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A-
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Air
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
While a story about a billion dollar company trying to beat its rivals might not sound like entertaining drama, Alex Convery and Ben Affleck have turned it into a hugely crowd pleasing tale of David beats Goliath with innovation and chutzpah
Posted Mar 28, 2023
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A-
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The Blue Caftan
(2022)
|
Laura Clifford
|
an emotional tour de force, a film about love in all its dimensions.
Posted Mar 27, 2023
|
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B
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Enys Men
(2022)
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Laura Clifford
|
Mark Jenkin’s folk horror leaves it to his audience to decide whether his unnamed protagonist is losing her mind in isolation or caught in some bizarre time loop skipping from the present to 1897, the very recent past and even her own teenaged years.
Posted Mar 27, 2023
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B
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Rye Lane
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
you just have to love a film whose protagonist judges prospective mates by whether or not they wave at boats.
Posted Mar 27, 2023
|
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A-
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A Thousand and One
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
Teyana Taylor anchors the film with her portrait of a woman ever willing to fight, one who even briefly attains everything she’d hoped for. The camera loves her, but the actress eschews vanity for reality…
Posted Mar 27, 2023
|
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B
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Tetris
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
Anchored by Egerton’s endearing performance as a likable family man and somewhat naïve risk taking entrepreneur navigating shark-infested waters, “Tetris” is as fast moving and has almost as many moving pieces as the game itself.
Posted Mar 22, 2023
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B
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The Lost King
(2022)
|
Laura Clifford
|
portrays humankind as all too eager to accept a scurrilous tale over truth and how one determined amateur crusader shone a light that changed her country’s history.
Posted Mar 22, 2023
|
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B
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A Good Person
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
Despite a number of character choices which defy credibility, “A Good Person” is an honest portrayal of grief, addiction, forgiveness and accepting personal responsibility and Braff’s best film to date...Pugh has delivered for him in spades
Posted Mar 22, 2023
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B+
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John Wick: Chapter 4
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
This. This is the climax fans of this series have been waiting for...a finale that honors the bonds of friendship...one jaw-dropping series of stunts after another.
Posted Mar 19, 2023
|
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B
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Full Time
(2021)
|
Robin Clifford
|
Laure Calamy gives a one-woman show performance as she is front and center for nearly every frame of the film. The actor and her character hold your attention throughout
Posted Mar 16, 2023
|
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B
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Inside
(2023)
|
Robin Clifford
|
It is a challenging character study and Dafoe is up to its demands.
Posted Mar 16, 2023
|
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B-
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Smoking Causes Coughing
(2022)
|
Robin Clifford
|
Quentin Dupieux has a very strange and imaginative mind and “Smoking Causes Coughing” is a goofy and fun extension of that mind.
Posted Mar 16, 2023
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B+
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Boston Strangler
(2023)
|
Robin Clifford
|
The telling of this fascinating investigation deals with many of our current issues, like sexism in the workplace, misogyny and cover-up by the police departments involved and the fear of violence and crime.
Posted Mar 16, 2023
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B+
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Boston Strangler
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
While watching “Boston Strangler,” I was reminded time and again of David Fincher’s “Zodiac,” a movie I wouldn’t be surprised to learn Ruskin had studied in preparation for this.
Posted Mar 16, 2023
|
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B
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Smoking Causes Coughing
(2022)
|
Laura Clifford
|
masquerades as a super hero yarn, but that’s merely an elaborate framing device for an anthology film that plays like “Creepshow” or “Tales from the Crypt” as processed through Dupieux’s delightfully warped sense of humor.
Posted Mar 14, 2023
|
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B
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Sick of Myself
(2022)
|
Laura Clifford
|
If “Triangle of Sadness’s” Ruben Östlund remade “The Worst Person in the World” as a pitch black satire, he’d have come up with something like ‘Sick of Myself..."
Posted Mar 14, 2023
|
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C+
|
Moving On
(2022)
|
Laura Clifford
|
With “Moving On” Weitz gets from A to B by careening around J, M and Q but Fonda, Tomlin and Roundtree maintain rooting interest in this odd little film.
Posted Mar 14, 2023
|
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B-
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Inside
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
Katsoupis’s themes are as clear as the water in the indoor feature Nemo begins to use as a toilet, but his film does work as one of those single-trapped-human-fighting-for-survival movies…
Posted Mar 14, 2023
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B+
|
Full Time
(2021)
|
Laura Clifford
|
Aided by Victor Seguin’s fluid, constantly moving camera and Irène Drésel’s anxiety inducing synth score, “Full Time” is a nerve-shredding experience until the joyful, climactic sigh of relief the filmmaker finally allows both Julie and his audience.
Posted Mar 11, 2023
|
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B
|
Scream VI
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
while ‘hiding’ a killer in plain sight on Halloween is as old as, well, “Halloween,” “Scream VI” makes it fresh by giving us multiple Ghostfaces sitting and standing in subway cars crowded with the likes of Mike Myers and ominous red balloons.
Posted Mar 08, 2023
|
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B-
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Linoleum
(2022)
|
Robin Clifford
|
I, personally, found that the story gets too wrapped up in itself and takes some stumbles. But, it is an intelligent story that does not talk down to us, entertains and makes you think.
Posted Mar 01, 2023
|
|
B-
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Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre
(2023)
|
Robin Clifford
|
So, kick off your shoes, lay back, have a cocktail and plan to have some fun, even if there is nothing original here.
Posted Mar 01, 2023
|
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B
|
Return to Seoul
(2022)
|
Robin Clifford
|
Writer-director Davy Chou tackles a subject that is prominent, especially in South Korea, but virtually unknown to the rest of the world: adoption and what it means for the child stuck in the middle.
Posted Mar 01, 2023
|
|
A-
|
The Quiet Girl
(2022)
|
Robin Clifford
|
I felt rung out and sad at the end of “The Quiet Girl” and that is a remarkable accomplishment for a filmmaker – Colm Bairead is now on my radar.
Posted Mar 01, 2023
|
|
B+
|
Pacifiction
(2022)
|
Robin Clifford
|
I cannot say that “Pacifiction” will appeal to the average movie-goer out there but it certainly caught my eye.
Posted Mar 01, 2023
|
|
C
|
Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
By about the halfway mark, one loses interest in the plot of this larky, comedic action thriller, but whoever managed to sign Aubrey Plaza should get a bonus as the actress’s snarky line readings maintain interest far longer than this film deserves.
Posted Mar 01, 2023
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|
B-
|
Creed III
(2023)
|
Robin Clifford
|
watching [Creed III] is like wearing an old sweater – very familiar and a little comforting.
Posted Mar 01, 2023
|
|
C+
|
Spoonful of Sugar
(2022)
|
Laura Clifford
|
Director Mercedes Bryce Morgan has fun with rotting flora and fauna and her perverse sex triangle while highlighting themes of motherhood in all their extreme variations, but she never pulls everything together into a satisfactory whole.
Posted Feb 27, 2023
|
|
A
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Pacifiction
(2022)
|
Laura Clifford
|
a character study within a political thriller more intent on mood than answers…a mesmerizing immersion into natural splendor and foreign chicanery.
Posted Feb 26, 2023
|
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B+
|
Palm Trees and Power Lines
(2022)
|
Laura Clifford
|
Dack’s film may be the best of its kind since Joyce Chopra’s 1985 “Smooth Talk” and in many ways is the more dramatic side of Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket.”
Posted Feb 26, 2023
|
|
B
|
Creed III
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
Working from a story by original director Ryan Coogler (who, along with Sylvester Stallone, produces here), star Michael B. Jordan makes his directorial debut with a trilogy capper far more satisfying than the second film if less so than the first
Posted Feb 26, 2023
|
|
A
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Return to Seoul
(2022)
|
Laura Clifford
|
Chou astounds with a slippery conclusion that launches Freddie out into the world, now the self reliant adult she merely pretended to be at the film’s onset.
Posted Feb 24, 2023
|
|
B
|
Linoleum
(2022)
|
Laura Clifford
|
Writer/director Colin West performs several sleights of hand with his sophomore feature, a movie about failed dreams and dysfunctional families that keeps bending time and space, evolving into a parallel universe love story.
Posted Feb 20, 2023
|
|
A
|
The Quiet Girl
(2022)
|
Laura Clifford
|
illustrates how selfishness and neglect diminish the human spirit and celebrates how simple acts of kindness encourage it to blossom.
Posted Feb 19, 2023
|
|
B+
|
2023 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Animation
(2023)
|
Robin Clifford
|
For the second year in a row, the nominated animation shorts do not
include a Disney/Pixar selection, but this year does include nominees
from the U.S., Australia, Canada, the UK and continental European entries for the “best animation” award.
Posted Feb 17, 2023
|
|
B+
|
2023 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Documentary
(2023)
|
Robin Clifford
|
The 2023 nominees for documentary short subject cover a wide range of subjects, as usual. They are a diverse lot with many interests, including the two centered on animals that come from very different places and polar opposite perspectives.
Posted Feb 17, 2023
|
|
B
|
2023 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Live Action
(2023)
|
Robin Clifford
|
The 2023 Oscar Nominated Live Action shorts all hail from Europe, although Italy’s is a ‘Disney original film’ U.S. coproduction. The selections, which include two comedies, two dramas and a dramedy, invite a sense of déjà vu,
Posted Feb 17, 2023
|
|
C
|
Magic Mike's Last Dance
(2023)
|
Robin Clifford
|
The romantic soap opera and the “let’s put of a show!” vibe make this (hopefully) the real last dance for the franchise. One can hope.
Posted Feb 17, 2023
|
|
B
|
The Integrity of Joseph Chambers
(2022)
|
Robin Clifford
|
I would be interested to see the director squire another actor and the actor try out another helmer. In the meantime, I hope they collaborate again and soon.
Posted Feb 17, 2023
|
|
C+
|
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
(2023)
|
Robin Clifford
|
At best, the Ant-Man entries should really be about 90 minutes long, have more humor and less kitchen sink being thrown at me.
Posted Feb 17, 2023
|
|
B+
|
2023 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Live Action
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
[Le Pupille] is offbeat, Rohrwacher employing whimsical touches like an animated paper clock, an adorable stray dachshund and frozen frames that accentuate absurdity.
Posted Feb 16, 2023
|
|
B+
|
2023 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Documentary
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
[Haulout is] a stunningly shot document of a mysterious and marvelous natural phenomenon now showing alarming evidence of the disastrous effects of climate change.
Posted Feb 16, 2023
|
|
B+
|
2023 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Animation
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
[Ice Merchants] is my favorite of the bunch, a bizarre yet moving father/son story animated with incredible style, its use of color particularly striking.
Posted Feb 16, 2023
|
|
B
|
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
while the film is laden with a new purpose and a new world that marks this one something like the extended Lang family visits Disney’s “Strange World” by way of “Star Wars,” it is more entertaining than its predecessor
Posted Feb 14, 2023
|
|
A-
|
Emily
(2022)
|
Laura Clifford
|
O’Connor weaves themes from ‘Wuthering Heights’ into her partially imagined biopic, love’s pain once again resulting from miscommunication, the supernatural suggested in a séance-like scene in which Emily conjures her mother…
Posted Feb 14, 2023
|
|
B+
|
The Integrity of Joseph Chambers
(2022)
|
Laura Clifford
|
Writer/director Robert Machoian follows up his masterful "The Killing of Two Lovers" with the same crew and star for another exploration of the male ego pummeled into vulnerable submission.
Posted Feb 14, 2023
|
|
A-
|
Of an Age
(2022)
|
Laura Clifford
|
Elias Anton, with his bedroom eyes and self-conscious grin, conveys both the unformed boy and confident man we meet ten years later…an artfully crafted emotional wrecking ball, a film that perfectly captures the intensity of first love.
Posted Feb 11, 2023
|
|
D+
|
Magic Mike's Last Dance
(2023)
|
Laura Clifford
|
while the dancing may find audiences moaning, the script will surely leave them groaning. Tatum's producing partner Reid Carolin’s lazy, inconsistent narrative features mind-numbing dialogue...
Posted Feb 09, 2023
|
|
B
|
Baby Ruby
(2022)
|
Robin Clifford
|
Noemie Merlant does a fine job in showing her long and slow fall from being a strong, reasonable person to a huddling mass made that way by a 20 pound baby named Ruby.
Posted Feb 02, 2023
|
|
B-
|
Jethica
(2022)
|
Robin Clifford
|
The tiny cast gets the most out of the story with the ladies being pragmatic and resourceful and Kevin being Kevin, sometimes funny and sometimes really annoying. I think that is the point of this goofy ghost story.
Posted Feb 02, 2023
|
