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January 10, 2013 Ruben Fleischer's pulpy, violent noir homage is big on extralegal anti-mob action and paced like a dime-store novel — but it's noticeably short on nuance.

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January 10, 2013 Barry Battles' The Baytown Outlaws aims at criminal comedy, and the film's joyous mashup of traditional crime and modern music makes for one splashy trip down along the Gulf Coast.

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January 10, 2013 Forced to move back home with his family after a messy breakup, Reuben (Nicolas Maury) must come to terms with both his mother (Carmen Maura) and his French- Jewish roots.

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January 10, 2013 Struck by Lightning is an all-too-familiar teen movie, with Glee star Chris Colfer as a small-town high-schooler struggling to make the grade — though Rebel Wilson adds zest to the film as his eager literary minion.

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January 7, 2013 The 1971 John Schlesinger film, recently released on Blu-ray, tells the story of a love triangle and makes moving use of a trio from the opera Cosi fan tutte as the film's musical theme.

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On Fresh Air from WHYYPlaylist

January 1, 2013 The time travel thriller Looper, starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, rewrote the rules on the standard science-fiction film. NPR movie critic Bob Mondello explains the loops that are closed by delving into the Blu-ray release.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

December 27, 2012 West of Memphis treads well-worn ground: the story of three teenagers wrongly accused of murdering children in 1993. Critic Mark Jenkins says the detective story woven by this documentary is a welcome addition to the coverage. (Recommended)

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December 27, 2012 Writer-director Miguel Gomes writes a love letter to old films in the Portugese film Tabu. A man's reminiscence about lost love, told by using film techniques of days past, lends itself to the charm critic Ian Buckwalter sees throughout the movie. (Recommended)

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December 27, 2012 Gus Van Sant's Promised Land, written by and starring Matt Damon and John Krasinski, explores the costs and benefits of natural gas extraction in rural Pennsylvania. Critic Jeannette Catsoulis says the plot takes a turn for the cliche, but the performances and style make up for it. (Recommended)

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