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5/10
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Sonic the Hedgehog 3
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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SONIC THE HEDGEHOG was surprisingly decent, while SONIC 2 was legitimately good. The busier, more frantic, action-focused SONIC 3 comparatively disappoints by merely being "Okay, I guess."
Posted Dec 20, 2024
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6/10
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Mufasa: The Lion King
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Barry Jenkins' prequel is better than Jon Favreau's Lion King' remake and closer in spirit to Disney's "better than they need to be" mid-2010s tentpoles (like Jon Favreau's 'Jungle Book') than their recent nostalgia-chasing, culturally timid rehashes.
Posted Dec 18, 2024
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8/10
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Thelma
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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It’s a thoughtful, nuanced and compelling character study that’s as much about specific relationships as the gee-whiz notion of our elderly heroine “protecting the hive.” It’s a showcase for June Squib and a well-deserved swan song for Richard Roundtree.
Posted Dec 11, 2024
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7/10
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Wicked
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Jon M. Chu's first "act" succeeds - with terrific turns from Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande - as a satisfying fantastical musical tragedy that doesn't feel like half a movie.
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Posted Dec 11, 2024
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6/10
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Venom: The Last Dance
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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The Venom series began as a lazy, cynical IP cash-in born from the wrongheaded notion that moviegoers want cinematic universes and superheroes in the abstract. It is now oddly innocent and specific, even compared to the brand it tried to emulate.
Posted Dec 11, 2024
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4/10
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Moana 2
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Disney ruled the 2010s because they made toons as good as Zootopia. They are now “ruling” the 2020s because… they once made toons as good as Zootopia.
Posted Dec 11, 2024
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6/10
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Juror #2
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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I *like* movies like this. Warts and all, I'd still would rather sit through more like this (alongside offbeat near-misses like Book of Henry or Collateral Beauty) than pretend to be excited about Princess Diaries 3, Alien 10 or Transformers + G.I. Joe.
Posted Dec 11, 2024
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5/10
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Red One
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Amazon's would-be theatrical tentpole, starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, is better when it prioritizes Christmas cheer instead of generic action spectacle.
Posted Dec 11, 2024
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5/10
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Gladiator II
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Ridley Scott's 'Gladiator' follow-up is timely and appropriately angry, but its reverence for the original film's protagonist eventually undercuts its narrative and its convictions.
Posted Dec 11, 2024
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6/10
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Megalopolis
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis is a fascinating “mess,” existing primarily as an epic, must-see, PLF-worthy ode to its own existence.
Posted Dec 11, 2024
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3/10
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Y2K
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Y2K lacks engrossing characters, a compelling thematic throughline or clever comedy while only containing enough premise-specific setpieces to cut a promising trailer.
Posted Dec 11, 2024
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6/10
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Nightbitch
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Even amid Oscar season, good is not the enemy of perfect. Yes, Tully is better, but Nightbitch is still pretty good.
Posted Dec 11, 2024
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4/10
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Kraven the Hunter
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Kraven pulls off the trick of being overlong (127 minutes, the longest of Sony’s live-action “SSU” flicks) and seemingly stitched together in the editing room, with little coherent storytelling beyond Sony’s franchise Mad Libs manual.
Posted Dec 11, 2024
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3/10
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The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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You'll be bored of these 'Rings'.
Posted Dec 11, 2024
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5/10
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Nosferatu
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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But we (quite literally) have 'Bram Stoker's Dracula' at home...!
Posted Dec 11, 2024
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7/10
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Smile 2
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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The sequel has many of the same issues as its predecessor, but Parker Finn (with help from Naomi Scott) so over-delivers on cinematic razzle dazzle that it barely matters.
Posted Dec 11, 2024
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2/10
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Joker: Folie à Deux
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Lady Gaga can't save a lethargic slog of a self-loathing follow-up that defiantly withholds anything that might entertain comic book fans, Little Monsters or musical theater nerds.
Posted Oct 02, 2024
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7/10
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Transformers One
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Despite being a brand agnostic and not giving a darn about how Optimus and Megatron went from best buds to mortal enemies, I rather enjoyed Transformers One. It's a visually rousing, PLF-worthy sci-fi melodrama aimed at smart kids rather than dumb adults.
Posted Sep 18, 2024
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8/10
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The Wild Robot
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Chris Sanders' gorgeous and moving adventure dramedy, with a superb Lupita Nyong'o performance, is exactly what a DreamWorks Animation movie should be.
Posted Sep 10, 2024
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6/10
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It Ends With Us
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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It’s an unapologetic melodrama through and through, fully aware that we do still go to the movies to watch impossibly gorgeous people existing well behind their means living ordinary lives with relatable problems.
Posted Sep 05, 2024
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5/10
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Borderlands
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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If Hollywood does want to make video games into “the next comic books” in terms of newer adaptable I.P., they might do well to avoid turning their films into glorified superhero movies.
Posted Sep 05, 2024
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6/10
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Trap
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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M. Night Shyamalan fights against his more flamboyant nature both as a “Made you look!” prankster and as a ruthlessly nasty, mean storyteller. 'Trap' may be the most weirdly kid-friendly and borderline wholesome movie ever about serial killers.
Posted Sep 05, 2024
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5/10
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Alien: Romulus
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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One engrossing new character and some strong production design cannot justify a comparatively limp rehash that serves mostly to remind you of other 'Alien' movies.
Posted Sep 05, 2024
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5/10
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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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While painless and sometimes clever, Tim Burton's refreshingly irreverent legacy sequel is ironically undercut not by fan service but by a deluge of new characters and subplots.
Posted Sep 05, 2024
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4/10
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Deadpool & Wolverine
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Like a serial murderer wistfully eulogizing his victims, it's both a "victory lap" for corporate consolidation and "for the fans" nostalgia trip that puts it closer in spirit to 'Rise of Skywalker' than 'Spider-Man: No Way Home'.
Posted Jul 23, 2024
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7/10
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Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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A wacky, wild, visually wonderful adventure that delivers on its title, 'Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire' also works as a grimly comic parable for our current disaster-a-day hellscape
Posted Mar 28, 2024
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6/10
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Madame Web
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Dakota Johnson's droll, in-on-the-joke star-turn plus a weirdly welcoming stupidity, at least makes Sony's ill-fated not-quite-a-superhero movie a painless good time
Posted Feb 21, 2024
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7/10
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Dune: Part Two
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi sequel suffers from some of the same issues as its predecessor, but 'Dune Part Two' such a well-made and well-acted mega-movie that it barely matters
Posted Feb 21, 2024
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5/10
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Argylle
(2024)
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Scott Mendelson
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'Argylle' is better than the likes of 'Ghosted,' but it's another mega-bucks would-be streaming "franchise" that's sanded down and drained of specificity amid a twist-for-twist sake plot by the all-quadrants demands of the global streaming ecosystem.
Posted Jan 31, 2024
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6/10
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Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
(2023)
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Scott Mendelson
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It’s another three-star DC Films sequel to a four-star DC Films "part one," but 'Aquaman 2' is an entertaining, visually spectacular and wildly inventive stand-alone action fantasy. If this is the DECU's time to go, James Wan gave us a hell of a show.
Posted Dec 22, 2023
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