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The Exorcist
(1973)
|
John Bentley Mays
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A horror film for grown-ups, paced out carefully, graced by much emotional subtlety and a spirit of intelligent questioning that never lets the viewer of any or no religious persuasion slip into complacency.
Posted Sep 29, 2023
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3/5
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Traffic
(2000)
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Stephen Cole
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Traffic is handsomely mounted and intricately conceived.
Posted Sep 06, 2023
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4/5
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Oppenheimer
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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The power of Murphy’s performance (and of the script behind it) is in illustrating that the man, like so many of us, was a collection of contradictions.
Posted Jul 20, 2023
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5/5
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Barbie
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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[Greta Gerwig] has crafted a film that is at once intelligent, funny, sexy and unexpectedly emotional.
Posted Jul 20, 2023
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3.5/4
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Spirited Away
(2001)
|
Jeet Heer
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All in all, Spirited Away is a better animated feature film than anything to come out of Disney in the last 50 years.
Posted Jul 17, 2023
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The Matrix
(1999)
|
Stephen Cole
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How could filmmakers who are so skilled and imaginative lose themselves (and us) in what feels like a college stab at Aldous Huxley metaphysics?
Posted Jul 13, 2023
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4.5/5
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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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The wonderful thing about the screenplay... is that you can lose track of who has which half, secure in the knowledge that it’ll all make sense eventually. The movie doesn’t hold your hand so much as cuff you to itself for the ride.
Posted Jul 12, 2023
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2/5
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Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
(2023)
|
Chris Knight
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For all its fantastic-looking robot transformations, Rise of the Beasts is a lengthy, leaden tale, barely brought to life by the spark of its fortunately lively and expressive human co-stars.
Posted Jun 07, 2023
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5/5
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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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The film is beautiful to behold, with swooping camerawork that would be nigh impossible in a non-animated environment, and scenes so gorgeous I wanted to hit pause to enjoy their painterly composition.
Posted Jun 01, 2023
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4/5
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Fast X
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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Fast X offers such giddy, goofball enjoyment, I’d gladly return for two more if they can keep the energy flowing.
Posted May 18, 2023
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3/5
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Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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Rocket’s backstory, though often overshadowed by exploding spaceships, space stations and planets, is actually kind of sweet. As an urban Canadian, I have to say that anything that makes me feel sympathy for a raccoon is clearly doing something right.
Posted May 05, 2023
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2.5/5
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Renfield
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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It’s gruesome, but so cartoonish and unrealistic that you can probably stop being squeamish and just enjoy the humour. Or the sight of blood, if you’re into that.
Posted Apr 14, 2023
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3/5
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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
(2008)
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Chris Knight
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[Ford] does a convincing job as an ageing adventurer not quite ready to join the museum-worthy objects he collects.
Posted Apr 12, 2023
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4/5
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John Wick: Chapter 4
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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The film succeeds mightily... by virtue of leaning into its lunacy. There are some wicked stunts that will take your breath away – and should by all the laws of physics and biology take Wick’s breath away permanently, but whatever.
Posted Mar 24, 2023
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3/5
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Guitar Lessons
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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Its episodic nature isn’t enough to derail the film’s charm, which consistently shines through and carries it over any rough transitions.
Posted Feb 24, 2023
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2.5/5
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Jesus Revolution
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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It’s an uplifting story with some fine music, though it does file off a few rough edges and sanitize some of its characters’ human frailties, to the point where the movie itself seems to be trying to proselytize.
Posted Feb 24, 2023
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3.5/5
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Cocaine Bear
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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Fortunately there’s more going on here than just a bear killing people while out of its tree. Not a whole lot more, but enough that Cocaine Bear passes muster as a piece of comedic art and not just a fictional snuff film.
Posted Feb 23, 2023
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2023 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Animation
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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The animated short lineup is notable for marking the third year in a row without a Disney or Pixar offering, which used to be the standard start of the list of nominees.
Posted Feb 17, 2023
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|
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2023 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Live Action
(2023)
|
Chris Knight
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The live-action shorts are a real mixed bag, emotionally speaking.
Posted Feb 17, 2023
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2023 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Documentary
(2023)
|
Chris Knight
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The most effective of the five might also be one of the shortest. Haulout [is] terrifyingly real. The others will certainly pluck at your heartstrings.
Posted Feb 17, 2023
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3.5/5
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Of an Age
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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If Of An Age took place in the age in which it’s set, it would dovetail nicely with such Australian musical-romantic-comedy classics as Strictly Ballroom, Muriel’s Wedding and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
Posted Feb 17, 2023
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3/5
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Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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Come for the scenery, and settle in for the next two hours trying to make sense of it. There’s no guarantee that you’ll love it, but what’s the quantum realm without a little uncertainty?
Posted Feb 15, 2023
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2/5
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Marlowe
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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Elegantly cast, impeccably shot, and dull as dishwater.
Posted Feb 15, 2023
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4/5
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One Fine Morning
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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A lovely, simple drama from French writer/director Mia Hansen-Love.
Posted Feb 10, 2023
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1.5/5
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The Outwaters
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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A quarter-century after The Blair Witch Project and a week and a half since Skinamarink comes The Outwaters, a found-footage horror film that manages to combine the worst elements of both.
Posted Feb 10, 2023
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3/5
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Alice, Darling
(2022)
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Chris Knight
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Alice, Darling isn’t fun, but it is intensely interesting. And the reason is Anna Kendrick.
Posted Feb 03, 2023
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4/5
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Erin's Guide to Kissing Girls
(2022)
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Chris Knight
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Simple, straightforward and unapologetically fun.
Posted Feb 03, 2023
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5/5
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Close
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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That draft you feel in the cinema while watching Close may be your own sighs, perhaps even sobs. No matter. Close may feature an ill wind, but it ultimately does its viewers good.
Posted Feb 03, 2023
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1.5/5
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Knock at the Cabin
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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Sorry to have to take a knock at this Cabin, but M. Night Shyamlan’s latest is mediocre and missable – not especially scary, less thought-provoking than it wants to be, and pretty much devoid of anything that might qualify as a “twist.”
Posted Feb 03, 2023
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3/5
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Million Dollar Pigeons
(2022)
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Chris Knight
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I can’t wait for the crowd-pleasing, based-on-a-true-story retelling that I’m half-certain is already in the works somewhere.
Posted Feb 02, 2023
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3.5/5
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80 for Brady
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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You probably won’t be surprised by the news that Fonda et al can still deliver comic and heartfelt moments in equal measure. Unlike pro sports, acting is an endeavour where it’s possible to just keep getting better with age.
Posted Feb 01, 2023
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3.5/5
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When You Finish Saving the World
(2022)
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Chris Knight
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The film’s charms rest squarely on the shoulders of Moore and Wolfhard, who are thankfully up to the task.
Posted Jan 27, 2023
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3.5/5
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Infinity Pool
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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Infinity Pool will engage your mind even as it turns your stomach. I found it a fair tradeoff.
Posted Jan 27, 2023
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2/5
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The Son
(2022)
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Chris Knight
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The Father has me convinced [Zeller is] capable of incredible things. The Son? Well, nobody's perfect.
Posted Jan 20, 2023
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3/5
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Ever Deadly
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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Everything ties together. When Tagaq is interviewed on a barren, rocky and mosquito-infested shore, her love of this place in the Far North shines through in everything she says.
Posted Jan 20, 2023
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4/5
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Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb
(2022)
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Chris Knight
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Both Caro and Gottlieb remember epic editing battles, sometimes over the use of semi-colons... But the prevailing mood is one of mutual respect, admiration, even consonance.
Posted Jan 20, 2023
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4/5
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Saint Omer
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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You can look up the results of the trial, though I’d recommend holding off until you watch this remarkable film, which ends with the final remarks by the defense. That, too, is a layer worth exploring.
Posted Jan 20, 2023
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5/5
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Living
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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There is much overlap between the characters of Stevens the butler in Remains and Nighy's bureaucrat in Living, though ultimately the newer film finds a more upbeat note on which to end, while losing nothing of its beautiful, melodious melancholy.
Posted Jan 20, 2023
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3/5
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Adult Adoption
(2022)
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Chris Knight
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There is still much to admire, most particularly in Moon’s committed performance. And as far as subject matter goes, Adult Adoption is very much in a creative category all its own.
Posted Jan 13, 2023
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5/5
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Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age
(2022)
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Chris Knight
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Backlash: Misogyny in the Digital Age, is a disturbing yet vitally important documentary that examines several real-life cases of online bullying, in enough depth to make your stomach churn, and your blood boil.
Posted Jan 13, 2023
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3/5
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Plane
(2023)
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Chris Knight
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Plane isn’t a great movie, but it knows what it wants to be. And it’s not letting anything get in its way.
Posted Jan 13, 2023
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Down in the Delta
(1998)
|
Deirdre Dolan
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Even though it's free of stunts and sentimentality, the slow pace and loud, unambiguous morality, has a subtle, disappointing preachiness.
Posted Jan 09, 2023
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3.5/5
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Broker
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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Not only are the actors all excellent, but Kore-eda has shown time and again that, from the moment of birth, no one flies or fails completely on their own.
Posted Jan 06, 2023
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4/5
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A Man Called Otto
(2022)
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Chris Knight
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Even if you don’t know A Man Called Ove, you can probably guess where A Man Called Otto is headed. But that doesn’t make the journey less enjoyable.
Posted Jan 06, 2023
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3.5/5
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M3GAN
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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It’s not the second coming of motion pictures, to be sure. But look at the scrawled remarks in my notebook. “After Yang not Child’s Play.” “Spielberg’s A.I. but in reverse.” “Cheesy Ex Machina.” “Blonde HAL.” “Tiny Terminator.”
Posted Jan 06, 2023
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4/5
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No Bears
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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A fascinating, multi-layered fable in which the storytelling techniques of film butt up against the realities of the world.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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5/5
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Women Talking
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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Writer/director Sarah Polley has adapted fellow Canadian Miriam Toews’s 2018 novel into a thoughtful, thought-provoking study of faith, forgiveness and fighting for what is right, and against what is wrong.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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The Pale Blue Eye
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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Clocking in at more than two hours, The Pale Blue Eye (the title is from a line in one of Poe’s works) lumbers when it should lunge.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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3/5
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Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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While the plot may not be quite up to early-Shrek standards, it’s still a fun romp and also one of the few children’s movies in theatres this season.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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4/5
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The Whale
(2022)
|
Chris Knight
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Fraser wrings more pathos out of his eyes and mouth than many actors manage with their entire bodies, delivering deep reserves of sensitivity and vulnerability.
Posted Dec 27, 2022
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