Articles by Robert Bell

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  Zero Dark Thirty [Blu-Ray]

  Kathryn Bigelow

  PUBLISHED Mar 22, 2013

  Following the September 11th attacks, intelligence scrambled to evaluate the looming threat and determine where and when the next terrorist...

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  When a Woman Ascends the Stairs

  Mikio Naruse

  PUBLISHED Mar 22, 2013

  Following the trajectory of many works by Mikio Naruse, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs deconstructs and analyzes the rapid cultural change...

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  From Up on Poppy Hill

  Goro Miyazaki

  PUBLISHED Mar 21, 2013

  What's peculiar about Goro Miyazaki's facile take on the importance of preserving history, From Up on Poppy Hill, is that it doesn't benefi...

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  The Croods 3D

  Kirk De Micco & Chris Sanders

  PUBLISHED Mar 21, 2013

  During the opening moments of The Croods, Chris Sanders' follow-up to the better than expected How to Train Your Dragon, the titular family...

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  The Matrix

  Lana & Andy Wachowski

  PUBLISHED Mar 21, 2013

  Upon release, The Matrix was a bit of a shock to the populist system, featuring a cynical metaphysical narrative that flipped the bird to t...

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  Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

  Steve Barron

  PUBLISHED Mar 20, 2013

  Even in its time, the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie was visibly dated. It was independently financed, going on to become the...

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  The Iron Giant

  Brad Bird

  PUBLISHED Mar 19, 2013

  In many ways, the Cold War era was about the loss of American innocence. The country had fought Civil and World wars by this time, waging...

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  The Blob

  Irwin S. Yeaworth

  PUBLISHED Mar 17, 2013

  As discussed on one of the two commentary tracks included with the Criterion Blu-ray release of The Blob, director Irwin S. Yeaworth wasn't...