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Leslie Sisman
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Leslie Sisman writes about the things you want to know before you choose a movie. She spent many years working in advertising, where she regularly had to turn techno-garble into understandable prose. But her early love of theater and film never died. She has always been a great source for movie recommendations among friends. Ten years ago, she started putting her thoughts into writing and emailing them to friends who regularly asked for recommendations… and regularly asked her to add their friends to her email list.

Since 2009, Leslie has published movie “PREviews” on Popcorn Diary (www.popcorndiary.com). Unlike movie reviews, Popcorn Previews are less about opinion and more about giving readers a feel for whether or not the film is likely to match their movie preferences. She offers a totally fresh take on making a movie selection.

Blog Entries by Leslie Sisman

Popcorn Preview: The Iceman

(0) Comments | Posted May 10, 2013 | 9:30 PM

Film: The Iceman (2012)
Cast includes: Michael Shannon (Mud), Winona Ryder (Girl, Interrupted), Chris Evans (The Avengers), Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), David Schwimmer (Friends)
Director: Ariel Vromen (Danika)
Genre: Drama | Crime | Thriller (106 minutes)

"Mr. Kuklinski, Do you have any regrets for the things you've done?"...

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Popcorn Preview: The Attack

(0) Comments | Posted May 10, 2013 | 9:25 PM

Film: The Attack (L'attentat) (2012)
Cast includes: Ali Suliman (Body of Lies), Reymond Amsalem (Rendition), Dvir Benedek (A Matter of Size), Uri Gavriel (The Dark Knight Rises), Karim Saleh (Iron Man 2)
Writer/Director: Ziad Doueiri (Lila Says, West Beirut), based on the novel by Yasmina Khadra
Genre:...

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Popcorn Preview: What Maisie Knew

(0) Comments | Posted May 10, 2013 | 9:21 PM

Film: What Maisie Knew (2012)
Cast includes: Julianne Moore (Crazy, Stupid, Love.), Steve Coogan (24 Hour Party People), Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood), Joanna Vanderham (Young James Herriot), Onata Aprile (Yellow, The History of Future Folk)
Director: Scott McGehee & David Siegel (The Deep End, Uncertainty)
Genre: Drama...

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Popcorn Preview: Mud

(0) Comments | Posted April 29, 2013 | 5:47 PM

Film: Mud (2012)
Cast includes: Matthew McConaughey (The Lincoln Lawyer), Tye Sheridan (The Tree of Life), Jacob Lofland, Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line), Sarah Paulson (Game Change), Ray McKinnon (The Blind Side), Sam Shepard (Black Hawk Down), Michael Shannon (Take Shelter), Joe Don Baker (Cape Fear)
Writer/Director: Jeff...

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Popcorn Preview: The Reluctant Fundamentalist

(0) Comments | Posted April 27, 2013 | 11:39 AM

Film: The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012)
Cast includes: Riz Ahmed (Four Lions), Live Schreiber (Defiance), Kate Hudson (Almost Famous), Kiefer Sutherland (Phone Booth)
Director: Mira Nair (The Namesake)
Genre: Drama | Thriller (130 minutes) Mostly English with parts in Urdu with subtitles

Lahore, 2011... The pulsing rhythm of...

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Popcorn Preview: In the House

(0) Comments | Posted April 27, 2013 | 11:35 AM

Film: In the House (2012) ["Dans la maison"]
Cast includes: Francois Ozon (Swimming Pool)
Director: Fabrice Luchini (The Woman on the 6th Floor), Ernst Umhauer (The Monk), Kristin Scott Thomas (Gosford Park), Emmanuelle Seigner (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Denis Ménochet (Inglourious Basterds)
Genre: Mystery |...

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Popcorn Preview: 42

(0) Comments | Posted April 16, 2013 | 4:29 PM

Film: 42 (2013)
Cast includes: Chadwick Boseman (The Kill Hole), Harrison Ford (Clear and Present Danger), Nicole Beharie (American Violet), Christopher Meloni (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit)
Writer/Director: Brian Helgeland (Mystic River, The Order)
Genre: Drama | Biography | Sports (128 minutes)

"In 1945, America's greatest...

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Popcorn Preview: Disconnect

(0) Comments | Posted April 16, 2013 | 4:22 PM

Film: Disconnect (2012)
Cast includes: Jason Bateman (Up in the Air), Hope Davis (The Weather Man), Frank Grillo (The Grey), Michael Nyqvist (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Paula Patton (Precious), Andrea Riseborough (Made in Dagenham), Alexander Skarsgard (True Blood), Max Thieriot (House at the End of the Street),...

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Popcorn Preview: Down the Shore

(0) Comments | Posted April 13, 2013 | 6:43 PM

Film: Down the Shore (2011)
Cast includes: James Gandolfini (The Sopranos), Famke Janssen (X-Men), Edoardo Costa (Live Free or Die Hard), Joseph Pope (Tinsel Town)
Director: Harold Guskin (directorial debut), Writer: Sandra Jennings (debut feature film)
Genre: Drama (93 minutes)

Jacques's hand-cranked marry-go-round is one of only...

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Popcorn Preview: The Company You Keep

(1) Comments | Posted April 13, 2013 | 6:38 PM

Film: The Company You Keep (2012)
Cast includes: Robert Redford (Spy Game), Shia LaBeouf (Transformers), Julie Christie (Finding Neverland), Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking), Nick Nolte (Cape Fear), Chris Cooper (The Bourne Identity), Terrence Howard (Iron Man), Stanley Tucci (The Devil Wears Prada), Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under), Anna...

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Popcorn Preview: Stories We Tell

(0) Comments | Posted April 13, 2013 | 6:33 PM

Film: Stories We Tell (2012)
Writer/Director: Sarah Polley (Take This Waltz)
Genre: Documentary (108 minutes)

"When you're in the middle of a story, it isn't a story at all." --Margaret Atwood
"I hope you'll explain what you're trying to do," one of them asks. "It's an interrogation...

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Popcorn Preview: House of Cards (2013)

(1) Comments | Posted March 31, 2013 | 8:48 AM

Film: House of Cards (2013)
Cast includes: Kevin Spacey (Se7ev), Robin Wright (Moneyball), Michael Kelly (The Adjustment Bureau), Michael Gill (Ideal), Corey Stoll (The Bourne Legacy), Kate Mara (127 Hours), Sakina Jaffrey (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead), Kristen Connolly (Revolutionary Road)
Writer/Creator: Beau Willimon (The Ides of...

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Popcorn Preview: Beyond the Hills

(0) Comments | Posted March 26, 2013 | 1:46 PM

Film: Beyond the Hills (2012)
Cast includes: Cosmina Stratin, Cristina Flutur, Valeriu Andriuta
Writer/Director: Cristian Mungiu (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days)
Genre: Drama (150 minutes) Romanian with subtitles

"Calm down. Calm down." It's a tearful reunion at the train station between Voichita and her...

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Popcorn Preview: The Sapphires

(0) Comments | Posted March 26, 2013 | 1:44 PM

Film: The Sapphires (2012)
Cast includes: Chris O'Dowd (Bridesmaids), Deborah Mailman (Rabbit-Proof Fence), Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens, Miranda Tapsell
Director: Wayne Blair (Redfern Now)
Genre: Comedy | Light Drama | Music (103 minutes)

We first see Gail, Cynthia, Kay and Julie in 1958 when they're on...

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Popcorn Preview: The Place Beyond the Pines

(1) Comments | Posted March 19, 2013 | 1:57 PM

Film: The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)
Cast includes: Ryan Gosling (The Ides of March), Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Eva Mendes (Hitch), Rose Byrne (Get Him to the Greek), Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom), Mahershala Ali (House of Cards)
Writer/Director: Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine)
Genre: Drama |...

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Popcorn Preview: The Angels' Share

(0) Comments | Posted March 19, 2013 | 1:53 PM

Film: The Angels' Share (2012)
Cast includes: Paul Brannigan, John Henshaw (Red Riding: In the Year of Our Lord 1974), Siobhan Reilly (Book of Blood), Roger Allam (The Queen)
Writer: Paul Laverty (The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Sweet Sixteen)
Director: Ken Loach (The Wind That Shakes...

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Popcorn Preview: Reality

(0) Comments | Posted March 13, 2013 | 4:04 PM

Film: Reality (2012)
Cast includes: Aniello Arena (first film), Loredana Simioli, Nando Paone (Welcome to the South)
Writer/Director: Matteo Garrone (Gomorrah)
Genre: Comedy | Drama (116 minutes) Italian with subtitles

As the camera lovingly scans the rooftops of Naples, a gold-gilt horse-drawn carriage eventually catches our eye....

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Popcorn Preview: Admission

(0) Comments | Posted March 13, 2013 | 3:56 PM

Film: Admission (2013)
Cast includes: Paul Rudd (I Love You, Man), Michael Sheen (Frost/Nixon), Tina Fey (30 Rock), Lily Tomlin (Nine to Five), Nat Wolff (Peace, Love, & Misunderstanding), Travaris Spears
Director: Paul Weitz (About a Boy)
Genre: Comedy | Romance (100 minutes)

"What's the secret...

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Popcorn Preview: No

(0) Comments | Posted February 24, 2013 | 9:41 AM

Film: No (2012)
Cast includes: Gael García Bernal (The Motorcycle Diaries), Alfredo Castro (Tony Manero), Antonia Zegers (Post Mortem)
Writer/Director: Pablo Larraín (Tony Manero, Post Mortem)
Genre: Drama | History (118 minutes) Spanish with subtitles

In the first minutes, we get a whirlwind history lesson... 1973, General...

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Popcorn Preview: Lore

(1) Comments | Posted February 14, 2013 | 11:31 AM

Film: Lore (2012)
Cast includes: Saskia Rosendahl (Für Elise), Ursina Lardi (The White Ribbon), Kai-Peter Malina (The White Ribbon), Nele Trebs (Krupp: A Family Between War and Peace)
Writer/Director: Cate Shortland (Sumersault)
Genre: Drama | War (109 minutes) German with subtitles

Living in Germany's Black Forest, it's...

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