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Johnny Depp’s ‘Public Enemies’ Delivers Bona Fide Chicago Powerhouse
Rating: 4.0/5.0CHICAGO– Was John Dillinger an Adolf Hitler-level criminal mastermind or a modern-day Robin Hood superman? In the authentic reality portrayed by the god-like Johnny Depp in the...
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Channing Tatum, Amanda Seyfried Can’t Quite Deliver ‘Dear John’
Rating: 3.0/5.0CHICAGO– Love stories are as common at the movies as popcorn and sticky floors. Despite this, rising stars Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried add their own spin to the timeworn plot...
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Vince Vaughn, Kevin James Seek Trust in Uneven ‘The Dilemma’
Rating: 3.0/5.0CHICAGO– In many ways, “The Dilemma” is director Ron Howard’s most daring film. Leaving behind the usual brightly lit, good/evil morality tales, Howard weaves a narrative basket filled...
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Channing Tatum, Roman Empire Land in ‘The Eagle’
Rating: 3.5/5.0CHICAGO– In ancient times, history was at the end of a sword point and edge of the world. “The Eagle” tells of a Roman Empire battle in those times, and Channing Tatum plays a general...
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Channing Tatum Stars in Inconsistent ‘The Son of No One’
Rating: 2.0/5.0CHICAGO– Director Dito Montiel and star Channing Tatum were once tagged with the label of the hot new debut artistic partnership. 2006’s great “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints”...
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Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor in Steven Soderbergh’s ‘Haywire’
Rating: 4.0/5.0CHICAGO– Steven Soderbergh is one of the few directors who can do whatever the hell he wants. Whatever genre, whomever he casts, whichever story he chooses to tell – he pulls it off. He...
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Rachel McAdams, Channing Tatum Don’t Stick to ‘The Vow’
Rating: 2.5/5.0CHICAGO– “The Vow” was “inspired by true events.” The end credits even showed the real couple of those events. Given the actual film, it’s likely that inspiration came in the form of...
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Jonah Hill, Channing Tatum Have Fun on ‘21 Jump Street’
Rating: 3.5/5.0CHICAGO– There are various opinions about TV-to-movie remakes, mostly negative. That is why “21 Jump Street,” based on a 1980s TV show, manages some grudging respect. Jonah Hill,...
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Channing Tatum Reveals the Male Stripper in ‘Magic Mike’
Rating: 3.5/5.0CHICAGO– It turns out that Channing Tatum did a bit of male stripping on the way up the show business ladder, which adds some spice and verisimilitude to “Magic Mike,” a backstage tale...
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Dance is the Highlight in Simplistic ‘Step Up Revolution’
Rating: 3.0/5.0CHICAGO– The beauty of the movies is their ability to create weird parallel universes, where young dance crews have the choreography skills of a hip-hop Bob Fosse, the time/funding to...
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Channing Tatum’s ‘10 Years’ Resuscitates High School For 50 Worthwhile Minutes
Rating: 2.5/5.0CHICAGO– “10 Years” unintentionally backfires by proving that a real-life Hollywood couple – Channing Tatum and his actual spouse of three years Jenna Dewan-Tatum – has less on-screen...
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Rooney Mara, Jude Law Star in Steven Soderbergh’s Thrilling, Stellar ‘Side...
Rating: 4.5/5.0CHICAGO– Steven Soderbergh has given interviews in which he claims that his latest film, the fantastic “Side Effects,” will be his last. As much as I have my doubts that this is true, it...
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‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation’ Almost Turns Macho Stupidity Into Art
Rating: 3.0/5.0CHICAGO– “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” is the kind of dumb summer action blockbuster that works in the season when the kids aren’t in school and the movie theater is used as an excuse to get...
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Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx in ‘White House Down’
Rating: 1.5/5.0CHICAGO– How could a movie in which the President shoots a rocket from the back of a limousine during a car chase on the White House lawn possibly be boring? Roland Emmerich somehow...
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Big Laughs Await in Sly, Fun ‘The LEGO Movie’
Rating: 4.5/5.0CHICAGO– The funniest movie in a long while features no human beings, just animated bland faces among interlocking plastic bricks, the toys which inspired the film. “The LEGO Movie”...
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‘22 Jump Street’ is a Proud Bargain Bin Blockbuster
Rating: 3.0/5.0CHICAGO– “22 Jump Street” is a big budget Hollywood sequel that actively comments on the diminishing returns of sequels. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller know that for every...
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‘The Book of Life’ Has Uninspired Tale to Tell
Rating: 2.5/5.0CHICAGO– Unfortunately you can’t judge “The Book Of Life” by its cover. The movie draws on the fertile imagery of the Mexican “Day Of The Dead” to create its own animated world. The...
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Human Emotions Transcend Wealth in ‘Foxcatcher’
Rating: 3.5/5.0CHICAGO– In the memorable film “Barton Fink,” the title character is asked to write a wrestling movie for Wallace Beery. If Fink had isolated himself long enough, he might have come up...
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‘Jupiter Ascending’ Might Cause Attention Descending
Rating: 2.0/5.0CHICAGO– “Jupiter Ascending” is certainly one of the oddest and densest of sci-fi movies, this side of “Dune,” and has some of the most laughable acting and dialogue seen in a major film...
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Nichely Entertaining ‘Magic Mike XXL’ a Substanceless Soft Porn
Rating: 2.0/5.0CHICAGO– You know those amateur porns with no-name actors that use cheesy dialogue in between the sex scenes those viewers simply want? You never expect a real story or actually...
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