Heist

Do you believe in magic?

  • Title: Now You See Me
  • IMDb: link

Now You See Me

Who better to center a glitzy over-the-top heist caper on than masters of misdirection? Director Louis Leterrier offers us a tale of four talented but struggling magicians (Jesse EisenbergWoody HarrelsonIsla FisherDave Franco) brought together be forces larger than themselves to become the most sought after magic show in the world. And in their free time they also rob banks.

Those looking for an example of what separates a good movie from a great movie need look no further than the script by Ed Solomon, Boaz Yakin, and Edward Ricourt. That, along with the film’s talent cast and a slick look balancing real sleight of hand with CGI effects, gives Leterrier all the necessary ingredients to offer us what could have been the coolest movie of the Summer. Despite a great set-up, however, Now You See Me eventually runs out of gas with an over-complicated final act, a questionable late twist, and a prolonged epilogue that draws out events well beyond what is necessary. The film’s biggest weakness is not allowing itself to play the magician or be willing to leave the audience with any questions about what they have seen.

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Trance

  • Title: Trance
  • IMDB: link

TranceTwo thoughts ran through my head when the end credits rolled on the latest film from director Danny Boyle. First, Rosario Dawson is one hell of a beautiful woman. Seriously, this film will be known, even more than for its train wreck of a plot, for the infinite number of screenshots of the fully nude actress which will inevitably hit the Internet in the coming months.

And second, when you get past the smoke and mirrors, the endless twists, turns, misdirection, and Dawson’s full frontal nudity, there’s not really that much to Trance. Despite a strong set-up, the script by Joe Ahearne and John Hodge eventually crumbles under the wight of its preposterous plot. Trance is simply too complicated for its own good.

The film opens with the theft of a $25 million painting from an auction house in broad daylight by a brazen group of criminals (Vincent Cassel, Danny SapaniWahab SheikhMatt Cross). Despite the best efforts of our narrator, the heroic auctioneer Simon (James McAvoy) who is injured in the heist, the crooks make off with the painting.

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The Mentalist – Red in Tooth and Claw

  • Title: The Mentalist – Red in Tooth and Claw
  • wiki: link

“You date pregnant hookers and your dinosaur eats grass!”

The Mentalist - Red in Tooth and Claw

The CBI head to the NorCal State University Museum of Natural History when the remains of a missing doctoral student in ornithology are discovered, half-eaten by flesh-eating worms. Jane (Simon Baker) and Lisbon (Robin Tunney) talk with a the student’s advisor (Zuleikha Robinson), one of her professors (Rob Benedict), and some of the victim’s fellow graduate students (Samantha Quan, Rosalie Ward, Casey Graf) learning the victim was well-liked but also envied for landing a prestigious grant that would cover the cost of her tuition and studies.

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Leverage – The Long Good-bye Job

  • Title: Leverage – The Long Good-bye Job
  • tv.com: link

leverage-the-good-bye-job

In the series finale Nate (Timothy Hutton) is approached by his son’s former physician who needs his help to save another patient in danger of dying of the same condition of that killed Nate’s son. To retrieve the drug the company refuses to release means breaking into a facility with government level security given the building also houses a federal law enforcement Intenet hub server housing backup files for the FBI, CIA, DEA, and Interpol.

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