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3.5/5
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The Learning Curve
(1999)
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Scott Weinberg
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One of the cooler things about being required to watch lots of movies "sight unseen" is that occasionally something unexpectedly entertaining pops up.
Posted May 29, 2024
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1/4
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The Desperate Hour
(2021)
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Erik Childress
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A new low for pandemic-era cinema that gives Naomi Watts plenty of time to get her exercise in but exploits school shootings for the cheapest of thrills and a lack of decorum in understanding or asking why.
Posted Apr 04, 2022
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2/4
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No Exit
(2022)
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Erik Childress
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A rather generic thriller that spills its beans too quickly and never develops any genuine rising tension.
Posted Apr 04, 2022
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3/4
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Butter's Final Meal
(2020)
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Erik Childress
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A film that takes a sensitive rather than exploitive look at bullying. Alex Kersting develops real empathy and is aided by some carefully balanced supporting work from Mira Sorvino and Mykelti Williamson.
Posted Apr 04, 2022
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2022 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Animation
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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All of the entries here are good and while I love the look of Boxballet, I think that my favorite of the bunch is the undeniably crowd-pleasing Robin Robin and I suspect that it will win the award.
Posted Mar 04, 2022
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2022 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Live Action
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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Of these, my favorite is probably the tender character study that is The Dress.
Posted Mar 04, 2022
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Asking for It
(2021)
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Peter Sobczynski
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It has nothing of interest to say about its characters, all of whom are painted in the broadest imaginable strokes.
Posted Mar 04, 2022
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After Yang
(2021)
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Peter Sobczynski
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While I feel that After Yang is a comedown after the heights reached by Columbus, it is, despite its flaws, still a reasonably thoughtful and visually striking work that deserves to be seen and one that confirms that Kogonada is indeed the real thing.
Posted Mar 04, 2022
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4/5
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The Batman
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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The Batman is a smart and uncompromising work that makes the familiar seems fresh and which does have more on its mind than simply extending a valuable [intellectual property].
Posted Mar 04, 2022
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2022 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Documentary
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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With the possible exception of "Lead Me Home," which is a sincerely-made effort that doesn't really have anything new or profound about the subject at hand, all the films tackle interesting subjects in intriguing ways.
Posted Feb 25, 2022
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I'll Find You
(2019)
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Peter Sobczynski
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It soon begins to slip into mawkishness and by the time it gets to it eventual climax, the cliches are flying so fast and thick that they wind up overwhelming whatever genuine emotional impact that it might have had in a more restrained telling.
Posted Feb 25, 2022
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Gasoline Alley
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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The only real mystery of note to be had in Gasoline Alley is the question of why Willis continues to throw away his genuine acting gifts on material as trite and tedious as this.
Posted Feb 25, 2022
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Cyrano
(2021)
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Peter Sobczynski
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Dinklage's performance is so strong that it is almost, though ultimately not quite, worth seeing just for him.
Posted Feb 25, 2022
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The Burning Sea
(2021)
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Peter Sobczynski
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Yes, there are the inevitable moments of cheesiness here and there, but for the most part The Burning Sea is a solidly constructed disaster thriller that proves to be a cut above most films of its type.
Posted Feb 25, 2022
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Big Gold Brick
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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Between the uninteresting characters, the complete waste of the talented actors on hand and the complete absence of anything remotely resembling a point, Big Gold Brick is a film that is both mystifying and terrible in equally painful measure.
Posted Feb 25, 2022
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1/5
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Studio 666
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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It is so dreadful that even fans of the group would be better off seeking a copy of From Justin to Kelly or Crossroads instead.
Posted Feb 25, 2022
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2/4
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Uncharted
(2022)
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Erik Childress
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The term aggressively mediocre applies to many video game adaptations, but we also do not need further exhibits for people to convince us that the National Treasure movies are good because others are lamer.
Posted Feb 22, 2022
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1/4
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Texas Chainsaw Massacre
(2022)
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Erik Childress
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Given the direction of the country it should not surprise anyone that we would eventually get a pro-Leatherface edition to this series. Or that it would be this bad and even tasteless in its adoption of social issues.
Posted Feb 22, 2022
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3/4
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Downfall: The Case Against Boeing
(2022)
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Erik Childress
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Tragedy in the name of corporate malfeasance leads to some familiar documentation, but when the modern version of HAL-9000 enters the picture it becomes a downright horror film.
Posted Feb 22, 2022
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3/4
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Ted K
(2021)
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Erik Childress
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A surprisingly non-exploitative, matter-of-fact approach to a madman with a measured performance by Sharlto Copley makes this the kind of film Joker wishes it could have been.
Posted Feb 22, 2022
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3/4
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The Cursed
(2021)
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Erik Childress
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Despite a generic title altered from its original, Eight for Silver, Sean Ellis take on the werewolf mythos adopts a welcome atmospheric approach that knows just when to throw in the gore and ultimately unleash the madness.
Posted Feb 22, 2022
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4/5
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The Ledge
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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A reasonably effective thriller that pulls off its modest ambitions with skill and style.
Posted Feb 18, 2022
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1/5
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Texas Chainsaw Massacre
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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Gross and tedious in equal measure, Texas Chainsaw Massacre is garbage that never once manages to justify its existence.
Posted Feb 18, 2022
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1.5/4
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Death on the Nile
(2022)
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Erik Childress
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Branagh attempting to turn Christies potboilers into Shakespearean tragedies have come up well short, sucking all the fun and suspense out of these dead dry exercises.
Posted Feb 16, 2022
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1/4
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Marry Me
(2022)
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Erik Childress
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Melvin Udall would have categorized this as imagining Notting Hill and then taking away reason and accountability. And laughs and an appealing celebrity character and real feelings and a genuine point of view of either world.
Posted Feb 16, 2022
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2/4
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I Want You Back
(2022)
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Erik Childress
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Charlie Day and Jenny Slate have an appealing connection and are very good together, but as the film takes broad turns in its humor and turns one of them into a jerk, its third act ultimately fails them.
Posted Feb 16, 2022
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3/4
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Kimi
(2022)
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Erik Childress
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Wearing his influences on his sleeve, Steven Soderbergh crafts a real crackerjack thriller with a great performance by Zoe Kravitz.
Posted Feb 16, 2022
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1/4
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Blacklight
(2022)
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Erik Childress
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The skills are no longer special for Liam Neeson in the hands of filmmakers who craft a dopey conspiracy around the dumbest government officials in a plot as empty as the school his granddaughter attends.
Posted Feb 16, 2022
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3/4
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Catch the Fair One
(2021)
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Erik Childress
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Tight, focused and sad, Josef Kubota Wladyka & Kali Reis film works as a solid revenge thriller in a dirty world too ignored in real life and often poorly handled in film.
Posted Feb 16, 2022
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3/4
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Jackass Forever
(2022)
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Erik Childress
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Whether they were ever movies or even documents of certain personality types, its stars are the court jesters willing to take any hit to make us laugh. And that they did, time and again, and for one last hurrah.
Posted Feb 16, 2022
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0/4
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Moonfall
(2022)
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Erik Childress
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Quite possibly the dumbest thing ever created by human beings and thats saying a lot given the resume of Roland Emmerich.
Posted Feb 16, 2022
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2.5/4
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Last Looks
(2021)
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Erik Childress
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A film that flirts so often with being a parody of noirish detective mysteries that it is hard to get involved with its resolutions despite fun performances by Mel Gibson and Charlie Hunnam.
Posted Feb 16, 2022
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Shut In
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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Shut In is basically a dumber version of Panic Room with a Godsploitation element thrown into the mix that is remarkably unsubtle even for this type of film.
Posted Feb 14, 2022
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Marry Me
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
|
Marry Me" is a dumb and derivative piece of product that is completely lacking in charm, wit and romance.
Posted Feb 14, 2022
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I Want You Back
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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While Slate is enormously appealing and Day is slightly more tolerable than usual, they fail to generate any identifiable romantic sparks between them.
Posted Feb 14, 2022
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Cosmic Dawn
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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It does provide pleasures that are inexplicable but nevertheless undeniable.
Posted Feb 14, 2022
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Catch the Fair One
(2021)
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Peter Sobczynski
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Catch the Fair One is an undeniably grim and brutal experience, but those who are up for it will find themselves rewarded with an unusually thoughtful and effective thriller that packs a punch in more ways than one.
Posted Feb 14, 2022
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Blacklight
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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The screenplay feels like something that might have once been found at the bottom of a pile of scripts rejected by Cannon Films for being too puerile and derivative.
Posted Feb 14, 2022
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2/5
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Death on the Nile
(2022)
|
Peter Sobczynski
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A film that is both as lavishly appointed and ultimately lifeless as several of its characters.
Posted Feb 10, 2022
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Last Looks
(2021)
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Peter Sobczynski
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This is one of those mysteries where the plot details are not nearly as important as the eccentricities of the various characters and the ways in which they bounce off of each other and in that regard, the film has an undeniable loopy charm.
Posted Feb 03, 2022
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Compartment No. 6
(2021)
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Peter Sobczynski
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There is nothing much in Juho Kuosmanen's rail-based road movie that is especially bold or unique but even as the story ambles along in its familiar manner, it is buoyed by the strong and inventive performances by Haarla and Borisov.
Posted Feb 03, 2022
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You Won't Be Alone
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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I can't say that I fully understood it when it was all said and done, but it has been done in such a beautiful and tantalizing manner that I cannot wait to see it again.
Posted Feb 03, 2022
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When You Finish Saving the World
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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A snide grab-bag of loathsome characters, shallow insights and bad behavior that is never as profound or penetrating as it clearly believes itself to be.
Posted Feb 03, 2022
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We Met in Virtual Reality
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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It is the humanity of the people that we meet and the ways that they use the new technologies to navigate issues of gender, trauma, disability and the perils of social interaction that make it so engrossing.
Posted Feb 03, 2022
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To the End
(2022)
|
Peter Sobczynski
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Although the film may not end on quite as uplifting a note as Knock Down the House and probably will not change the minds of anyone going into it, those who watch it will doubtlessly come out of it as determined as ever to not give up hope.
Posted Feb 03, 2022
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Speak No Evil
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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Christian Tafdrup's film is little more than an exercise in slick, soul-deadening savagery.
Posted Feb 03, 2022
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Sharp Stick
(2022)
|
Peter Sobczynski
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It does have a number of things going for it despite its imperfections, including a number of funny scenes and strong performances from Froseth, Bernthal, and Jennifer Jason Leigh
Posted Feb 03, 2022
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Riotsville, USA
(2022)
|
Peter Sobczynski
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What keeps the film from being just another story about a weirdo moment in time is the way in which it serves as a reminder that the very same issues that led to what we see in the film are once again rising up in the world.
Posted Feb 03, 2022
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The Princess
(2022)
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Peter Sobczynski
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I confess that my interest in the British monarchy tends to run quite low, but I was mostly spellbound by this film, which finds a new way to tell its undeniably familiar story that makes it feel fresh.
Posted Feb 03, 2022
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Piggy
(2022)
|
Peter Sobczynski
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After a while, the genre gears begin to kick in and the thoughtful stuff pretty much goes out the window once the blood begins to flow in abundance.
Posted Feb 03, 2022
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