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B-
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The Convert
(2023)
|
Nadine Whitney
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Tamahori’s commitment to showing authentic Māori culture on the screen is where The Convent finds its footing.
Posted Jul 19, 2024
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C-
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Skywalkers: A Love Story
(2024)
|
M.N. Miller
|
We have reached a point in the cinema timeline where documentary films have become akin to scripted reality television... the depth and themes of directors Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Bukhonina’s film are nothing more than a social media reel or post.
Posted Jul 18, 2024
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C
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Cherry
(2022)
|
Daryl MacDonald
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Although they bring a wonderful stylishness to Cherry, the Russos can’t quite bring it home. There is too much story and not enough substance here.
Posted Jul 17, 2024
|
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B
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Blow the Man Down
(2019)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
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Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy have established that they're a directing team to watch out for.
Posted Jul 17, 2024
|
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A
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The Third Wife
(2018)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
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Mayfair’s first film is one well-constructed and daring examination of such injustices, and it’s absolutely worth checking out.
Posted Jul 17, 2024
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B
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Twisters
(2024)
|
M.N. Miller
|
A "firenado," twin twisters, and even a meta movie theater moment? Let your mind go, and just enjoy the ride.
Posted Jul 17, 2024
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B
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Retablo
(2017)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
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Made with precision and tons of heart and featuring a luminous leading performance from Junior Bejar, Retablo is not to be missed.
Posted Jul 17, 2024
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B+
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Les misérables
(2019)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
It’s disconcerting how relevant Les Misérables is, isn’t it? Which one am I talking about? You pick.
Posted Jul 17, 2024
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B-
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Sweetheart
(2021)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
The film itself could've used more of an edge. Because once you carve out the lead performance and the central theme, Sweetheart is just your run-of-the-mill-sole-survivor-stranded-on-a-deserted-island-fending-off-a-carnivorous-aquatic-monster movie.
Posted Jul 17, 2024
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|
A
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Disclosure
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
Along with providing an academic context to the content, the contributors offer personal anecdotes.
Posted Jul 17, 2024
|
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B+
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Palm Springs
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
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There's certainly a hidden gravity to the film, a low-key melancholy. But nonetheless Palm Spring is absolutely a comedy, albeit a dark one—ironically set in sunny paradise.
Posted Jul 17, 2024
|
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D
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Waiting for Anya
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
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Considering the target audience for this film is children, I’m somewhat willing to begrudgingly forgive its many missteps. Its many missteps. And missteps is wording it, shall we say, lightly.
Posted Jul 17, 2024
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B
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The Beach House
(2019)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
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Liberato is a performer who I can see becoming a perennial casting choice among genre auteurs.
Posted Jul 17, 2024
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C-
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The Rental
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
If Dave Franco is indeed determined to keep directing—and if each picture manages to be slightly better than the last—then by his fifth or sixth film he’ll surely churn out something noteworthy...
Posted Jul 17, 2024
|
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B
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Sputnik
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
Sputnik is just shy of two hours, and the first two-thirds are pretty spellbinding. The final act of the film forgoes its sense of intrigue in exchange for balls-to-the-wall, cat-and-mouse action that, while natural, doesn't quite land.
Posted Jul 16, 2024
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D-
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The Gallows Act II
(2019)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
To put your viewers through an hour and a half of hackneyed horror tropes and technical misfires only to dole out a real dud of an ending is just straight-up rude...
Posted Jul 16, 2024
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|
|
Miss Juneteenth
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
I’ve been a fan of Nicole Beharie since the first episode of Sleepy Hollow aired, and I’m so glad that a feature film finally gave her the opportunity to showcase her craft.
Posted Jul 16, 2024
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|
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Freaky
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
Slasher films need to emulate the slashers themselves and refuse to stay dead, and Freaky is a great case for why
Posted Jul 16, 2024
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|
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Never Rarely Sometimes Always
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
My kingdom for Eliza Hittman! Of all the movies I encountered in 2020, hers was the most…human.
Posted Jul 16, 2024
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|
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His House
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
I cannot wait to see what director Remi Weekes does next. His House blew me away with how it successfully reinvents the haunted house story to explore the horrors of being an immigrant in a xenophobic world.
Posted Jul 16, 2024
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|
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Boys State
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
In the end, Boys State becomes an indictment of the whole American election process.
Posted Jul 16, 2024
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|
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The Forty-Year-Old Version
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
Radha Blank’s film filled me with such strength.
Posted Jul 16, 2024
|
|
A
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The Invisible Man
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
Sublime without becoming overly sentimental, Invisible Life plays out like Douglas Sirk by way of Todd Haynes with a dash of Claire Denis.
Posted Jul 16, 2024
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|
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I Carry You With Me
(2020)
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Brandon Stanwyck
|
Help, my soul has been shattered, and Heidi Ewing is the culprit! How she found a way to seamlessly weave her documentary background into this narrative feature film is simply astounding. My jaw is still on the floor.
Posted Jul 16, 2024
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|
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She Dies Tomorrow
(2020)
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Brandon Stanwyck
|
This film is not for everyone. The responses have been quite divisive and understandably so. But those of us who get this movie, really get it. I have a feeling that I’ll be revisiting this movie regularly.
Posted Jul 16, 2024
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|
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Nomadland
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
Cinema peaked when Frances McDormand went in that five-gallon bucket.
Posted Jul 16, 2024
|
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B
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Death Drop Gorgeous
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
The film trips over its own hem from time to time, but I was never not entertained, and that has to count for something.
Posted Jul 16, 2024
|
|
C-
|
Apartment 413
(2019)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
Apartment 413, unfortunately, leaves too many stones unturned.
Posted Jul 16, 2024
|
|
B+
|
The Old Ways
(2021)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
Brigitte Kali Canales pushes her character in so many unexpected directions on her journey to rediscovering her roots that the hard pivot the film takes in its final act actually works.
Posted Jul 16, 2024
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D+
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Ouija Japan
(2021)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
The film gives her a slow and steady build, but by the time Karen reaches her final rank, I had regrettably already checked out.
Posted Jul 16, 2024
|
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B-
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Time Now
(2021)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
The plot is not the main event here, anyway. The craft of Eleanor Lambert, Claudia Black, and Xxavier Polk are infinitely more arresting than the script they're working with...
Posted Jul 16, 2024
|
|
A
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Holler
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
Nicole Riegel’s rendering of this region comes from a visceral heartfelt connection to this place, her home...
Posted Jul 15, 2024
|
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D+
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Blame the Game
(2024)
|
M.N. Miller
|
The humor is south of average, even mediocre, and while the characters are likable, Mojen and Ushe do have a flirty energy, that’s not enough to recommend a stale comedy that feels too long at a sparse 90 minutes.
Posted Jul 15, 2024
|
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B
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Workhorse Queen
(2021)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
Mrs. Kasha Davis deserves to be among this hypothetical nothing-but-bangers cast of mine because Angela Washko's film is here to make it clear that Davis' charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent is boundless.
Posted Jul 15, 2024
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B-
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Jump, Darling
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
It’s a role that requires vulnerability, and Leachman demonstrates a willingness to do what needs to be done to give Margaret the dignity she so deserves. There will never be another Cloris.
Posted Jul 15, 2024
|
|
D
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Come True
(2020)
|
Brandon Stanwyck
|
Unfortunately, Anthony Scott Burns chose to end Come True with a lazy, fatuous twist-for-the-sake-of-a-twist affront to everyone who’d just given him 100 minutes of their time.
Posted Jul 15, 2024
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|
A
|
A First Farewell
(2018)
|
Weiting Liu
|
From the children’s innocent perspectives of their separation from a dear friend, this film is an essential and emotional viewing experience.
Posted Jul 15, 2024
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|
|
Hud
(1963)
|
Kristin Battestella
|
A heavy, cathartic viewing experience for any fan of nuanced film.
Posted Jul 15, 2024
|
|
B
|
Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free
(2021)
|
Alessandra Rangel
|
This project turned out to be special because it found Petty trying to create something on his own and away from the “democratic process..."
Posted Jul 15, 2024
|
|
C-
|
The Neon Highway
(2024)
|
M.N. Miller
|
The Neon Highway cannot help itself from tripping into country cliches more than most.
Posted Jul 15, 2024
|
|
D+
|
Vanished Into the Night
(2024)
|
M.N. Miller
|
Vanished Into the Night is one of the more mediocre thrillers you will ever see. The plot is paper-thin, and the script is as shallow as the Trevi Fountain. Too bad no one made a wish to make a more competent film experience.
Posted Jul 15, 2024
|
|
B
|
Longlegs
(2024)
|
Will Bjarnar
|
Longlegs is, indeed, a tale in which terror is ever-present. It just doesn’t manage to lurk in the shadows as long nor as subtly as we convinced ourselves it would.
Posted Jul 12, 2024
|
|
B
|
Kinds of Kindness
(2024)
|
JD Duran
|
A part of me wants to love Kinds of Kindness as its ideas of control - funneled through corporate, marital and religious lenses - are pretty gripping, but there isn't enough time to fully realize everything its aiming for.
Posted Jul 10, 2024
|
|
D
|
Escape
(2024)
|
Maxance Vincent
|
Escape can’t impress, even if Jong-pil tries to visually dazzle with a fast-paced and almost relentless barrage of action.
Posted Jul 10, 2024
|
|
C+
|
Fly Me to the Moon
(2024)
|
Will Bjarnar
|
That Greg Berlanti’s Fly Me to the Moon was originally intended to be a direct-to-streaming release makes some sense, actually.
Posted Jul 10, 2024
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|
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Long Shot
(2019)
|
Brendan Cassidy
|
You will be hard pressed to find another mainstream comedy come out this year that is as funny and charming as this one.
Posted Jul 09, 2024
|
|
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The Beach Bum
(2019)
|
Brendan Cassidy
|
The film is an absolute joy drive, with laughs galore, a soundtrack full of great sing-a-long needle drops and a supporting cast that is portrayed perfectly...
Posted Jul 09, 2024
|
|
|
Pink Wall
(2019)
|
Brendan Cassidy
|
Nothing the script gives us sounds new in any way and thus didn't feel fresh enough to elevate Pink Wall from being just an average relationship movie...
Posted Jul 09, 2024
|
|
|
Little Women
(2019)
|
Brendan Cassidy
|
Gerwig does not condemn nor condone love and marriage; every character has their own viewpoints and opinions, and their respective struggles make this one of the most moving movie experiences of 2019.
Posted Jul 09, 2024
|
|
|
Pain and Glory
(2019)
|
Brendan Cassidy
|
Pain and Glory is the year’s most powerful depiction of reconciliation, and a commentary on the art of moviemaking as a portrait of one’s soul, all summarized in what may be the best final shot of the entire year.
Posted Jul 09, 2024
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