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2/4
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Yesterday
(2019)
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Eric Melin
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It's perfectly charming...until Jack gets an easy out featuring a seismically reductive and wrongheaded surprise appearance that will polarize viewers. After this, Yesterday falls back on its more standard romantic subplot.
Posted Jun 28, 2019
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3/5
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Late Night
(2019)
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Eric Melin
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Accepting (and excepting) one dumb contrivance, it's funny and perceptive, embracing unique points of view from Molly and Katherine, which mines lots of fertile ground for hard truths and big laughs
Posted Jun 07, 2019
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4/5
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Avengers: Endgame
(2019)
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Eric Melin
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Affirmation of Marvel's storytelling strategy of connecting films in a shared universe, but maybe more significantly, it's proof that the franchise's consistent release schedule gives the viewer better short-term recall and deeper emotional investment.
Posted Apr 24, 2019
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3/5
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The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
(2018)
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Eric Melin
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It begs us to let go. And when you do, you realize that Gilliam's vision coalesces more as the movie progresses. Filmmakers are dreamers, after all, and reality sucks, so who wouldn't want to be caught up in delusions of grandeur every now and then?
Posted Apr 19, 2019
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4/5
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Detour
(1945)
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Eric Melin
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Ulmer brings an enormous amount of impressionistic creativity and (what are now considered) infamous noir tropes into the project without spending more money.
Posted Apr 05, 2019
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2.5/4
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The Hummingbird Project
(2018)
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Eric Melin
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An interesting enough, if predictable, rumination on the state of the American dream. High-frequency trading isn't something everybody can relate to, but the idea of living up to a potential that's weaved into the fabric of your country's myth is.
Posted Mar 29, 2019
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3.5/4
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Climax
(2018)
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Eric Melin
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It is a powerful and unique experience that showcases all the external beauty, wonder, and hope that new opportunity can bring, and how those concepts are always just one thin wire away from chaos and madness.
Posted Mar 08, 2019
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3/5
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Piercing
(2018)
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Eric Melin
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It's like an unholy melding of giallo horror with disturbing mondo literary adaptations by David Cronenberg, such as Naked Lunch and Crash.
Posted Jan 31, 2019
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1/4
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Glass
(2019)
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Eric Melin
|
The bigger his thematic ambition, the more Shyamalan seems to lose control. If Sarah Paulson's Dr. Staple is looking for a character with delusions of grandeur in this film, she might not have to look further than the director himself.
Posted Jan 17, 2019
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1/4
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Bird Box
(2018)
|
Eric Melin
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With unintentionally funny scenes featuring its characters hurtling themselves head-first through windows to commit suicide, Bird Box sadly has more in common with the M. Night Shyamalan disasterpiece The Happening than anything else.
Posted Dec 28, 2018
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3/5
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Halloween
(2018)
|
Eric Melin
|
It evokes the original and takes into consideration how audiences have changed since then, which is a minor miracle, I suppose, and it is light years better than the nine films in between.
Posted Oct 18, 2018
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4/5
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First Man
(2018)
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Eric Melin
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It ejects typical mythologizing to remind us that this extraordinary millennial-defining moment happened to an individual, a person just like you and me.
Posted Oct 11, 2018
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3/4
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Ant-Man and The Wasp
(2018)
|
Eric Melin
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With a little inventiveness and charm to spare, it succeeds by charting its own course through the MCU, and I hope there are more lighthearted, character-driven adventures in this dysfunctional family's future.
Posted Jul 26, 2018
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3/5
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Incredibles 2
(2018)
|
Eric Melin
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The inventive choreography, animation detail, and stylish production design beg to be seen on the big screen. If the plot hadn't felt like a major recycling of the 2004 movie, it would surprise, but there's plenty outside the story mechanics to delight.
Posted Jul 26, 2018
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3/4
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Mission: Impossible - Fallout
(2018)
|
Eric Melin
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It's a difficult task to keep viewers connected to a sprawling series and to put together two and a half hours of solid thrills and surprises with a good level of emotional investment. That's exactly what M:I 6 has done.
Posted Jul 26, 2018
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2.5/4
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Solo: A Star Wars Story
(2018)
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Eric Melin
|
The best - and worst thing - you can say about Solo: A Star Wars Story is that it is a fun throwback.
Posted May 24, 2018
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3/4
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Comradeship
(1931)
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Eric Melin
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A mix of elaborate studio sets and location shooting give the movie a naturalistic flavor but lots of camera movement also marks it as expressionistic. The lack of a score also marks it as less manipulative than traditional Hollywood pictures of the day.
Posted May 11, 2018
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3.5/4
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The Piano Teacher
(2001)
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Eric Melin
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Both director and actor were clear on their intentions from the start, and this alignment produced a movie that holds up as one of the best arthouse films of the last 20 years, with a nearly unmatched quiet kind of intensity.
Posted May 11, 2018
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3.5/4
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Night of the Living Dead
(1968)
|
Eric Melin
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It's tame of course by today's standards, but that, combined with he cynical racial component, was viewed as an all-out attack on "civilized" American society in general.
Posted May 11, 2018
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2.5/4
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Young Mr. Lincoln
(1939)
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Eric Melin
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Modern audiences will no doubt find the trial portion of the film quaint, but Fonda plays Lincoln with such calm, centered confidence that it's also a refreshing change of pace from the aggressive histrionics of today's cop/legal thrillers and TV shows.
Posted May 11, 2018
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4/4
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The Silence of the Lambs
(1991)
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Eric Melin
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Demme's use of close-ups is remarkable, and not something that's translated into contemporary film language too often anymore: Faces, eyes, hands; they're everywhere, making the suspense personal, and therefore way more frightening.
Posted May 11, 2018
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1/4
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The Week Of
(2018)
|
Eric Melin
|
A messy patchwork of a movie that is tonally all over the map and way overstays its 116 minutes. What could have been an incisive comedy about class and ethnicity is instead a random dump of easy, mean-spirited jokes mixed with unearned sentimentality.
Posted May 11, 2018
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4/5
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Avengers: Infinity War
(2018)
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Eric Melin
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Thanks to Thanos, Infinity War is much more than a two-part blockbuster, and for the first time in a long time, we can't easily anticipate more of the same, because the road ahead for superheroes is murky, complicated, and terrifying.
Posted Apr 27, 2018
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2/4
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The Polka King
(2017)
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Eric Melin
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Bernie finds a more cohesive balance between the craziness of the story and a solid emotional center. The Polka King never quite gets there.
Posted Feb 06, 2018
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2/4
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The Post
(2017)
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Eric Melin
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There's no doubt that the free press plays an essential role in a democracy, and the timeliness of this picture can't be disputed. It's just too bad Spielberg doesn't trust his audience enough to let them come to those conclusions on their own.
Posted Feb 05, 2018
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4/5
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Brawl in Cell Block 99
(2017)
|
Eric Melin
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It pushes the prison movie genre to new heights. The fact that there's a very small amount of an original score and a large amount of suspense speaks to Zahler's skill at building and sustaining anxiety.
Posted Oct 19, 2017
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4/5
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The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected)
(2017)
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Eric Melin
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One could accuse Baumbach of repeating himself, but when the writing and directing is this sharp, who cares? The neuroses and contradictions here become relatable to anyone who's had a difficult time listening to or being heard by their family.
Posted Oct 19, 2017
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3/4
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They Live by Night
(1948)
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Eric Melin
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Maybe because of this close-up strategy, the actors all have a more naturalistic bent than most of the films of the day, opting for a low-key simmering approach. The result is a more intimate portrait of these two lovers.
Posted Sep 09, 2017
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3/4
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Stalker
(1979)
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Eric Melin
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Aa lengthy, talky quest for meaning, punctuated by long takes and huge moments of silence. Ultimately though, it's a rewarding one for sure, especially once you fall under the spell of its hypnotic filmmaking.
Posted Sep 09, 2017
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3.5/4
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The Breaking Point
(1950)
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Eric Melin
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The Breaking Point adapts Hemingway's book and wrings out some genuine notes of solid tragedy, as well as a more nuanced performance from its lead actor.
Posted Sep 09, 2017
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4/5
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Poison
(1951)
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Eric Melin
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An eye-opener. It satirizes the technicalities and inconsistencies of the legal system, as well as society's fascination with crime, and maybe in a reveal of some of Guitry's personal obsessions, also pokes nasty fun at the institution of marriage itself.
Posted Sep 09, 2017
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3.5/5
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Icarus
(2017)
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Eric Melin
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Icarus is a frighteningly relevant movie that may go a long way toward explaining the danger of any state propaganda machine, whether it targets medals or more.
Posted Sep 09, 2017
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3/4
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Straw Dogs
(1971)
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Eric Melin
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The questions it raises about sexual consent, masculinity, and humanity's penchant for violence are as urgent today as they were in 1971.
Posted Aug 13, 2017
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2.5/4
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Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk
(2017)
|
Eric Melin
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The film's real triumph is that it tells a cohesive story out of so many jagged parts, and does it with an energy that was reflective of that special moment in time.
Posted Aug 13, 2017
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2/4
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Atomic Blonde
(2017)
|
Eric Melin
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One amazing action scene is a bright spot in an otherwise dull, impossibly contrived spy thriller that's dressed up with a pulsing 80s synth-pop soundtrack and a darkly lit neon setting.
Posted Jul 28, 2017
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|
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The Book of Henry
(2017)
|
Abby Olcese
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With a plot far too dark for kids, and an approach that's often too mild to satisfy adults, the result is a film as uneven as the Rocky Mountain foothills.
Posted Jul 21, 2017
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|
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The Central Park Five
(2012)
|
Abby Olcese
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If hindsight is 20/20, the amount of perspective the film's talking heads provide practically amounts to a telephoto lens. It provides a comprehensive and detailed telling of a long-term, complicated series of events.
Posted Jun 27, 2017
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Pontypool
(2008)
|
Abby Olcese
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Pontypool has an awful lot going for it. It's technically well made, well acted, creepy, funny, and weird. It's the kind of movie that, if it's seen in the right place and right time, can really have an effect on you.
Posted Jun 24, 2017
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Down Terrace
(2009)
|
Abby Olcese
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It's basically a surprisingly funny mumblecore movie with a focus on guns and murders instead of self-indulgent whining and indie-pop music.
Posted Jun 24, 2017
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Black Death
(2010)
|
Abby Olcese
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Black Death definitely isn't a rollicking, bloody good time, but it is a haunting study in the capacity for cruelty in people when they're scared, and the lingering effects that cruelty can have.
Posted Jun 24, 2017
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|
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The Disappearance of Alice Creed
(2009)
|
Abby Olcese
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It's got the kind of writing you'd expect to find in a Hitchcock movie, with performances that measure up on every level.
Posted Jun 24, 2017
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|
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Leviathan
(2012)
|
Abby Olcese
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Unfortunately, this is an 87-minute movie, and those moments of brilliance take up only about a third of the film. The rest is devoted to shots that either feel long and pretentious, or suffer from a serious case of ADD.
Posted Jun 24, 2017
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|
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Winter, Go Away!
(2012)
|
Abby Olcese
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It's a self-deprecating, likeable doc which also happens to be a darn good piece of journalism even established documentarians would have reason to be proud of.
Posted Jun 24, 2017
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Stories We Tell
(2012)
|
Abby Olcese
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The film is, ultimately, a touching portrait of family, memory and shared history that keeps its audience hooked from the first moment, and doesn't let up until the final frame.
Posted Jun 24, 2017
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No
(2012)
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Abby Olcese
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No gives its audience their necessary dose of historical and cultural vegetables, but serves them up in the tastiest way possible.
Posted Jun 23, 2017
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The Act of Killing
(2012)
|
Abby Olcese
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The visual highs and emotional payoffs contained within the film are well worth slogging through its slow patches.
Posted Jun 23, 2017
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It's a Disaster
(2012)
|
Abby Olcese
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The movie may not always be a knee-slapper, but it's smart, creative, and oddly sweet. At the very least, you'll probably never think of brunch the same way again.
Posted Jun 23, 2017
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The Gatekeepers
(2012)
|
Abby Olcese
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No matter your opinion on the Israel-Palestine situation, The Gatekeepers is necessary viewing. It's very impressive that a documentary about Israel's intelligence-gathering organization comes off as neither pro-Israel nor anti-Israel.
Posted Jun 23, 2017
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One Small Hitch
(2013)
|
Abby Olcese
|
One Small Hitch is just plain bad.
Posted Jun 23, 2017
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|
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The Numbers Station
(2013)
|
Abby Olcese
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Ultimately this movie is better forgotten.
Posted Jun 23, 2017
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