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No Looking Back (1998)
: :The third film in writer-director-actor Edward Burns's 'Long Island Trilogy' is in some ways the slightest of the three, and that's a blessing and a curse. By keeping things spare, Burns is able to focus on the simple, honest humanity of his story, which centers on the emotional dilemma of Claudia (Lauren Holly), a small-town waitress whose engagement to blue-collar Michael (Jon Bon Jovi) is challenged when old flame Charlie (Burns) returns after an extended absence. Their shared history includes an abortion that left Claudia feeling abandoned and resentful, and for good reason, ...
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13 Going on 30 (Dol Slip)
: :The third film in writer-director-actor Edward Burns's 'Long Island Trilogy' is in some ways the slightest of the three, and that's a blessing and a curse. By keeping things spare, Burns is able to focus on the simple, honest humanity of his story, which centers on the emotional dilemma of Claudia (Lauren Holly), a small-town waitress whose engagement to blue-collar Michael (Jon Bon Jovi) is challenged when old flame Charlie (Burns) returns after an extended absence. Their shared history includes an abortion that left Claudia feeling abandoned and resentful, and for good reason, ...
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L.I.E. (Rated Version)
: :A remarkable movie. L.I.E. centers on Howie, a 15-year-old boy whose mother recently died in a car accident. Neglected by his father, an unscrupulous contractor who's constantly having sex with his new girlfriend, Howie falls in with a group of boys who break into houses for kicks. After one break-in Howie is caught by Big John (Brian Cox, the original Hannibal Lecter from Manhunter), a former Marine with a taste for young boys. But the relationship that develops between Howie and Big John surprises them both. L.I.E. captures male adolescence more genuinely than ...
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Picture Perfect
: :If you can get past Jennifer Aniston's form-fitting wardrobe in a movie about a woman struggling to advance in her profession, this romantic comedy is a fair match with My Best Friend's Wedding. Both films feature conniving, self-centered heroines who undergo a transformation--Aniston presents a bogus fiancé (Jerry Maguire's Jay Mohr) to impress her advertising agency boss and gradually discovers a mutual attraction with the imposter. Both movies go off in delightfully unpredictable directions. Picture Perfect falls prey to occasional sitcom fluff, but it's a fine showcase for Aniston's comedic and dramatic attributes. ...
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Picture Perfect
: :If you can get past Jennifer Aniston's form-fitting wardrobe in a movie about a woman struggling to advance in her profession, this romantic comedy is a fair match with My Best Friend's Wedding. Both films feature conniving, self-centered heroines who undergo a transformation--Aniston presents a bogus fiancé (Jerry Maguire's Jay Mohr) to impress her advertising agency boss and gradually discovers a mutual attraction with the imposter. Both movies go off in delightfully unpredictable directions. Picture Perfect falls prey to occasional sitcom fluff, but it's a fine showcase for Aniston's comedic and dramatic attributes. ...
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Commandments
: :Aidan Quinn plays a man so aggrieved by his misfortunes that he vows to break each of God's Ten Commandments in revenge. But even that act of profound defiance doesn't quite work out the way he planned, and the character undergoes a mythic--some would say biblical--experience of a different kind. Quinn is fine, as is Anthony LaPaglia as his friend and Courteney Cox as a love interest. But the heavily stylized film by Daniel Taplitz makes puffery of the drama, and the atmosphere is more silly than smart. --Tom Keogh
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Judy Berlin
:Description:A lingering solar eclipse casts a strange spell on a dead-end New Jersey town and unleashes hidden passions, frustrated dreams and lonely yearnings in this quirky, bittersweet portrait of small-town life. Full of wonder and wit, this award-winning, critically-acclaimed film, shot in luminous black and white, transforms the familiar terrain of suburbia into an eccentric landscape suffused with a dark and unexpected beauty.
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Commandments
: :Aidan Quinn plays a man so aggrieved by his misfortunes that he vows to break each of God's Ten Commandments in revenge. But even that act of profound defiance doesn't quite work out the way he planned, and the character undergoes a mythic--some would say biblical--experience of a different kind. Quinn is fine, as is Anthony LaPaglia as his friend and Courteney Cox as a love interest. But the heavily stylized film by Daniel Taplitz makes puffery of the drama, and the atmosphere is more silly than smart. --Tom Keogh
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Commandments
: :Aidan Quinn plays a man so aggrieved by his misfortunes that he vows to break each of God's Ten Commandments in revenge. But even that act of profound defiance doesn't quite work out the way he planned, and the character undergoes a mythic--some would say biblical--experience of a different kind. Quinn is fine, as is Anthony LaPaglia as his friend and Courteney Cox as a love interest. But the heavily stylized film by Daniel Taplitz makes puffery of the drama, and the atmosphere is more silly than smart. --Tom Keogh
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