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Rodeo
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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Budding filmmaker Lola Quivoron's feature debut has fascinating moments and grainy beauty, but remains too austere to fully hook viewers.
Posted Mar 25, 2023
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John Wick: Chapter 4
(2023)
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Chris Klimek
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The stylish shoot-’em up John Wick franchise is running low on imaginative ammo in Chapter 4.
Posted Mar 25, 2023
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The Blue Caftan
(2022)
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Ella Feldman
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A stunning drama about the depths and limits of love...
Posted Mar 16, 2023
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The Big Lebowski
(1998)
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Noah Gittell
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The Dude becomes an aspirational figure, chill in the face of increasing absurdity, and ever able to express himself in perfectly quotable ways.
Posted Mar 10, 2023
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Scream VI
(2023)
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Alan Zilberman
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Now that Scream seemingly embraces that each sequel will become a little bit worse, it has done the very thing it has mostly avoided. It has become ordinary.
Posted Mar 10, 2023
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The Ghost of Richard Harris
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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The Ghost of Richard Harris is a lively, thoughtful examination of the actor, the kind that will appeal to longtime fans and neophytes alike.
Posted Mar 03, 2023
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Ballywalter
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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Ballywalter gets you to empathize with some ordinary, likable people who are both so guarded that a path forward nearly eludes them.
Posted Mar 03, 2023
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Aisha
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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Wright is a sensitive actor, naturally gifted at downplaying her rage, and when we learn her complete story, it is a wonder she maintains the amount of patience she does.
Posted Mar 03, 2023
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The Sparrow
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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O’Hara is the real highlight of the film. In a performance that grows more complex as you watch, he adds notes of regret and pain.
Posted Mar 03, 2023
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Lakelands
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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There is a persistent sense of realism, and Hardwicke gives what could be a star-making performance.
Posted Mar 03, 2023
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The Conformist
(1970)
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Noah Gittell
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In lesser hands, The Conformist would be a first-rate political thriller, and while there are moments of tension, Bertolucci finds more drama in the thrills of human psychology.
Posted Mar 03, 2023
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Creed III
(2023)
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Chris Klimek
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This low-stakes outing is a letdown from first-time director Michael B. Jordan, who continues to star in the series.
Posted Feb 25, 2023
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Return to Seoul
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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Return to Seoul is the year’s first great film.
Posted Feb 25, 2023
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Of an Age
(2022)
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Ella Feldman
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Of An Age struggles to breathe new life into the cliches. Its characters are likable enough, but they can start to feel like caricatures
Posted Feb 17, 2023
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Magic Mike's Last Dance
(2023)
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Chris Klimek
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The result, Magic Mike’s Last Dance, is both the slightest of the trilogy and still a seductive good time.
Posted Feb 10, 2023
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Cairo Conspiracy
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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The very watchable suspense film from Swedish director Tarik Saleh attempts to make a point about corruption, politics, and religion, but falls short. It still does something new though.
Posted Feb 08, 2023
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Offside
(2006)
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Noah Gittell
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It’s a rich text: a love letter to the people of Iran, a fiercely complex portrayal of systemic misogyny, and a plea to Western countries not to judge the Iranian people by their government.
Posted Feb 04, 2023
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Remember This
(2022)
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Ella Feldman
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Remember This doesn’t provide any neat answers to those questions. It provides a reason to keep asking them.
Posted Feb 04, 2023
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Infinity Pool
(2023)
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Alan Zilberman
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Unlike last year’s The Menu, a film that skewers the rich but only up to a point, the latest from writer-director Brandon Cronenberg plunges headlong into a world of hellish, violent psychosexual mayhem.
Posted Jan 25, 2023
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The Son
(2022)
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Noah Gittell
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This isn’t Florian Zeller’s sophomore slump, it’s a massive nosedive with poor acting, bad writing, and a major lack of empathy.
Posted Jan 20, 2023
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Skinamarink
(2022)
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Ella Feldman
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When the YouTube tricks are stretched across a big screen for an hour and 40 minutes, padded with a whole lot of static, they struggle to carry their own weight.
Posted Jan 20, 2023
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Broker
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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The Japanese filmmaker’s latest work could easily have been a grisly thriller. Instead, it’s heartwarming and gentle in its quiet command.
Posted Jan 12, 2023
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M3GAN
(2022)
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Sarah Marloff
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Gerard Johnstone’s movie is proof that, in 2023, Chucky and Annabelle don’t need an evil spirit to be possessed, they just need endless access to the internet.
Posted Jan 06, 2023
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Petite Maman
(2021)
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Ella Feldman
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With a dash of magical realism, Petite Maman invites us to imagine what we would ask our mothers, and what they would tell us, if we could suspend, just for a moment, the unspoken rules of the parent-child relationship.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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Everything Everywhere All at Once
(2022)
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Ella Feldman
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It’s an apt title—Everything Everywhere All At Once really does have everything...
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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Crimes of the Future
(2022)
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Ella Feldman
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Cronenberg finds new entry points into these themes, making fresh incisions that feel distinctly modern. Crimes of the Future is not a carbon copy of its director’s greatest hits. It’s a manifesto.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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Barbarian
(2022)
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Ella Feldman
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Zach Cregger’s Sam Raimi-esque film is best watched knowing nothing about it, but rest assured it will deliver on frights, laughs, and utterly brazen entertainment.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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Tár
(2022)
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Ella Feldman
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Tár’s fall from grace is impossible to look away from, and the brutal punchline that she lands at is impossible not to laugh at.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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Argentina, 1985
(2022)
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Ella Feldman
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Brimming with phenomenal performances and generous moments of comedic relief, Argentina, 1985 unflinchingly relays the junta’s atrocities, reminding us why the right to remember is something worth fighting for, at all costs.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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Women Talking
(2022)
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Ella Feldman
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Unfolding like a feminist 12 Angry Men, Women Talking is a stunning meditation on systemic misogyny and abuse, eerie in its familiarity.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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Speak No Evil
(2022)
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Ella Feldman
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Speak No Evil is a deeply disturbing interrogation of human relationships and social niceties. It’s terrifying and merciless, and if you can stomach it, one of the most exhilarating cinematic experiences of the year.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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Nope
(2022)
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Ella Feldman
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It's a spectacle about spectacle, and about the gambles we'll take to create it and monetize it. That quest lies at the heart of American culture. Nope suggests it's a quest that might eat us all alive.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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Aftersun
(2022)
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Ella Feldman
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Things are sunny on the surface, but a melancholy truth lies beneath, obscured through Sophie’s young eyes. When it finally bubbles to the surface, it packs a heartbreaking punch.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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Avatar: The Way of Water
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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It is hyper-realistic, which is to say The Way of Water represents a significant advancement in the possibilities of special effects and immersive storytelling. It is not always a complete success, but then again, maybe we have not adjusted to it.
Posted Dec 14, 2022
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Empire of Light
(2022)
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Noah Gittell
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In the end, the film gives you what you want: the shot. When all seems lost, one of its sad and lonely people buys a ticket, sits down in the dark, and lets the power of cinema do its work.
Posted Dec 09, 2022
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Churuli
(2021)
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Pat Padua
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"...it almost imperceptibly shifts from somnambulant road movie to some indefinable science-fiction/metaphysical hybrid, and the final half hour is mesmerizing."
Posted Dec 08, 2022
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Saint Omer
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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To its credit, French legal drama Saint Omer throws the genre's rules out the window, keeping a distance from its lead characters while preserving a silent, enigmatic relationship between them.
Posted Dec 01, 2022
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The Quiet Girl
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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By the time the story reaches its inevitable situation, with one character embracing another in a way they needed all along, it does not feel cloying or sentimental. Instead, that well-earned moment lands with warmth and palpable relief.
Posted Dec 01, 2022
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Close
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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There is something undeniably universal about a kid who misses his friend and mourns not just him, but all he represents, even if he cannot fully grasp it yet.
Posted Dec 01, 2022
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Godland
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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If character and anthropological curiosity are Godland’s primary interests, the beauty of the landscape is its biggest selling point. Withering and gentle, it is the kind of film that rewards those who are willing to meet it halfway.
Posted Dec 01, 2022
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EO
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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Director Jerzy Skolimowski would probably agree the donkey’s fate is inevitable, and his film is an angry cry that it does not have to be.
Posted Dec 01, 2022
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Corsage
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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It plods along, often within the lane of respectfulness. According to this film, Elisabeth liked to play with expectation and risk, flouting it in ways that are both slight and subversive. It is a shame the film does not always follow her example.
Posted Dec 01, 2022
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White Noise
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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Furrowed brows, dated costumes, and makeup are no substitute for actual character development, and here the protagonists are dressed up avatars for DeLillo’s ideas—which, in a cinematic context, are incomplete.
Posted Dec 01, 2022
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You Resemble Me
(2021)
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Alan Zilberman
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Amer’s angry film is a reminder that it takes real diligence and compassion to understand someone fully, and that difficult work is all the more important when they are so terribly misunderstood.
Posted Nov 28, 2022
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The Fabelmans
(2022)
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Noah Gittell
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Steven Spielberg's slightly fictionalized coming-of-age story makes his presence behind the camera known. Onscreen, the actors nail perceptive performances.
Posted Nov 23, 2022
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Braveheart
(1995)
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Mark Jenkins
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An unappetizing mix of swoony romanticism and shots of heads being crushed by mace blows, Braveheart may test the patience of even Dances With Wolves fans.
Posted Nov 17, 2022
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She Said
(2022)
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Sarah Marloff
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Maria Schrader’s film, adapted from Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s book, cares more about breaking a story than the people at the heart of the story.
Posted Nov 17, 2022
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The Menu
(2022)
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Noah Gittell
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Not even Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Nicholas Hoult can make the flavors in Mark Mylod’s latest film work together.
Posted Nov 17, 2022
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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The latest installment struggles with a less charismatic villain and too many MCU threads.
Posted Nov 09, 2022
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Armageddon Time
(2022)
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Alan Zilberman
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The new autobiographical film from James Gray takes an honest and sometimes brilliant look at the conflicting emotions of his youth.
Posted Nov 02, 2022
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