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2/5
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The Creator
(2023)
|
Jackson Weaver
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Posing as a deep allegory on the realities of xenophobia and a speculative examination of our AI-panicked future, [The Creator is] actually a dully simplistic apologue with all the moral complexity of a fourth grader's anti-bullying Instagram post.
Posted Sep 28, 2023
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4/5
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Bottoms
(2023)
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Eli Glasner
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With her second feature, Seligman is reaching for more than just observational comedy. Inspired by movies such as the satirical and silly Wet Hot American Summer, the world of Bottoms is skewed and unhinged.
Posted Sep 01, 2023
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2.5/5
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Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story
(2023)
|
Jackson Weaver
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Gran Turismo does far better than you'd think from the doubly-cursed genres of video games and racing — though is it really an accomplishment if your car overheats, instead of bursting into flames?
Posted Aug 25, 2023
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4.5/5
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Oppenheimer
(2023)
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Jackson Weaver
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Complicated by its incredible fidelity to historical fact, slightly hurt by an overabundance of stars and triumphant in its performances, Oppenheimer is an extraordinary movie both because of and in spite of its morose complexity.
Posted Jul 23, 2023
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5/5
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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
(2023)
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Eli Glasner
|
What keeps the film from drowning in a sea of hyper-niche comic book references is the firm grasp on the story at the centre. Indeed it's the strength of that story and clarity of the characters that gives the movie the freedom to experiment.
Posted Jun 02, 2023
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4.5/5
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BlackBerry
(2023)
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Eli Glasner
|
While the groundbreaking smartphone was the beginning of the digital slippery slope we trudge through today, the heart of BlackBerry is a story about friendship. It's about what we lose as our ambitions get the better of us.
Posted May 12, 2023
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3/5
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Cocaine Bear
(2023)
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Eli Glasner
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The drug-fuelled carnivore lacks the scare necessities to live up to its epic name.
Posted Feb 24, 2023
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3/5
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Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
(2023)
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Eli Glasner
|
This is the Marvel way: The studio recruits actors and directors for their distinctive qualities, but over time the thing that stuck out gets filed down, until they're just part of the machine. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is more of the same.
Posted Feb 17, 2023
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3.5/5
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Magic Mike's Last Dance
(2023)
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Eli Glasner
|
Then there's Channing Tatum, if dry humping was an art, he would be Picasso.
Posted Feb 11, 2023
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3.5/5
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Plane
(2023)
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Eli Glasner
|
Plane fall. People fight. Critic happy.
Posted Jan 13, 2023
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3.5/5
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Weird: The Al Yankovic Story
(2022)
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Eli Glasner
|
Radcliffe has shown a facility for comedy and for WEIRD Radcliffe is all in. He’s not playing for laughs but it’s hilarious. He is fully completely committed to this mad magazine multiverse version of Weird Al’s life.
Posted Nov 28, 2022
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2.5/5
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Black Adam
(2022)
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Eli Glasner
|
The conundrum at the heart of Black Adam is how the film manages to render so many likable, charming actors into forgettable clichés
Posted Nov 03, 2022
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|
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Top Gun: Maverick
(2022)
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Eli Glasner
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In the sequel, nothing is left to chance. The camera orbits around him, his skills are unquestioned. Even Jennifer Connelly as the old flame Penny inevitably gives in with a love scene that has all the passion of a Christmas card.
Posted May 23, 2022
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2/5
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The Batman
(2022)
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Eli Glasner
|
Again, so much of this is about shock value rather than anything actually scary, since The Batman is handcuffed by its family-friendly PG rating, the result being something like a Saw movie made for Disney+.
Posted Mar 02, 2022
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Spider-Man: No Way Home
(2021)
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Eli Glasner
|
When the dust settles, the result is a hero closer to what creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko originally envisioned. Friendly. Neighbourhood. Spider-Man.
Posted Dec 29, 2021
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2.5/5
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Eternals
(2021)
|
Eli Glasner
|
But like Galactus gobbling a planet, Zhao's unique filmmaking style has been subsumed by the mighty Marvel maw
Posted Nov 07, 2021
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4/5
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No Time to Die
(2021)
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Eli Glasner
|
While No Time to Die lags in parts, it feels like the fitting finale Daniel Craig has been waiting for.
Posted Oct 11, 2021
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3.5/5
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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
(2021)
|
Eli Glasner
|
Beneath the dazzling rings and furious fight choreography is a story about a son struggling with who he was meant to be, and fighting to leave his father's shadow.
Posted Aug 26, 2021
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3.5/5
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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
(2019)
|
Eli Glasner
|
This is the result of a fan culture that puts the past on a pedestal. The best we can hope for are echoes of our original experience.
Posted Dec 18, 2019
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4.5/5
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Avengers: Endgame
(2019)
|
Eli Glasner
|
In the end, the focus is on the heart of the team that started it all. Tears will be shed. I may have felt something welling up myself.
Posted Apr 24, 2019
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Clash of the Titans
(2010)
|
Martin Morrow
|
This mythology mash-up is perfectly fine - it's a popcorn movie, after all, not Robert Graves's The Greek Myths. The problem is the filmmakers' more-is-better mentality, which ends up cluttering the tale with half-realized characters.
Posted Mar 28, 2019
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3/5
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Maleficent
(2014)
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Eli Glasner
|
Though promising the audience an alternative tale of a world we thought we knew, Maleficent coddles rather than challenges us.
Posted Dec 14, 2018
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The Nice Guys
(2016)
|
Eli Glasner
|
Gosling has never been funnier. His timing is priceless. Great stuff from Crowe.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Life of the Party
(2018)
|
Eli Glasner
|
It's one thing to make a cringe-worthy comedy, but it's not funny at all. I feel bad, because Melissa McCarthy doesn't have to do that...
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Tully
(2018)
|
Eli Glasner
|
I think part of the problem is Reitman. With his style, he's really stretching to make a point. What feels gritty at first turns to a movie of extremes.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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The Florida Project
(2017)
|
Eli Glasner
|
An exercise in empathy and exuberance.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
(2017)
|
Eli Glasner
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What a performance, transformational, by Bening. Oscar-worthy.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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The Seagull
(2018)
|
Eli Glasner
|
It feels like at times it's attempting to condense the drama...this leads more to the soap-ish end of the spectrum. There's an elliptical quality to the storytelling that I'm not quite sure works this time around.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Deadpool 2
(2018)
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Eli Glasner
|
He attempts something that is kryptonite to this kind of character: sincerity...the movie is very good, but not as good as the first one.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Solo: A Star Wars Story
(2018)
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Eli Glasner
|
What frustrates me is that it seems the original directors were trying to build an element of unpredictability into pre-manufactured franchises. What we have is the heartwarming Han as our connection to Star Wars grows a little dimmer.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Ant-Man and The Wasp
(2018)
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Eli Glasner
|
Great fun, a great cast overall...the best thing that Ant-Man and the Wasp delivers is fun. This is just antics, fun gags, all sorts of sides and shenanigans. The best stuff is bite-sized entertainment.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Leave No Trace
(2018)
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Eli Glasner
|
This is a real, beautiful, quiet movie.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Whitney
(2018)
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Eli Glasner
|
That beautiful voice is still ringing in our ears...it feels like the movie focuses on the end a little too much, but some stunning revelations and interesting examinations of politics...great doc for music fans.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Set It Up
(2018)
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Eli Glasner
|
The premise is fun...it's great.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Skyscraper
(2018)
|
Eli Glasner
|
I like Dwayne Johnson...but it feels as if he is now so focused on doing the biggest films he can, with the biggest set pieces and budgets, that acting becomes very secondary. If someone gave him the right script or character...
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Mile 22
(2018)
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Eli Glasner
|
There's a simplicity to this film that I appreciate...but it just muddies the ground with Wahlberg's pessimistic growling...high-kicking action can't save this one.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Mission: Impossible - Fallout
(2018)
|
Eli Glasner
|
I think there's an interesting connection between Cruise and the character he plays...there's a detachment, a sadness around him, what he's had to sacrifice to carry the world's burden on his shoulders.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
(2018)
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Eli Glasner
|
I went in expecting very little...and I was charmed. This is a movie that fulfills the expectations and promise that it makes the audience.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot
(2018)
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Eli Glasner
|
The specificity of the character that Hill plays...I don't know where that performance came from...what's interesting and apparent is that there's truth there, something real and his own.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Christopher Robin
(2018)
|
Eli Glasner
|
If they had a little more vision, a little more courage...it could have been something truly meaningful, instead of just another fuzzy warm journey.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Crazy Rich Asians
(2018)
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Eli Glasner
|
Lavish, lush, gaudy...but the engine of the story it's telling, that works very well. Everything else is just padding...it's telling a more specific tale.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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To All the Boys I've Loved Before
(2018)
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Eli Glasner
|
It's not just that it looks nice; it has a palette, a color scheme...beyond all that, it's just a great, fun, interesting situation these characters find themselves in.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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Little Italy
(2018)
|
Eli Glasner
|
It's not the actors that are the problem, it's the material they've been given. The dialogue, the antiquated sense of humor, the obviousness of so many plot mechanics.
Posted Sep 10, 2018
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2.5/5
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Me Before You
(2016)
|
Eli Glasner
|
Leaving aside the complex issue of assisted dying, one of the film's biggest problems is how much Me Before You shields the audience. For a supposed romance, it's surprisingly prudish.
Posted Mar 22, 2018
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3.5/5
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Into the Forest
(2015)
|
Eli Glasner
|
Into the Forest has its share of dramatic scenes, but Rozema is more focused on the emotional effects of the crisis...the result is a stark, emotional story about survival and sisterhood - depicting not dystopia per se, but a new beginning.
Posted Mar 22, 2018
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3.5/5
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Furious 7
(2015)
|
Eli Glasner
|
[Paul] Walker bows out with a fitting send off.
Posted Mar 22, 2018
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3/5
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The Revenant
(2015)
|
Eli Glasner
|
The Revenant is visually stunning, but the story is simplistic...all that agony makes the movie something to endure rather than inspire.
Posted Mar 22, 2018
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2/5
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The Boss
(2016)
|
Eli Glasner
|
McCarthy had been on an upswing with her films, like last year's Spy, but as disgraced business mogul Darnell, she's surprisingly unfunny.
Posted Mar 22, 2018
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3.5/5
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Whiskey Tango Foxtrot
(2016)
|
Eli Glasner
|
Though initially sold as The Hangover set in Afghanistan, Whiskey Tango Foxtrot is not an outright wacky comedy, but instead tells a much more subtle, dramatic story.
Posted Mar 21, 2018
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3/5
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Race
(2016)
|
Eli Glasner
|
Race feels like a lustrous after-school special, suffering from an uninspired treatment that favours a cozy, glossy look over gritty authenticity.
Posted Mar 21, 2018
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