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6/10
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Vacation Friends
(2021)
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Brent Hankins
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Cena continues to showcase the comedic chops first glimpsed in Trainwreck, but he's frequently in danger of being upstaged by Hagner, who imbues her ditzy, borderline depraved character with a surprising amount of heart.
Posted Aug 27, 2021
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6/10
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A Wrinkle in Time
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
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The young adult audience at which the film is squarely aimed will surely spark to Meg, the awkward outcast who becomes a hero not because of a magic spell or a mystical artifact, but rather because she learns to believe in herself.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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7/10
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Tomb Raider
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
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The core elements - Lara using a combination of intelligence and athleticism to solve puzzles, outwit adversaries and navigate thrilling action beats - are superbly entertaining.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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5/10
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The Catcher Was a Spy
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
|
Rudd is no stranger to dramatic material, but he comes across as a bit too charming to be truly believable in this sort of role.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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10/10
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Blindspotting
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
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Blindspotting explores and articulates numerous issues which feel particularly relevant in today's sociopolitical climate, while also serving as a love letter to Diggs and Casal's native Oakland.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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9/10
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The Miseducation of Cameron Post
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
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The Miseducation of Cameron Post asks a lot from its star, and Moretz is more than up to the task, showcasing a heartbreaking amount of vulnerability in a performance that is not only her best work in years, but possibly her best work, period.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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9/10
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Avengers: Infinity War
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
|
This is the kind of film that comic book fans have spent their entire lives dreaming about, one that breathes life into events that heretofore could only have existed on the page, or in the imagination.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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8/10
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Solo: A Star Wars Story
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
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Fans hoping to experience some of the most important parts of Han's legacy will have plenty to look forward to here, including the genesis of his lifelong friendship with Chewbacca, and an infamous game of sabacc against Lando.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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3/10
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Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
|
An offensively stupid film packed with too many undeveloped ideas, too many genetically-enhanced dinosaurs (seriously, didn't we get enough of this in the last film?), and too many characters that behave in ways that defy logic or reason.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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7/10
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Incredibles 2
(2018)
|
Brent Hankins
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Returning director Brad Bird continues to showcase an eye for exciting and unique action while further endearing us to the Parr family by ensuring that each character is multi-layered and fully realized.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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9/10
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Deadpool 2
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
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Deadpool 2 should be exactly what fans expect from a sequel, an ambitious upgrade that offers more jokes, more violence, more action and more vulgarity.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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7/10
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Leave No Trace
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
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Quiet and somber, with long stretches of little to no dialogue, Leave No Trace isn't likely to appeal to everyone, especially with its purposefully vague approach to storytelling and deliberate obfuscation of details.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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7/10
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American Animals
(2018)
|
Brent Hankins
|
That the crime is ultimately unsuccessful isn't a shocker - the film acknowledges this within the first few moments - but this detail hardly matters, because what's so intriguing is why the boys chose to attempt this crime in the first place.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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7/10
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Champion
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
|
Champion's biggest strengths are its comedic sensibilities, as director Kim Yong-Wan recognizes the inherent absurdity of arm-wrestling and plays it up for big laughs.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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7/10
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Believer
(2018)
|
Brent Hankins
|
Believer not only offers the requisite firearms and fisticuffs demanded by the genre, but also arrives with some major surprises and numerous top-notch performances, all packed into a consistently exciting and thrilling package.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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6/10
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The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot
(2018)
|
Brent Hankins
|
This film isn't so much about the hunt itself, but rather the broken man behind it, and as a more contemplative character study, it's commendable.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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7/10
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Buffalo Boys
(2018)
|
Brent Hankins
|
Wiluan fully embraces the genre's numerous tropes and uses them to his advantage, subverting expectations when appropriate while still delivering the type of shoot-em-up action that audiences will expect.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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7/10
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Mega Time Squad
(2018)
|
Brent Hankins
|
Clever, goofy and incredibly fun, this is one of the hidden gems of this year's Fantasia Festival, and while it may be a bit too weird to find mainstream success, it's a perfect offering for genre fans.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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6/10
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Cam
(2018)
|
Brent Hankins
|
There's more than a little David Lynch influence at play here, but Goldhaber handles the material expertly, as evidenced by his award for Best First Feature at Fantasia 2018 (not to be outdone, Isa Mazzei's screenplay also received honors).
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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5/10
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Venom
(2018)
|
Brent Hankins
|
It often feels like the bad ideas are methodically consuming the good ones - not unlike the symbiotes themselves - but if you can stay awake through the dreadful first hour, there's definitely some fun to be had.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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9/10
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Bodied
(2017)
|
Brent Hankins
|
Bodied is a fearless firecracker of a film, dishing out a steady stream of laugh-out-loud sequences and "did they really just go there?" moments while challenging perceptions every step of the way.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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7/10
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Operation Finale
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
|
Operation Finale's climax, while offering a fair amount of excitement and anxiety, feels as though it borrows a bit too heavily from Argo, a better film whose final moments are more engaging and more nerve-wracking.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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8/10
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Halloween
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
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With its tough-as-nails leading lady, clever setpieces (a sequence involving motion-activated lights is superb), and significantly higher body count, Green's Halloween will appeal to longtime fans and franchise novices alike.
Posted Apr 09, 2019
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4/10
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Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
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Nearly everything that occurs here is just to lay the groundwork for events yet to come, leaving this reviewer to ponder how a film with so much talking can actually say so very little.
Posted Apr 08, 2019
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8/10
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Mary Poppins Returns
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
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Drawing more from the novels on which the original film was based, Blunt's version of Poppins is perhaps a bit more stern, certainly more acerbic, and arguably a bit more bizarre than Andrews' portrayal
Posted Apr 08, 2019
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6/10
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Ralph Breaks the Internet
(2018)
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Brent Hankins
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While the overall allegory, about a father figure coming to grips with the idea of his child heading out into the world on their own, is a powerful and resonant message, the uneven storytelling muddies the waters a bit.
Posted Apr 08, 2019
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7/10
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Aquaman
(2018)
|
Brent Hankins
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Somehow, James Wan manages to pull it off, creating a film that not only refuses to apologize for adhering to its roots, but fully embraces the inherent absurdity that comes from trying to bring these characters to life in a realistic setting.
Posted Apr 08, 2019
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