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Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan is the film critic for the Los Angeles Times and NPR's Morning Edition, as well as the director of the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes.
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Kenneth Turan

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Who Knew? Honest Abe Rid The World Of The Undead

With a movie title like Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, it's no mystery what the plot is. Young Mr. Lincoln is tutored by an experienced vampire killer and goes into training with his trusty ax. He bears a special grudge against vampires because they killed his mother.

Who Knew? Honest Abe Rid The World Of The Undead

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Will 'Prometheus' Top 'Alien' Or 'Blade Runner'?

Director Ridley Scott has made two of the best science fiction films of modern times, Alien and Blade Runner. Prometheus is more involving than this year's summer blockbuster competition, but by the standards of the director's earlier films, it's a disappointment.

Will 'Prometheus' Top 'Alien' Or 'Blade Runner'?

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'Amour' Captures Buzz At Cannes Film Festival

The movie being talked about the most at this year's Cannes Film Festival in the south of France is Michael Haneke's Amour. It's the 65th anniversary of the festival.

'Amour' Captures Buzz At Cannes Film Festival

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'Avengers' Usher In Summer Blockbuster Movies

Marvel's The Avengers is expected to break box-office records. If you have to watch a bunch of superheroes and explosions, this movie provides good ones.

'Avengers' Usher In Summer Blockbuster Movies

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Stop Motion Animation Brings 'Band Of Misfits' Alive

Stop motion animation, where physical objects are manipulated literally frame by frame to give the illusion of movement, is one of the oldest movie techniques, but it's being used in a brand new film called The Pirates! Band of Misfits.

Stop Motion Animation Brings 'Band Of Misfits' Alive

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'Marley' Has Great Music, Remarkable Personal Story

Bob Marley, who was only 36 when he died in 1981, could be a dusty musical footnote by now. Instead, the enormous popularity of this transcendent reggae superstar shows no sign of going away, and Marley, a moving and authoritative new documentary, explains why.

'Marley' Has Great Music, Remarkable Personal Story

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Get Your Geek On With 'Comic-Con Episode IV'

Movie maker Morgan Spurlock, director and star of Supersize Me and The Greatest Story Ever Sold, has a documentary opening on the West Coast this weekend: Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope. It introduces a group of determined popular culture enthusiasts who've come to San Diego's enormous convention in the summer of 2010 to pursue their different but connected dreams.

Get Your Geek On With 'Comic-Con Episode IV'

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'Bully' Examines Students Targeted By Their Peers

The new documentary Bully opens Friday, and it has an emotional impact that must be seen to be understood. The film hop scotches across the country looking at the situations of five different children that have suffered the effects of bullying.

'Bully' Examines Students Targeted By Their Peers

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Passion Is The Heroine In 'The Deep Blue Sea'

The relationships between a husband and wife and the woman's lover play out unexpectedly in The Deep Blue Sea. It stars Rachel Weisz as the wife who has an affair in postwar London.

Passion Is The Heroine In 'The Deep Blue Sea'

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'Footnote' Takes On Ambition, Father-Son Rivalry

Footnote is set in Jerusalem's Hebrew University and deals with the implacable rivalry between two scholars of the Talmud, the complex and sacred text of the Jewish religious tradition. These competitive scholars, the misanthropic Eliezer and the gregarious Uriel, also just happen to be father and son.

'Footnote' Takes On Ambition, Father-Son Rivalry

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'Lorax' Speaks Loud, Clear And Green For Trees

To expand Dr. Seuss' slim volume to theatrical feature length, a whole lot of plot and heaping handfuls of characters needed to be invented. These new individuals are for the most part unpleasant, and the new aspects of the story are forced.

'Lorax' Speaks Loud, Clear And Green For Trees

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Real Navy SEALs Star In 'Act Of Valor'

The new film Act of Valor blurs the line between the real and the unreal something fierce. The movie shot genuine SEAL training exercises, but the script couldn't be more generic.

Real Navy SEALs Star In 'Act Of Valor'

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Borrowers' Tiny World Comes Alive In 'Arrietty'

The new film The Secret World of Arrietty is based on Mary Norton's celebrated 1952 novel The Borrowers. It's about a race of tiny people who live among us but prefer to go unseen.

Borrowers' Tiny World Comes Alive In 'Arrietty'

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