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3/4
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Silver Dollar Road
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
A very loving, normal family heroically sought justice. Documentary fans will want to see how they did it. Here it is.
Posted Sep 28, 2023
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3/4
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One Life
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Larger-than-life characters save the most vulnerable. The actors who portray them do so with great dignity: Hopkins, John Flynn, Lena Olin, Helena Bonham Carter, Jonathan Pryce. You’re pulled into the protagonists’ feverish plans.
Posted Sep 28, 2023
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3/4
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Flora and Son
(2023)
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Dwight Brown
|
Music as an elixir is Carney’s specialty, and that notion lifts the ordinary screenplay up. Not up to heaven, but close enough.
Posted Sep 28, 2023
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3/4
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Copa 71
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
A defining moment in women’s sports history captured in 90 minutes of nostalgia and pure exhilaration.
Posted Sep 28, 2023
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2.5/4
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Reptile
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Del Toro doesn’t disappoint. Humorous, serious, determined.
Posted Sep 28, 2023
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2/4
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Ezra
(2023)
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Dwight Brown
|
All production elements are decent, from music to cinematography and production design. Yet nothing stands out or lifts this story above its noble ambitions.
Posted Sep 28, 2023
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3/4
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The Holdovers
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
This gathering of three lost souls, pushed together by circumstance and location, takes a bit of time to weave its sardonic magic. But it gets there.
Posted Sep 28, 2023
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4/4
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The Teachers’ Lounge
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
The director, screenwriters, production team and cast turn a small story about a well-intentioned teacher into a modern classroom parable. An amazing achievement.
Posted Sep 28, 2023
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2.5/4
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American Fiction
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
[An] adaptation that’s fueled by wit, sarcasm and tepid drama.
Posted Sep 21, 2023
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2.5/4
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Rustin
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
The sheer gravitas of this historical accounting outweighs any imperfections.
Posted Sep 21, 2023
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2.5/4
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Les Indésirables
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Noble but disappointing.
Posted Sep 21, 2023
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3.5/4
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Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
The job of a good documentary is to speak truths. The job of a music documentary is to do that and mesmerize audiences with alluring vocals, instrumentals, songs and tunes. And in this case, stage performances too... This mus/doc gets the job done.
Posted Sep 21, 2023
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3/4
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Origin
(2023)
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Dwight Brown
|
Despite the shroud of well-intentioned but misplaced drama, DuVernay relays a message that is far more important than the missive it arrives in.
Posted Sep 21, 2023
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4/4
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Sing Sing
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
It’s refreshing when a film poses answers to the most confounding social issues.
Posted Sep 21, 2023
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3/4
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The Equalizer 3
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Clearly Fuqua, the producers and production team are hoping viewers like their attention to aesthetics. Their dream may come true.
Posted Sep 06, 2023
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3/4
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Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Credit the visuals and pacing to Blomkamp’s savvy, cinematographer Jacques Jouffret’s keen eye, editors Austyn Daines and Colby Parker Jr.’s precision cuts and dazzling driving stunts by the real Jann himself.
Posted Aug 30, 2023
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3/4
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Blue Beetle
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
A very charming superhero movie.
Posted Aug 23, 2023
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2/4
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The Last Voyage of the Demeter
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
The whole production seems lost at sea.
Posted Aug 16, 2023
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3/4
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Talk to Me
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
The ensemble never steps out of character, no matter how improbable the situation. While Wilde and Otto are the standouts, best supporting actor must go to the embalmed hand.
Posted Aug 02, 2023
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3/4
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Barbie
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Gerwig’s glee as a director is evident... It’s a lot to take in, and some skits work better than others. But if you consider this movie to be a package deal, the package is wrapped nice and tight -- but not perfectly.
Posted Jul 27, 2023
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4/4
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Oppenheimer
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
This is a very heady, brainy spectacle. A thesis. A portrait of a genius, his triumphs and shame.
Posted Jul 26, 2023
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3/4
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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Adrenaline-pumping sequences, flirtatious interludes, high pitch drama and a save-the-world plot do their jobs. However, something about the process doesn’t feel new.
Posted Jul 18, 2023
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2.5/4
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Black Ice
(2022)
|
Dwight Brown
|
As an educational endeavor, the research, photos, newspapers articles, interviews and anecdotes from pioneers who’ve made inroads into the game are illuminating.
Posted Jul 18, 2023
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3.5/4
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Joy Ride
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
It is way too easy to fall in love with Joy Ride. The naughty characters, shocking situations and sisterhood drama disarm you. You’ll want to have fun with it. Filthy, silly fun.
Posted Jul 12, 2023
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3.5/4
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I.S.S.
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
The performances push the dread factor up to high levels that will fray nerves. Nick Remy Matthews’ fluid camera work is as effective as Anne Nikitin’s score and Colin Patton’s precision editing. Very heady. Very scary.
Posted Jun 29, 2023
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3/4
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Elemental
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
A movie that encourages kids to be open-minded needed to be laid on our culturally divided doorsteps. Peter Sohn should take a bow.
Posted Jun 29, 2023
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2/4
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Cold Copy
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
No one to like. Little reason to watch.
Posted Jun 29, 2023
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3/4
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Our Son
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Nothing gels until the 45-minute mark. That’s when the reality of divorce, separating and child custody issue sinks in... Anger, bitterness, sorrow and longing ensue, and the film finds its footing.
Posted Jun 29, 2023
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3.5/4
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The Blackening
(2022)
|
Dwight Brown
|
See it and you’ll love its craziness. It’s funny, funny, funny.
Posted Jun 23, 2023
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3/4
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The League
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
An exceptional documentation of the men who played the game of baseball their way and became role models in the process.
Posted Jun 23, 2023
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3/4
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The Perfect Find
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Union has never been funnier. She makes Jenna come alive.
Posted Jun 23, 2023
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3/4
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Rise: The Siya Kolisi Story
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Sports fans and those curious about Black life in South Africa will enjoy watching Kolisi’s rise.
Posted Jun 23, 2023
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3/4
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Uncharted
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Director/producer Beth Aala finds the essence of each artist and explores the group’s sisterhood.
Posted Jun 23, 2023
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3.5/4
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The Space Race
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
The Space Race should be required viewing for every kid in a STEM program. For everyone interested in aeronautics, Black history and what it takes to make our best and brightest ready for the future.
Posted Jun 15, 2023
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3/4
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Gloria Gaynor: I Will Survive
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Photos, footage, TV interviews and a toe-tapping playlist provide a steady verve that will keep music fans, baby boomers and fellow survivors engaged for 99 minutes.
Posted Jun 15, 2023
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3.5/4
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Flamin' Hot
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
A less talented director would have taken a straight-forward approach. But Longoria turns her creative juices up into overdrive.
Posted Jun 15, 2023
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3.5/4
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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
It might be hyperbole to say that this state-of-the art animation is about as genius as it gets for the genre. But for kids, teens and twentysomethings, raised on MTV, comic books and TikTok, that isn’t an overstatement. It’s their truth.
Posted Jun 07, 2023
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3.5/4
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The Little Mermaid
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Romantic and social drama ignite this ode to love, tolerance and acceptance.
Posted Jun 01, 2023
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3/4
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Fast X
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
If action/adventure fans are willing to throw logic out the window, they’ll like what they see.
Posted May 24, 2023
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2.5/4
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White Men Can't Jump
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
As is, this update jumps, but never high enough.
Posted May 24, 2023
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3/4
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Unfinished Business
(2022)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Sports-loving audiences will feel it’s a privilege to hear these modern-day, superstar athletes share their side of their story. The one where they’re all winners no matter the score.
Posted May 11, 2023
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2.5/4
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Be forewarned, it’s a slog for the first 90 minutes of its 2h 30m length. Then real energy kicks in.
Posted May 11, 2023
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3/4
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Guy Ritchie's The Covenant
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
This gripping look at war gets under your skin.
Posted Apr 28, 2023
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3.5/4
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Chevalier
(2022)
|
Dwight Brown
|
This retelling of 18th century French violinist-composer Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges’ life is steeped in history but rocked with a modern imagination.
Posted Apr 26, 2023
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2/4
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Sweetwater
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
The direction, acting, script and production team are all in play, but nothing scores.
Posted Apr 19, 2023
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3.5/4
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Air
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Affleck, the cast, crew and script put you in a time capsule and take you back to the ’80s.
Posted Apr 13, 2023
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3.5/4
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John Wick: Chapter 4
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
JWC4 is an elaborately choregraphed, gorgeously crafted slaughter fest. A blood-thirsty spectacle. A circus of scoundrels fighting to the death in the most gracefully violent ways.
Posted Mar 30, 2023
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2/4
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65
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
It wasn’t enough! Whatever they paid Adam Driver for holding this feeble movie together, it wasn’t enough.
Posted Mar 15, 2023
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3/4
|
Creed III
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
Admirers of this boxing saga, adults craving drama, genre fans looking for a fight and those who enjoy excellent acting will go the rounds with Creed III. Why? Because Jordan doesn’t pull any punches. He lands them.
Posted Mar 08, 2023
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3.5/4
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Luther: The Fallen Sun
(2023)
|
Dwight Brown
|
What a story! Right from the beginning this psychological/crime/thriller grips you and doesn’t let up until it’s done.
Posted Mar 02, 2023
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