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4/5
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North of Normal
(2022)
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Monica Reid
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It’s an engrossing tale and one of the best-directed film adaptations of the year.
Posted Feb 24, 2023
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4/5
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One Fine Morning
(2022)
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Monica Reid
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The unique approach of a talented director provides a moving and entirely relatable character study based on little more than the obligations of ordinary people, made lively and watchable by the fine work of lead actor Léa Seydoux.
Posted Feb 03, 2023
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4/5
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Full Time
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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Director Gravel draws the audience in with a tense, sympathetic, well-told Everyman tale.
Posted Feb 03, 2023
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3/5
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Between Two Worlds
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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A typically great performance by Juliette Binoche, backed by a solid supporting cast and a carefully managed storyline, provides a revealing and sensitive account of often overlooked lives.
Posted Dec 22, 2022
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3.5/5
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EO
(2022)
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Monica Reid
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The film is a simple, moving, bravely told, and completely absorbing story, beautifully made and completely successful in achieving the filmmaker’s intentions.
Posted Dec 22, 2022
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5/5
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Women Talking
(2022)
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Monica Reid
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The film finds drama and heroism in the women’s efforts and suspense in the unavoidable deadline for their final decision.
Posted Dec 09, 2022
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3.5/5
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Black Box
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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The latest feature by French director and scriptwriter Yann Gozlan is a complex thriller constructed around a well-developed version of a popular archetype: the likeable nerd.
Posted Dec 09, 2022
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4/5
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Farewell, Mr. Haffmann
(2022)
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Monica Reid
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Just as the anxiety among the three residents seems to have reached its peak, the situation takes a completely unexpected turn, which leads the story in an entirely new and illuminating direction.
Posted Dec 09, 2022
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4.5/5
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The Banshees of Inisherin
(2022)
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Monica Reid
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The combination of an insightful black comedy script by... Martin McDonagh, with a winning combination of three lead actors and an excellent supporting cast, results in one of the funniest and most consistently entertaining films this year.
Posted Oct 14, 2022
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4.5/5
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The Wonder
(2022)
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Monica Reid
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It is the cast and the sensitive direction by the filmmaker that makes possible this singular, highly personal depiction of what might be called either an unusual love story or a beautiful and ingenious rescue tale.
Posted Oct 14, 2022
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3.5/5
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Viking
(2022)
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Monica Reid
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All the humour in Viking is entirely relatable; the crew’s problems, the minor breakdowns in discipline, and the constant decline into human pettiness are all the funnier for being perfectly believable.
Posted Oct 07, 2022
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5/5
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While We Watched
(2022)
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Monica Reid
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While We Watched, the documentary by talented director Vinay Shukla, is an absolute gem.
Posted Oct 07, 2022
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3/5
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Voodoo Macbeth
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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Voodoo Macbeth is a light, entertaining theatrical drama based on real fascinating events.
Posted Oct 07, 2022
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4/5
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The Grab
(2022)
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Monica Reid
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This highly recommended documentary has provided essential information which may well spark needed change.
Posted Sep 30, 2022
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3.5/5
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The Woman King
(2022)
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Monica Reid
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All in all, The Woman King is an exciting, action-packed, history-based melodrama with a new and unusual setting, gorgeous look and sound, and dynamic performances -- but with occasional jarring flaws in the script.
Posted Sep 30, 2022
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3/5
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Nope
(2022)
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Monica Reid
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This is not Peele’s best work, but it is well made and has much of his familiar inventiveness and novel approach to horror, making it a film well worth watching.
Posted Jul 29, 2022
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4/5
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Elvis
(2022)
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Monica Reid
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Luhrmann has managed to capture the essence of the legendary Elvis Presley, in the form of what can only be called a tragic success story.
Posted Jul 29, 2022
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3/5
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18 1/2
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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The two lead actors have perfect chemistry, by turns irritable, frightened, competitive, or unexpectedly compatible as they attempt to make their scheme work.
Posted May 26, 2022
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3.5/5
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Cyrano
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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Essentially, we have an innovative and clever but slightly imperfect idea from screenwriter Erica Schmidt, properly developed and expanded upon by talented director Joe Wright, and finally brought fully to life by its lead actor’s moving performance.
Posted Mar 25, 2022
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3/5
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Alice
(2022)
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Monica Reid
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It’s a film that works well, provided the viewer lets the story set the tone without inflexible expectations.
Posted Mar 18, 2022
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3/5
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Don't Look Up
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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The humour of the movie is often broad and preposterous, but sharp enough to keep its dark edge.
Posted Jan 06, 2022
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4/5
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I'm Your Man
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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Maren Eggert's performance as Alma is subtle and on the mark at all times; but it is Dan Stevens' portrayal of Tom that is the most eye-catching.
Posted Dec 10, 2021
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3/5
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The Gravedigger's Wife
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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Warsame captures Nasra's charm, her calm acceptance of her fate, and her love for her family, perfectly, and her chemistry with Omar Abdi as Guled is perfect.
Posted Dec 10, 2021
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4/5
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Medusa
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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Whether primarily a horror film, comedy, fantasy, or musical, with Medusa director Da Silveira has definitely begun to hit her stride.
Posted Dec 10, 2021
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3.5/5
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Silent Night
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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The ensemble cast of Silent Night meshes perfectly, providing a hilarious, often uncomfortable depiction of an extended family coping with its conflicts and differences, slights and perceived rejections.
Posted Dec 10, 2021
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4/5
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The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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Cumberbatch's performance as Louis Wain is the making of the film; it allows him to be both pitiful and hilarious. He is eccentric, awkward, constantly distracted, essentially friendly but with disturbingly intermittent social skills.
Posted Nov 12, 2021
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3/5
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Mothering Sunday
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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The film is attractive visually, full of moody lighting and effective camera work, and the cast remarkable; however, the action is often far too slow and apparently directionless.
Posted Oct 08, 2021
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4/5
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The Power of the Dog
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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Jane Campion's script is brilliant and absorbing, at once a stinging character study and a mystery that maintains its suspense until the final second.
Posted Sep 24, 2021
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2.5/5
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Agnes
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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For all its rambling strangeness and lack of clarity, Agnes is oddly engrossing, its characters always watchable, its cast very good, and its unpredictability certainly arresting.
Posted Aug 20, 2021
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3.5/5
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Broken Diamonds
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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Its honesty is accompanied by a genuinely entertaining story that makes its message not only palatable but enjoyable.
Posted Aug 20, 2021
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4/5
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My Salinger Year
(2020)
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Monica Reid
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My Salinger Year is a film that can be enjoyed as much for the sea of affectionate literary allusions in which it swims, as for its humour, its quirky cast of characters, or its success as a heartfelt character study.
Posted Jun 04, 2021
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3/5
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The Mauritanian
(2021)
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Monica Reid
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An excellent ensemble cast, and the undeniably fascinating facts of the case, keep the film engrossing throughout.
Posted Apr 30, 2021
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3/5
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Death of a Ladies' Man
(2020)
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Monica Reid
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Regardless of any flaws, for any Leonard Cohen fan, the film is a must.
Posted Apr 30, 2021
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3/5
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The Milkmaid
(2020)
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Monica Reid
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Along with being a remarkable reality-based drama, the film is an intriguing psychological study, as well as an understated tribute to the value and endurance of women under the worst of circumstances.
Posted Mar 04, 2021
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4/5
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Derek DelGaudio's In & of Itself
(2020)
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Monica Reid
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The filming techniques add impact to the performance and give the film audience a bit of a behind the scenes view of the audience's experience and reaction.
Posted Feb 12, 2021
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4.5/5
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Promising Young Woman
(2020)
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Monica Reid
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As art or as exhortation, it's a huge success. But it's absolutely not a good date movie.
Posted Feb 11, 2021
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3.5/5
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The Kid Detective
(2020)
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Monica Reid
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The film had a well-constructed storyline, a nice mixture of humour and drama, enough suspense and plot twists to make it as a mystery, and entertainment value throughout.
Posted Nov 13, 2020
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3/5
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Beginning
(2020)
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Monica Reid
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It is a distinctive production that deals with issues of faith and justice, through a simple, personal story, using a unique, very visual approach that gives the film a strange and memorable look.
Posted Oct 31, 2020
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3.5/5
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180 Degree Rule
(2020)
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Monica Reid
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...an interesting mix of brilliant film techniques and expert directing, used to tell a challenging story with many layers.
Posted Oct 09, 2020
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5/5
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David Byrne's American Utopia
(2020)
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Monica Reid
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The resulting combination of Byrne's music, a unique stage show, and Lee's cinematic skill adds up to something very unusual but completely brilliant.
Posted Sep 25, 2020
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3.5/5
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One Night in Miami
(2020)
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Monica Reid
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It layers implied commentary on top of spoken, irony upon irony, and allows the audience to see the background experiences that went into forming the attitudes and opinions the central figures now hold.
Posted Sep 24, 2020
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4/5
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The Water Man
(2020)
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Monica Reid
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As a dramatic story of family tragedy and reconciliation, and an inventive tale of a fantastical adventure, peril, and rescue, all beautifully presented, The Water Man has something for every audience.
Posted Sep 24, 2020
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4.5/5
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First Cow
(2019)
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Monica Reid
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The latest release from ingenious director Kelly Reichardt is a brilliant and moving drama, but also an unusual one.
Posted Aug 07, 2020
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3/5
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Little Joe
(2019)
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Monica Reid
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Yet another unconventional horror story with a deeply buried message, Little Joe is distinctly unusual in style, narrative, theme, and prevailing mood.
Posted Apr 11, 2020
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3/5
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Vivarium
(2020)
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Monica Reid
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Vivarium is a horror story with many layers, indirect social commentary buried deep in a grim, kinky fantasy.
Posted Apr 11, 2020
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3.5/5
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Phoenix, Oregon
(2019)
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Monica Reid
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The film finds both insight and low-key comedy in random personal conflicts and unexpected mishaps, as well as intense, hyperbolic bowling rivalries straight out of The Big Lebowski...
Posted Mar 13, 2020
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5/5
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Parasite
(2019)
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Monica Reid
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With Parasite, Bong Joon-Ho has produced a brilliant social commentary, and what might well be the best film of 2019.
Posted Nov 15, 2019
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4.5/5
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The King
(2019)
|
Monica Reid
|
It is a grand, thoroughly gripping historical drama.
Posted Nov 08, 2019
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5/5
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The Lighthouse
(2019)
|
Monica Reid
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Like The Witch, it is bleakly realistic with mythical or supernatural overtones, but both aspects are heightened, the real elements darker, and the mystical or imaginary aspects expanded and laid out in shocking and unexpected ways.
Posted Nov 08, 2019
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3/5
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Radioactive
(2019)
|
Monica Reid
|
It is this distinctive approach by [Marjane Satrapi] that not only provides effortless context but also elevates Radioative from a straightforward biography to something more exciting.
Posted Nov 01, 2019
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