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‘Point Break’ (1991) a dumb, then great, action classic 

Movie narratives aren’t usually shot chronologically, but “Point Break” (1991) plays like the filmmakers are learning and improving as they go. The opening walk-and-talk between

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Lazy sequel ‘Deep Blue Sea 2’ (2018) bites the big one 

As time goes by, Renny Harlin’s “Deep Blue Sea” (1999) is becoming more appreciated as a great horror action thriller from the dawn of CGI

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‘Dealing’ (1972) a still-relevant time capsule of Drug War 

“Comedy” is one of the categories IMDb lists for “Dealing, or The Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues” (1972). But this is the driest kind of comedy

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The near-futurist: All 28 Michael Crichton novels, ranked 

We’ll never get another novel from Michael Crichton (1942-2008), unless another manuscript emerges from his old computer files as if by magic – as most

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Dark horror-comedy serves up ‘Fresh’ dating insights 

If you tend to take spoiler warnings casually, take it more seriously with “Fresh” (Hulu) when it comes up later in this post. Writer Lauryn Kahn

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‘The Gift’ (2015) bullies its way to being great thriller 

In “The Gift” (2015), husband and wife Simon and Robyn (Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall) have dinner with guest Gordo (Joel Edgerton). They aren’t truly

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Peter Benchley’s ‘Jaws’ (1974) goes beyond the shark stuff

Peter Benchley wrote “Jaws” (1974) before the boom of shark literature and films — indeed, his book and the subsequent Steven Spielberg movie (1975) launched

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Beavis and Butt-head score with ‘Do the Universe’ 

I wasn’t the biggest fan of “Beavis and Butt-head” during its 1993-97 run. Not because of the lowbrow humor – the brow level was comfortably

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Osborne dusts off ‘Black Coffee’ in 1998 novelization 

Charles Osborne, who acted in this very play in 1956 and went on to become an opera critic, transfers Agatha Christie’s 1930 play “Black Coffee”

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Cuthbert’s ‘The Cellar’ has fun with spooky math 

Many horror fans have lived in a house with a creepy basement – one where you flick the lights off and charge upstairs to escape

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