Category Archives: Movies

Review: My Everything

Director Anne-Sophie Bailly piles one melodramatic layer on top of another in her tale about Mona (Laure Calamy), a late middle aged single mother trying to live her life as naturally as she can while caring for her thirty-something special-needs … Continue reading

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Review: Spermageddon

This Norwegian animated feature splits the difference between cautionary health class lesson and gross-out comedy, and in the process loses some of its intended effect on both tracks, but it’s still an inventive and funny film. Most of if takes … Continue reading

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Review: Together and Frewaka

For much of the moviegoing public, suspension of disbelief remains a requirement, and not just with regards to fantasy, horror, or sci-fi genre films; but fantasy, horror, and sci-fi pretty much constitute the bread-and-butter of contemporary commercial filmmaking, so the … Continue reading

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Review: Legends of the Condor Heroes: The Gallants

Though two-and-a-half-hours long, Tsui Hark’s distillation of a good portion of Louis Cha’s historical fantasy epic (which has been called China’s Lord of the Rings) feels rushed, at least for the first hour, probably because there’s so much stuff going … Continue reading

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Review: Holding Back the Tide

As a nature documentary whose chief purpose is to say something about protecting the environment, Emily Packer’s unique film has a significant advantage: it’s about an animal that is considered a kind of luxury food, the oyster. Limiting her setting … Continue reading

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Review: The Running Man and Mars Express

There’s something both thrilling and slightly deflating about the continued popularity of Stephen King after a gazillion novels and short stories, most of which have been adapted as films or TV shows. On the one hand, his lean prose and … Continue reading

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Review: Queendom

In recent comments about Shiori Ito’s Oscar-nominated Black Box Diaries, fellow documentary filmmaker Miki Dezaki pointed out that documentary films should not be considered journalism but rather the viewpoint on a particular topic by the filmmaker. This isn’t to say … Continue reading

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Review: Olivia & the Clouds

It might come as a surprise to many dedicated movie freaks that Dominica has a vital animated film community; not a hugely influential one, admittedly, but large enough to make this singular production stand out in a world of inventive … Continue reading

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Review: Mercy and Project Y

Last week a video of Ben Affleck talking in depth about A.I. in the film industry went viral. Affleck’s assessment of the commercial and financial impact of A.I. on his business was sober and measured, which actually made his pronouncements … Continue reading

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Review: Five Nights at Freddy’s 2

The inevitable sequel to the very successful 2023 movie adaptation of the equally popular video game slightly improves on its predecessor in that its storytelling is more abstract. The problem I had with the first movie was its byzantine plotting … Continue reading

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