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B-
|
The Marvels
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
The Marvels lights up with the exciting big screen introduction of Kamala Khan portrayed by an exuberant Iman Vellani.
Posted Nov 10, 2023
|
|
A-
|
The Holdovers
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Paul Giamatti gives his best performance since Sideways, reteaming with director Alexander Payne for a melancholic Christmas classic in the making.
Posted Nov 10, 2023
|
|
A-
|
The Killer
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
The Killer is a comical character assassination.
Posted Nov 10, 2023
|
|
B+
|
Priscilla
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Priscilla eventually made her own way and Coppola secures a safe space to tell her story with the utmost respect and sensitivity.
Posted Nov 03, 2023
|
|
A
|
Killers of the Flower Moon
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Scorsese masterfully contemplates Killers of the Flower Moon with careful deliberation.
Posted Oct 20, 2023
|
|
A-
|
Anatomy of a Fall
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
French director and co-writer Justine Triet’s engrossing courtroom procedural centred around a commanding performance by Sandra Hüller makes the minor objections to the film inconsequential.
Posted Oct 20, 2023
|
|
B
|
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
As much fun to say as it is to watch, Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person has a bittersweet bite.
Posted Oct 13, 2023
|
|
B+
|
The Royal Hotel
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Check into The Royal Hotel for a suspenseful stay where Green lets it rip!
Posted Oct 07, 2023
|
|
C+
|
Flora and Son
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Flora and Son has Carney playing the hits despite being out of tune.
Posted Oct 01, 2023
|
|
C-
|
Saw X
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Saw X falls into the same old torture trap.
Posted Oct 01, 2023
|
|
B-
|
The Creator
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
The creator of an original sci-fi odyssey, director Gareth Edwards’ visually stunning spectacle helps offset clunky dialogue and a potboiler plot which would otherwise render it obsolete.
Posted Oct 01, 2023
|
|
C+
|
Dumb Money
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Dumb Money doesn’t have the same market value as The Social Network, which has a major hold over its entire stock. Pro tip, you should be selling instead of buying into this mid-movie.
Posted Sep 22, 2023
|
|
C
|
Expend4bles
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
A cheap and cheerless sequel, Expend4bles gets old real fast.
Posted Sep 22, 2023
|
|
C
|
It Lives Inside
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
It Lives Inside disappointingly feasts on familiar fears that contribute to the state of homogenized horror.
Posted Sep 22, 2023
|
|
B
|
Bottoms
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Not pulling any punches, Shiva Baby director Emma Seligman reteams with star Rachel Sennott for a sophomore slugfest that expertly pummels high school parodies.
Posted Sep 02, 2023
|
|
C+
|
Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
If you experience Gran Turismo at face value, you’ll get a late summer release by a disgraced filmmaker looking to produce safe, roadworthy material. However, the "based on a true story” advertising reveals a serious falsehood in need of fine tuning.
Posted Aug 25, 2023
|
|
C
|
Golda
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Golda fails to recapture a pivotal moment in Israel’s complex and determined battle for existence along with a fascinating political icon who’s reduced to bad latex and rubber.
Posted Aug 25, 2023
|
|
B
|
The Eternal Memory
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
The Eternal Memory will be remembered for its unrequited love towards its subjects.
Posted Aug 25, 2023
|
|
A-
|
Passages
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Passages exemplifies eroticism with profound penetration into the private and intimate relationships between consensual adults.
Posted Aug 13, 2023
|
|
C-
|
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
A tepid tale of terror aboard the ill-fated cargo ship that carried Dracula from Eastern Europe to Whitby, England kind of sucks.
Posted Aug 13, 2023
|
|
B+
|
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Radical acceptance thematically shells out the grotesquely beautiful, hard-edged animation with solid performances from the titular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Posted Aug 03, 2023
|
|
B+
|
Talk to Me
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
The film never overstays its welcome, maybe leaning a little too heavily into short film tropes, but the streamlined terror resists the urge to glamourize or exploit mental health issues surrounding debilitating depression.
Posted Jul 28, 2023
|
|
B-
|
Haunted Mansion
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Haunted Mansion scares up a brilliantly earnest portrayal by Stanfield elevating the subpar material to supernatural heights.
Posted Jul 28, 2023
|
|
B
|
North of Normal
(2022)
|
Eric Marchen
|
North of Normal travels tricky terrain, going outside the biopic norm.
Posted Jul 28, 2023
|
|
B
|
Oppenheimer
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
The Trinity Test sequence, which is undeniably impressive to witness on the biggest screen possible, is where I found myself engaging with the hugely inconsistent spectacle filled with questionable dialogue and Michael Bay-adjacent editing.
Posted Jul 22, 2023
|
|
A
|
Barbie
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
If you open up your heart to the weird and wonderful embrace of Greta Gerwig’s transcendent Barbie, you’ll be greeted by an audacious production design, swimming in exquisite film references and tender vulnerability.
Posted Jul 20, 2023
|
|
A-
|
Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning, Part One
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Per usual, Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie go above and beyond with death-defying action sequences that’ll have you on the edge of your seat wondering how the showmen are able to pull off the impossible.
Posted Jul 06, 2023
|
|
B
|
Joy Ride
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Overall, a relentlessly raunchy depiction of friendship, identity, and self-worth, Joy Ride definitely earns its hard R comedy rating.
Posted Jul 06, 2023
|
|
B+
|
So Much Tenderness
(2022)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Rodriguez shows So Much Tenderness as a versatile director whose latest film lingers long after watching.
Posted Jun 30, 2023
|
|
C
|
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
The global chase turns New York City, Athens, Sicily, and other locales into one big amusement park of narrow escapes, but it’s missing that passion Spielberg brought to the table, often looking clunky.
Posted Jun 28, 2023
|
|
B+
|
Blue Jean
(2022)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Atmospheric and radically charged, Oakley brilliantly encapsulates the historical context of the period, demonstrating a form of regime repression trickling down to the individual affected.
Posted Jun 23, 2023
|
|
A
|
Asteroid City
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Wes Anderson’s symmetrical inverse creates a crater-sized hole of cosmic delights in Asteroid City.
Posted Jun 23, 2023
|
|
C
|
Elemental
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
All fizzle and no sizzle, Elemental is Pixar’s biggest misfire since Brave and The Good Dinosaur. The film treads familiar waters but without a romantic spark to ignite genuine concern for rudimentary characters, lacking computer-animated chemistry.
Posted Jun 16, 2023
|
|
C
|
The Flash
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
It director Andy Muschietti’s timeline jumping journey is corporate synergy at its absolute worst.
Posted Jun 16, 2023
|
|
B-
|
Flamin' Hot
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
It’s a little cliché in its comedic style, going back to tacky humour that might have worked once, but the sympathetic family is easy to root for.
Posted Jun 10, 2023
|
|
C
|
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts isn’t worth rolling out to the theatre for.
Posted Jun 10, 2023
|
|
A+
|
Past Lives
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
One really feels so enraptured by the themes of fate, love, and free will that what’s being expertly set up leaves you speechless.
Posted Jun 10, 2023
|
|
A
|
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
An animated experience unlike any other reinvents a genre and medium for the second time in this spectacular superhero sequel.
Posted Jun 02, 2023
|
|
B-
|
The Boogeyman
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Thatcher and Blair have a solid onscreen bond that makes them both sympathetic in their resolve even when the third act sets fire to the prior moody atmosphere.
Posted Jun 01, 2023
|
|
B-
|
Kandahar
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
The very definition of escapist entertainment, Mission Kandahar is above average Butler, no matter how disposable it is.
Posted May 26, 2023
|
|
C-
|
The Little Mermaid
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Disney’s unsightly live action-remake of the 1989 classic drowns in the murky waters of ill-conceived VFX.
Posted May 24, 2023
|
|
B
|
Master Gardener
(2022)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Nobody does what Schrader has methodically cultivated quite as well, which is to craft a stripped down examination of one man’s tormented soul spilling over diary pages in a darkly lit room. It’s intoxicating to behold.
Posted May 19, 2023
|
|
C
|
What's Love Got to Do with It?
(2022)
|
Eric Marchen
|
James and Latif are likeable talents who have been confined to contrived characterizations unable to imbue their respective performances with genuine emotion, let alone definitive personality traits.
Posted May 19, 2023
|
|
B+
|
The Starling Girl
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
The Starling Girl mindfully comes-of-age in a singular directorial effort.
Posted May 19, 2023
|
|
C
|
Fast X
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
The action sequences tend to exhaust rather than entertain, blurring with previous sequels.
Posted May 19, 2023
|
|
C-
|
Book Club: The Next Chapter
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Book Club: The Next Chapter should be the last.
Posted May 14, 2023
|
|
B+
|
BlackBerry
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Howerton gets the role of a life time, as this Juilliard trained actor completely disappears into the hockey loving, Gordon Gekko wannabe dispelling the stereotype of the nice Canadian. It's a tour-de-force performance.
Posted May 14, 2023
|
|
B-
|
Carmen
(2022)
|
Eric Marchen
|
A poetic parallel to the past, Carmen finds strength in Britell’s seductive score.
Posted May 05, 2023
|
|
B
|
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, though imperfect, bids a fond farewell to the ragtag crew of misfits with Rocket Raccoon finally at the forefront.
Posted May 05, 2023
|
|
B+
|
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
(2023)
|
Eric Marchen
|
Following The Edge of Seventeen, writer, director, and producer Craig’s superb sophomore effort confirms a natural talent for telling rapturous stories about adolescent anxiety at any stage.
Posted Apr 28, 2023
|
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