of 2012
Three years ago director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Marc Boal collaborated on The Hurt Locker which won them both individual Academy Awards as well as taking home the coveted Oscar for Best Picture. With Zero Dark Thirty the pair reunite to examine the decade-long search for Osama bin Laden.

The project was not with pitfalls or controversy. Bigelow and Boal were about to start filming an entirely different script when news hit that American forces had found and killed the man responsible for the attacks on 9/11. Scrapping their initial project, Bigelow and Boal refocused to examine the work that went in to finding America’s most wanted.

The film’s detractors (almost none of whom have seen the film) attack it for what some believe is a pro-torture stance, the filmmakers access to classified information surrounding the search for bin Laden, and some have even argued against what they (wrongfully) believe is a pro-Obama propaganda piece. None of these allegations are true. What is true, however, is Zero Dark Thirty is the best movie of 2012.

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Anna Karenina

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Anna Karenina
  • IMDb: link

“Sin has a price, you can be sure of that.”

anna-karenina-posterAttempting another historical adaptation of classic literature, while re-teaming with leading lady Keira Knightley (with whom he collaborated on both Pride & Prejudice and Atonement), director Joe Wright delivers the unexpected with an evocative and dazzling adaptation of Leo Tolstoy‘s legendary novel Anna Karenina.

Limited by budgetary considerations and an unwillingness to repurpose locations other adaptations of Tolstoy’s work, or those used by various recent historical dramas, Wright hit upon an extraordinary idea to breathe new life in the staid genre by staging a setting that transforms around its characters. The result is a game changer in how movies like Anna Karenina are told and a serious contender for the best film of 2012.

Set in Russia during the late 19th Century our story concerns rich socialite Anna Karenina (Knightley), her marriage to an honorable but bland government official (Jude Law), and her temptation and eventual affair with the far more dashing Count Vronsky (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).

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The Descendants

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Decendants
  • IMDB: link

the-descendants-posterOn the beautiful islands of Hawaii, Matt King’s (George Clooney) world crashes down when the real estate lawyer is hit with two bombshells at once. First, he learns that his wife (Patricia Hastie), who suffered a boating accident and has languished in a coma for weeks, isn’t going to get better. Her living will makes it obvious what will happen next, even if Matt and his two daughters aren’t ready for inevitable.

Things only get more complicated when breaking the news to his oldest daughter Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) Matt learns his wife has been having an affair and it’s this, not the daughter’s recently troubling behavior, which was the cause of the friction between mother and daughter in recent months.

Through his anger and grief Matt tries to keep his dysfunctional family together, deal with the outbursts of his younger daughter (Amara Miller) in school, and put up with Alexandra’s moron of a boyfriend Sid (Nick Krause), all while managing a complicated land sale that means millions of dollars for his extended family.

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