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The Glass Castle

Destin Cretton is anything but a household name. Yet, the gifted filmmaker turned heads with his massively overlooked 2013 drama, Short Term 12 . The effort bridged together Cretton's singular story and vision with the remarkable acting talents of Brie Larson. Since then Larson has gone on to win an Academy Award ( Room ), but her career comes full circle in her latest collaboration with Destin Cretton in the adapted film The Glass Castle . Told non-chronologically through various flashbacks, The Glass Castle follows the unconventional childhood of gossip columnist and eventual Best-Selling author Jeannette Walls (Larson). Prior to her career as a writer, Walls grows up under the dysfunctional supervision of her alcoholic father (Woody Harrelson) and her amateur artist mother (Naomi Watts). But as Jeannette and her siblings begin to mature and fully comprehend their squatter-lifestyle and impoverished upbringing, they must work together to escape the clutches of their deadbeat par
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DVD Outlook: August 2017

It appears August is rather barren with new DVD and streaming options ( July's suggestions ). Thankfully, a hot slate of diverse theatrical offerings such as The Big Sick , Dunkirk , War for the Planet of the Apes , Spider-Man: Homecoming and so much more, you can find a worthwhile movie to enjoy no matter what your personal preference may be. Either way, here's a look at what's available on DVD and streaming services this month. Alien: Covenant - 3 stars out of 4 - ( Read my full review here ) Earlier this year Ridley Scott returned to his storied  Alien universe once again with the follow-up to 2012's Prometheus . In the latest installment, Scott and company shift their efforts from cryptic to visceral and disturbing with a bloody and twisted affair that feels immensely more horror-based than its predecessor. While on a colonizing mission to jump-start the humanity on a distant planet, crew members of the Covenant are awoken from their hibernation state following
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The Best Performances in Christopher Nolan Films

Like a writer pushing his deadline, guest-writer Greg Rouleau has stepped in to deliver the first of a three-part Movie List of the Month featuring the magnificent Christopher Nolan just before the calendar changed to August ( June's list ). To begin the upcoming movie list series Greg begins by highlighting the Top 10 performances featured in Nolan's film catalog. Here's a look at the selections: #10. Matthew McConaughey - Interstellar (2014) The apex of the “McConaissance” came when McConaughey, fresh off an Academy Award win for Best Actor, signed on to star in Nolan’s big-budget sci-fi epic, with an ensemble that included its fair share of Oscar winners and nominees.  Heading this cast in impressive fashion, McConaughey’s Cooper perfectly embodies the rural American family man who can’t deny his dormant thrill for exploration when he’s chosen to lead a team through a wormhole in hopes of discovering a new home for Earth’s inhabitants.  Coop’s great balance of heart, he
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Rapid Reviews: Atomic Blonde and Wind River

Another raved-about entry from this year's SXSW lineup finds its way into theaters nationwide this weekend. David Leitch makes his directorial debut (well, sort of ... he was an uncredited but otherwise acknowledged co-director of 2014's John Wick ) with Atomic Blonde , a Cold War spy-thriller headlined by the shape-shifting talents of Academy Award Winner Charlize Theron. And what's next on tap for the budding filmmaker who possesses a knack for intensely-choreographed hand-to-hand combat sequences? Leitch has been handed the keys to the Deadpool franchise with June 2018's highly anticipated sequel. A remarkably skilled and insanely attractive M-16 Agent from England (Theron) is thrust into the heart of Berlin during the Cold War. Her mission is to coordinate with another implanted spy (James McAvoy) in order to investigate the death of a fellow agent, and to recover a widely valuable list of double-agents. But as her plans quickly become foiled, one after another, sh
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Thor: Ragnarok and Justice League (NEW) Trailers

Comic-Com is always a hot bed for debuting new footage, and one of the hot trailers to drop at this year's event belongs to Thor: Ragnarok . In the latest Thor (Chris Hemsworth) saga, the God of Thunder is forced to assemble a team of fighters including The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Loki (Tom Hiddleston) and others to fend off the evil Hela (Cate Blanchett) who plans to destroy Asgard and reconstruct it in her own dubious image. Thor: Ragnarok arrives in theaters early this November and you can catch the film's first-look trailer below. Another Comic-Com release includes DC's upcoming major title, Justice League . With rumors of re-shoots and Zach Snyder's unfortunate family matter that resulted in him stepping away from the film late in the process, DC's once "gem" is beginning to look like a cursed effort. Batman (Ben Affleck) enlists the help of Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) to recruit a team of metahumans to combat a world-destroying threat before it's too
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Dunkirk

Christopher Nolan, a name that needs no introduction. As one of the most notable filmmakers in the world today, Nolan has earned the right to not be questioned. "Unconventional" is his calling card. So when it was reported that his new WWII epic, Dunkirk , boasts a running time of only 106 minutes, a far cry from the two and half and three hour staples we've come to expect from iconic war films, the only thought running through my head was "in Nolan we trust". In the early stages of World War II, the Germans have cornered Allied forces onto the beaches of Dunkirk, France. And rather than wasting valuable tanks to finish them off, the Germans bombard these helpless soldiers with an aerial attack of gunfire and bombs. But as word spreads to the common folk of Great Britain that their young fighters are stranded on the beachfront, they take matters into their own hands and embark on a heroic rescue mission across the channel to retrieve their soldiers. Look no furt
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The Snowman and The Disaster Artist Trailers

From the acclaimed Best Selling Novel comes Tomas Alfredson's (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Let the Right One In) October murder-mystery, The Snowman . Michael Fassbender stars as Harry Hole, a detective determined to find a killer who taunts the police with snowmen at his crime scenes. Readers were enthralled by the novel and if the film can be anywhere near as good, then we may have the year's most gripping crime-thriller on our hands. Check out the debut trailer for The Snowman which just dropped this morning. Tommy Wiseau's 2003 indie film, The Room , has been labeled as one of the worst films ever made, but that hasn't stopped it from earning an impressive cult following. And after debuting a "work in progress" screening at this year's SXSW Film Festival, James Franco's behind-the-scenes darkly comic, albeit respectful, dramatization, The Disaster Artist , became the talk of the town. Franco's brother, Dave, and regular partner in crime, Set
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