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No One Will Save You
(2023)
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Frank Scheck
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The film transcends its narrative limitations with an emotional underpinning involving the central character grappling with her feelings of loneliness and abandonment.
Posted Sep 22, 2023
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Expend4bles
(2023)
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Frank Scheck
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More like the dispos4bles.
Posted Sep 21, 2023
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It Lives Inside
(2023)
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Lovia Gyarkye
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The potency of It Lives Inside — and why it might be worth checking out even if it isn’t wholly satisfying — lies in how it introduces Sam and Tamira’s relationship and links it to Hindu lore.
Posted Sep 21, 2023
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Stamped From the Beginning
(2023)
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Lovia Gyarkye
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Stamped From the Beginning is an invitation. The history is harsh but Williams foregrounds a structure that doesn’t alienate.
Posted Sep 19, 2023
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They Shot the Piano Player
(2023)
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Sheri Linden
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A loving, haunting tribute.
Posted Sep 19, 2023
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The Peasants
(2023)
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Frank Scheck
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A ravishingly beautiful visual triumph.
Posted Sep 18, 2023
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Hell of a Summer
(2023)
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Jourdain Searles
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Maybe it’s enough that Hell of a Summer leaves us eagerly wondering what Bryk and Wolfhard will make next.
Posted Sep 18, 2023
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The Movie Teller
(2023)
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Caryn James
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Graceful but slight, in the end The Movie Teller tries to do too much and accomplishes too little to fulfill its big ambitions.
Posted Sep 18, 2023
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Willie and Me
(2023)
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Frank Scheck
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Hassmann has crafted an engaging showcase for herself with her debut feature as a writer, producer, director and star.
Posted Sep 18, 2023
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Wicked Little Letters
(2023)
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Lovia Gyarkye
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Takes a one-note farcical approach to this slice of history, a peculiar move that deserts its formidable cast and squanders its thrilling premise.
Posted Sep 18, 2023
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Sly
(2023)
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Dan Fienberg
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The star proves to be a good enough explainer of his legacy that the documentary finds effective insight and poignancy — despite however much he’s an overly protective custodian of that legacy...
Posted Sep 17, 2023
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Widow Clicquot
(2023)
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Angie Han
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A drama that feels more substantive than its 89-minute run time might suggest, if not quite rich enough to leave its own lasting legacy.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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The End We Start From
(2023)
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Jourdain Searles
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The film, based on the novel of the same name by Megan Hunter, takes a quiet, emotional approach to the end times, with director Mahalia Belo favoring a meditative visual style.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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The Wait
(2023)
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Jordan Mintzer
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Sometimes it feels like the director is improvising as he goes along, throwing in twists for the sake of it, with a whole subplot involving backcountry voodoo that’s never remotely credible or scary.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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The Critic
(2023)
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Angie Han
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The principals are collectively underserved by a script that emphasizes histrionic drama over thoughtful character development, and conflates darkness with depth.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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Housekeeping for Beginners
(2023)
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Leslie Felperin
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A fizzy, huggable portrait of a self-made, roughly blended queer family.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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Society of the Snow
(2023)
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David Rooney
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Uneven but ultimately effective.
Posted Sep 15, 2023
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Gasoline Rainbow
(2023)
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Leslie Felperin
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Gasoline Rainbow pays homage to all the road movies that ever were but is still its own quirky thing, uniquely of its time.
Posted Sep 14, 2023
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Sing Sing
(2023)
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Lovia Gyarkye
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A quiet declaration of art's redemptive powers.
Posted Sep 14, 2023
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Coup!
(2023)
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Leslie Felperin
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This satirical work is hardly profound or subtle about the parallels with the present-day class conflict, but it wears its screw-the-rich subtext with insouciant breeziness.
Posted Sep 14, 2023
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Mother, Couch
(2023)
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Sheri Linden
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A collection of intriguing pieces that mostly sit there unassembled or out of context, their potential unfulfilled.
Posted Sep 14, 2023
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Dicks: The Musical
(2023)
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Michael Rechtshaffen
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Packs an infectious albeit ephemeral punch.
Posted Sep 14, 2023
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The Inventor
(2023)
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Frank Scheck
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An engaging and amusing history lesson.
Posted Sep 13, 2023
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Shoshana
(2023)
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Leslie Felperin
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Like nearly all of Winterbottom’s work, this film judiciously balances earnestness with more visceral concerns, and mostly hits the right notes...
Posted Sep 13, 2023
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The Burial
(2023)
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Jourdain Searles
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In a time when everyone is on strike and billionaires refuse to share the wealth to the detriment of society, it’s nice to watch a story in which one very powerful man is forced to confront his own greed and inhumanity.
Posted Sep 13, 2023
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Out of Season
(2023)
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David Rooney
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An achingly tender pas de deux.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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Woman of the Hour
(2023)
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Lovia Gyarkye
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Despite Woman of the Hour’s sometimes shaky execution, its story is undeniably powerful.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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Poolman
(2023)
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Michael Rechtshaffen
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Goes tonally off the rails from the start and proceeds to hit bottom with excruciating momentum, dragging a game ensemble, including Annette Bening, Danny DeVito and Jennifer Jason Leigh, down for the count.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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Go for Sisters
(2013)
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John DeFore
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Arthouse appeal is solid for a film that, though not nearly as commercial as Lone Star or endearing as Secret of Roan Inish, plays to the filmmaker’s strengths and makes good use of costar Edward James Olmos.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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Flipside
(2023)
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Dan Fienberg
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Taken in totality and with some reflection, it’s a borderline-profound and philosophical expression of satisfaction with everything that is unfinished in life.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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Quiz Lady
(2023)
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Lovia Gyarkye
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Quiz Lady is a film that wears its silly contrivances and heart proudly. It may not be consistently funny — the jokes start to feel one-note by the end — but fine performances from its stacked cast will make it an appealing Friday night option...
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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Pain Hustlers
(2023)
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Lovia Gyarkye
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Bolstered by committed performances.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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The Contestant
(2023)
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Dan Fienberg
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It’s a documentary about voyeurism that, in the absence of freshly delivered insight, just reintroduces and rehashes the voyeuristic impulse it’s largely condemning.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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Close to You
(2023)
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Lovia Gyarkye
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The film yearns to capture the stages of this emotional exhumation, but a clunky screenplay makes for a less affecting watch.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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Dear Jassi
(2023)
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Frank Scheck
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Elemental in its power.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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The Teacher
(2023)
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Sheri Linden
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Uneven but often riveting.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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One Life
(2023)
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Leslie Felperin
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Conventional but moving.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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The King Tide
(2023)
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Sheri Linden
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Effectively eerie and insightful.
Posted Sep 12, 2023
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We Grown Now
(2023)
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Lovia Gyarkye
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A film that takes the idea of beauty seriously and works, with deceptive ease, to show us the tiny pleasures that make up life in Cabrini-Green.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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Ezra
(2023)
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Michael Rechtshaffen
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Earns its crowd-hugging stripes legitimately thanks to its superb ensemble and sensitive direction that never gets in the way of its knowing script.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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Knox Goes Away
(2023)
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Frank Scheck
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Clearly, screenwriter Michael Poirier isn’t content to have just one high-concept plotline; he’s gotta have two. The problem is that neither one is remotely convincing.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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Sorry/Not Sorry
(2023)
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Jourdain Searles
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Divided into seven narratively ill-defined parts, Sorry/Not Sorry moves like the first draft of an article that has all its sources, but doesn’t quite have a thesis yet.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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Next Goal Wins
(2023)
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Lovia Gyarkye
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Leaning almost exclusively on comedy, Waititi shortchanges his characters. He presents their development in fits and spurts, which translates to a choppy narrative rhythm.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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Wildcat
(2023)
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Sheri Linden
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Wildcat understands that the two-way process between artist and art is beyond classification, and has no beginning or end.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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Lee
(2023)
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Lovia Gyarkye
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[Winslet] injects award-winning cinematographer Ellen Kuras’ glossy and conventional biopic with an energy that ushers an enigmatic figure to the foreground.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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Lil Nas X: Long Live Montero
(2023)
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Lovia Gyarkye
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A fragmented and ultimately pallid portrait of a glittering musician.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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Pet Shop Days
(2023)
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Leslie Felperin
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Sex, drugs and tedium.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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Lubo
(2023)
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David Rooney
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After a compelling first hour, the director can’t seem to get to the dramatic and emotional crux of the epic story, which runs a bloated three hours.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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Dream Scenario
(2023)
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Michael Rechtshaffen
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Cage is comedy gold in one of the year's sharpest comedies yet.
Posted Sep 11, 2023
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Finestkind
(2023)
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Michael Rechtshaffen
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While the end result is set in the present day, there’s a palpable throwback, been-there-done-that vibe to the proceedings.
Posted Sep 10, 2023
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