Josh Bell
Story Archive
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Screen
Pixar plays it safe with 'The Good Dinosaur'
Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 Not surprisingly for Pixar, the animation is gorgeous to look at, and it’s solid, pleasurable entertainment for kids.
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'Brooklyn' presents an optimistic view of immigrant life
Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 Eilis is a good person who deserves a good life, and even through her occasional inner turmoil, she’s able to achieve it.
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Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt lounge around in the vapid 'By the Sea'
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015 Their life is full of ennui, thanks to a previous tragedy alluded to throughout the movie but only revealed at the end.
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Marvel’s downbeat 'Jessica Jones' hits the same notes too often
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015 "...a bit monotonous, and the grim tone doesn’t help."
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Games over: "Mockingjay -Part 2' competently wraps up Hunger Games series
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015 Jennifer Lawrence, as ever, is excellent as Katniss.
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‘Secret in Their Eyes’ remakes a pedestrian thriller into something even less interesting
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015 Without strong, believable characters, Secret in Their Eyes is just a generic thriller.
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'Spotlight' tells an important story about people who tell important stories
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2015 The film tells the tale of the Boston Globe reporters who broke the story of sexual abuse and cover-ups in the Catholic Church.
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Football drama ‘My All American’ is an epic fumble
Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 Instead of genuine inspiration, the movie provides only flimsy, superficial positivity.
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Horror, international drama and animated shorts highlight this year’s AFI Fest
Friday, Nov. 13, 2015 The great thing about a film festival like AFI's is that almost any choice will turn out okay.
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'Into the Badlands' mixes martial arts, fantasy into a flavorless mush
Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015 Sounds like it could be cool, but ...
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'Labyrinth of Lies' explores post-WWII Nazi cover-ups
Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2015 The procedural details behind building a case against war criminals can be riveting.
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A&E
Daniel Craig (possibly) says goodbye as Bond in the uneven 'Spectre'
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015 Despite the reliable thrills and sights, the filmmakers strain to tie the last four 007 films together.
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Maximum weeping potential: Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette deal with death and friendship in 'Miss You Already'
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015 Friends to the end.
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Aziz Ansari makes his own way in 'Master of None'
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015 Master of None has a loose, low-key tone that makes it both charmingly unpredictable and occasionally inscrutable.
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Noise
Album review: Ellie Goulding's 'Delirium'
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015 Selling out with style? The artist's "big pop album" is fairly generic.
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'The Peanuts Movie' delivers a faithful rendition of Charlie Brown and friends
Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015 It’s a bit like watching the Peanuts greatest hits.
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Three questions with local filmmaker Joshua A. Cohen
Thursday, Oct. 29, 2015 The screenwriter/producer's long-gestating Red Herring comes out October 30 at AMC Town Square.
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'Truth' takes a high-minded view of a TV-news scandal
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015 The movie is never quite as rousing as it’s trying to be, but it comes close enough.
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Noise
Album review: Carrie Underwood's 'Storyteller'
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015 The American Idol champ sticks with a proven pop-country formula on her fifth album.
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Screen
'Ash vs. Evil Dead' is an entertaining continuation
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015 Fans of Sam Raimi's original films who were disappointed in the 2013 remake will likely be pleased by the new Starz series.
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'Burnt' cooks up bland drama
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015 Burnt is filled with images of gorgeously prepared food, but its story is significantly less flavorful.
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‘The Ghost Dimension’ ends the ‘Paranormal Activity’ series with a whimper
Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 If we’re lucky, the producers will keep their promise not to make any more of these movies.
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‘Jem and the Holograms’ is truly, outrageously dull
Friday, Oct. 23, 2015 Prepare for a predictable, drawn-out and cheesy story about remaining true to yourself in the face of pressures to sell out.
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'Steve Jobs' plays like an uneven portrait of the Apple leader
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015 The main takeaway: Steve Jobs was a jerk.
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'Rock the Kasbah' crashes like a musical-comedy-drama train wreck
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015 Bill Murray coasts through a familiar part as a lovable loser.
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Noise
Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato strive for maturity—with similar results
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015 Reviewing new albums from the two teen queens turned pop stars.
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Screen
With 'Jem and the Holograms' arriving onscreen, here's four old-school cartoons we’d like to see in theaters
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015 How about live-action Care Bears?
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'Supergirl' makes for a welcome addition to the DC Comics TV family
Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015 Supergirl has the same bright, geek-friendly tone that has worked so well for The Flash.
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'Crimson Peak' is all creepy atmosphere
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 And while its atmosphere is spectacular, its story is a bit stale.
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'Goodnight Mommy' explores domestic horrors
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 The Austrian horror movie is more slow burn than all-out terror.
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Film review: 'Coming Home'
Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2015 The movie a striking mix of melodrama and melancholy.
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Noise
Garbage digs deep for a concert celebrating its debut album
Monday, Oct. 12, 2015 Back to the '90s! The band's set was a real treat for longtime fans.
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Television
Trevor Noah gets off to an uneven start as the new host of 'The Daily Show'
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015 It won’t be easy for Noah to carve out a unique identity for himself in a late-night landscape that includes shows hosted by four former Daily Show correspondents.
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'Pan' gives Peter Pan a confused, unnecessary origin story
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015 The film pretends to add to a beloved mythology while instead mostly just cheapening it.
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Television
Musical comedy 'Crazy Ex-Girlfriend' brings an appealing mix
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015 The most promising new show of a fairly dismal fall TV season.
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Noise
Route 91 Harvest fest revs up for its big move with another success
Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2015 Country fans crowded the Las Vegas Village for sets from mainstream stars.
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Screen
Matt Damon gets lost in space in the riveting sci-fi drama 'The Martian'
Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015 A balance of strong humor with serious danger and uncertainty with a cast full of great actors.
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Comedy malpractice: Family sitcom 'Dr. Ken' is DOA
Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015 Ken Jeong has had scene-stealing roles as oddball characters, but a little of his manic energy goes a long way.
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Film review: 'Queen of Earth'
Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015 Elisabeth Moss re-teams with writer-director Alex Ross Perry.
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'The Walk' attempts to balance spectacle with truth
Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2015 The film tells the tale about Phillippe Petit's high-wire stunt at the World Trade Center in 1974.
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'Stonewall' does a disservice to LGBT history
Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015 Disaster-monger Roland Emmerich reduces the historical 1969 riot to an afterthought and his characters to shallow caricatures.
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'Pawn Sacrifice' runs into biopic stalemate
Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015 A superficial biography that fixates on Bobby Fischer's mental anguish rather than his chess conquests.
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Rom-com ‘Sleeping With Other People’ is love at first sight
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015 Genuine, flawed characters and a frank tone about both sexuality and emotional hang-ups.
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'The Player' is another misconceived Vegas-set TV series
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015 The show’s version of Vegas is all sin and no city, with basic, glaring geography errors.
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'Heroes Reborn' tastes like superhero leftovers
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015 "An odd choice to bring back from the dead."
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TV
'The Grinder' is one of the better new comedies of the fall season
Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015 Rob Lowe and Fred Savage take on the courtroom.
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'Everest' tells a true story of mountain-climbing disaster
Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015 Despite lightweight characters, Baltasar Kormákur’s big-budget drama offers thrilling, visceral adventure.
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'Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials' is generic post-apocalypse nonsense
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015 The main cast of young people is as bland and forgettable as the end-of-the-world clichés they’re forced to navigate.
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'Scream Queens' is a bloody mess
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015 Ryan Murphy brings the worst qualities of his previous shows to the abysmal Scream Queens.
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Action thriller 'Blindspot' combines absurdity with tedium
Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2015 Blindspot is full of action-movie nonsense, along with shadowy conspiracy stuff.