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B-
|
John Wick: Chapter 4
(2023)
|
Brent Simon
|
An entertaining and somewhat unlikely series long poised between the expansive and the intimate.
Posted Mar 23, 2023
|
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D
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A Good Person
(2023)
|
Murtada Elfadl
|
The drama is a cluster of scenes with bad dialogue and platitudes instead of actual pathos. The comedy comes in when it’s uncalled for, breaking whatever genuine emotion the actors worked hard to craft.
Posted Mar 23, 2023
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65
(2023)
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Manuel Betancourt
|
The revelation that accompanies the title card for Scott Beck and Bryan Woods’ 65 all but demands a hearty guffaw, except this is a film that knows little of humor.
Posted Mar 17, 2023
|
|
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Moving On
(2022)
|
Manuel Betancourt
|
Moving On’s tonal whiplash is what keeps it from handily taking on the serious and complex issues it sketches for its characters. Especially as it tries to argue that maybe the more things change, the more they stay the same.
Posted Mar 17, 2023
|
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C
|
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
(2023)
|
Matthew Jackson
|
...a frustrating case of sequel overreach after its more focused, emotionally satisfying, crowd-pleasing predecessor. It’s not outright terrible, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that we all could have had so much more fun.
Posted Mar 16, 2023
|
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C
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Boston Strangler
(2023)
|
Brent Simon
|
The movie attempts to serve multiple narrative masters, but ends up coming across as vague and indistinct.
Posted Mar 16, 2023
|
|
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Come and See
(1985)
|
Scott Tobias
|
A product of the glasnost era, Come And See is far from a patriotic memorial of Russia's hard-won victory. Instead, it's a chilling reminder of that victory's terrible costs.
Posted Mar 14, 2023
|
|
C+
|
Champions
(2023)
|
Andy Klein
|
Harrelson is enjoyable as always, and the rest of the cast delivers, but the film is too warm, fuzzy, predictable, and by the numbers to be anything more than a pleasant diversion
Posted Mar 09, 2023
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B+
|
Scream VI
(2023)
|
Phil Pirrello
|
One of the franchise's best (and most brutal) sequels.
Posted Mar 08, 2023
|
|
B
|
Creed III
(2023)
|
Murtada Elfadl
|
Creed III captures the spectacle and ceremony of boxing, providing the audience with an entertaining thrill ride. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, owing much to its predecessors in the Rocky and Creed series in story structure and character development.
Posted Mar 07, 2023
|
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B-
|
Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre
(2023)
|
Murtada Elfadl
|
For the most part, this is a fun time at the movies. There’s laughter, action, and movie stars playing to their strengths. It’s exactly what audiences expect to see from Ritchie and that’s its main selling point.
Posted Mar 07, 2023
|
|
B-
|
Luther: The Fallen Sun
(2023)
|
Murtada Elfadl
|
Though the film can stand on its own as a separate piece of work, new audiences might question what the fuss is all about.
Posted Mar 07, 2023
|
|
B-
|
9 to 5
(1980)
|
Noel Murray
|
The movie is surprisingly smart about the politics of the glass ceiling.
Posted Mar 02, 2023
|
|
C+
|
A Little White Lie
(2023)
|
Brett Buckalew
|
Not even the considerable comic chops of Shannon and Kate Hudson are enough to save this literary world comedy.
Posted Feb 28, 2023
|
|
C
|
We Have a Ghost
(2023)
|
Courtney Howard
|
What should be a tight 90 minutes turns into a much longer commitment that, while spirited, is too sluggish for its own good.
Posted Feb 24, 2023
|
|
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Your Place or Mine
(2023)
|
Manuel Betancourt
|
A mixed bag is maybe the best you can accomplish when you set out to structurally thread two storylines into one film, or rather when your film has to sustain two mirrored arcs whose intersection is the endpoint.
Posted Feb 24, 2023
|
|
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Somebody I Used To Know
(2023)
|
Manuel Betancourt
|
If nothing else, Somebody I Used To Know is a welcome reminder that [Alison] Brie remains one of our most undersung performers.
Posted Feb 24, 2023
|
|
C+
|
The Quiet Girl
(2022)
|
Martin Tsai
|
Without voiceover narration tying everything together, some scenes feel out of place, random, or offer little beyond aesthetics.
Posted Feb 22, 2023
|
|
B
|
Emily
(2022)
|
Tim Cogshell
|
O’Connor’s Emily overcomes her quirks, engages her desire, and fulfills her passions—and then some.
Posted Feb 17, 2023
|
|
|
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey
(2023)
|
Luke Y. Thompson
|
Marketing alone would have guaranteed this movie a certain percentage of curious eyeballs, but Frake-Waterfield made sure that what genre fans see is everything they expected.
Posted Feb 16, 2023
|
|
C-
|
Marlowe
(2022)
|
Ray Greene
|
Liam Neeson's particular set of skills can't rescue this noir misfire.
Posted Feb 15, 2023
|
|
|
Irreversible: Straight Cut
(2020)
|
Luke Y. Thompson
|
For a movie known for being one you never want to see again, its director has created a compelling reason to watch it anew.
Posted Feb 14, 2023
|
|
|
Magic Mike's Last Dance
(2023)
|
Luke Y. Thompson
|
In a world of ingenious digital trickery, Channing Tatum may be one of cinema’s best special effects.
Posted Feb 14, 2023
|
|
|
Fairyland
(2023)
|
Murtada Elfadl
|
McNairy rises above the movie’s sometimes hooky script to tell the story of this relationship in full. Because of his performance, Fairyland is ultimately, utterly heartbreaking.
Posted Feb 14, 2023
|
|
B-
|
Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
(2023)
|
Matthew Huff
|
Quantumania’s tone is sure to be polarizing, but if you can surrender yourself to its bonkers A Bug’s Life-meets-Return of the Jedi antics, the two hours (already short for a Marvel film) will fly by.
Posted Feb 14, 2023
|
|
|
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
(2023)
|
Murtada Elfadl
|
Ostensibly a decades-spanning story of a woman from Mississippi, it unspools like visual poem vignettes that give us tiny glimpses into that life.
Posted Feb 11, 2023
|
|
|
Drift
(2023)
|
Murtada Elfadl
|
A languid tour through Greece punctuated by violent interludes to Jacqueline’s life in Liberia don’t constitute quite a compelling enough narrative. Nor does this story say anything persuasive about the refugee experience.
Posted Feb 11, 2023
|
|
|
Magazine Dreams
(2023)
|
Murtada Elfadl
|
Magazine Dreams is visceral and intense but ultimately feels like only a half-realized portrait.
Posted Feb 11, 2023
|
|
|
Eileen
(2023)
|
Murtada Elfadl
|
Eileen is a stylish and wild ride that never lets up from its first frame to its shocking finale.
Posted Feb 11, 2023
|
|
B+
|
Sharper
(2023)
|
Andy Klein
|
Sharper puts a sterling ensemble of grifters and frauds through their paces.
Posted Feb 10, 2023
|
|
B
|
Knock at the Cabin
(2023)
|
Leigh Monson
|
'Knock At The Cabin' is a harrowing and intense home invasion thriller that feels like a step in the right direction for Shyamalan.
Posted Feb 02, 2023
|
|
B
|
Baby Ruby
(2022)
|
Hattie Lindert
|
Baby Ruby is a fervently uncomfortable and aesthetically compelling depiction of new motherhood, an unsettling horror exploration buoyed by strange imagery and a no-holds-barred lead performance from Noémie Merlant.
Posted Feb 01, 2023
|
|
C
|
80 for Brady
(2023)
|
Leigh Monson
|
It's by no means distinctive, hilarious, or memorable in any way, but, for as cloying as this attempt at Brady brand rehabilitation could have been, it’s a testament to the magnetic appeal of ageless stars who know how to carry a film to the end zone.
Posted Jan 31, 2023
|
|
|
Infinity Pool
(2023)
|
Jordan Hoffman
|
Everyone, even the most well-adjusted person, dances with self-destructive behavior. How else can we explain Wendy’s Baconator?
Posted Jan 28, 2023
|
|
C-
|
Maybe I Do
(2023)
|
Andy Klein
|
A film with barely any rom, and not enough com.
Posted Jan 26, 2023
|
|
|
You People
(2023)
|
Luke Y. Thompson
|
You People is a perfect movie for Netflix because it’s best watched for the first half hour and then turned off, which Netflix will count as a view anyway.
Posted Jan 26, 2023
|
|
|
Passages
(2023)
|
Tomris Laffly
|
Through studious long takes, a textured look, and playful choreography, Sachs’ Passages examines the ever-evolving nature of sexuality and attraction with both intelligence and a sense of humor.
Posted Jan 25, 2023
|
|
|
Bad Behaviour
(2023)
|
Tomris Laffly
|
The prickly personas [Alice Englert] sketches here are so vague and shapeless that you will be hard-pressed to find some reason to care about any of them.
Posted Jan 25, 2023
|
|
|
You Hurt My Feelings
(2023)
|
Tomris Laffly
|
Holofcener offers sharp observations on marriage, professional success, and insecurities that sometimes become self-fulfilling prophecies, doing so with both an earnest (sometimes laugh out loud) sense of humor and a keenly observant eye.
Posted Jan 25, 2023
|
|
|
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
(2023)
|
Tomris Laffly
|
A work of empowerment and empathy, a celebration of Fox’s life as an actor and philanthropist.
Posted Jan 25, 2023
|
|
A-
|
One Fine Morning
(2022)
|
Tim Cogshell
|
Léa Seydoux is quietly radiant in a bittersweet character study.
Posted Jan 24, 2023
|
|
C-
|
Teen Wolf: The Movie
(2023)
|
Ray Greene
|
This fantasy project about werewolves and demons and reawakened intellectual property has the rhythm of an old-school TV soap, with most scenes ending on a note of irresolution or incompletion.
Posted Jan 24, 2023
|
|
B-
|
Shotgun Wedding
(2023)
|
Courtney Howard
|
Its sentiment offers a refreshing spin on the therapeutic benefits of the anxiety-inducing matrimonial process, along with a body count and a satisfying dose of escapism.
Posted Jan 20, 2023
|
|
A
|
Corsage
(2022)
|
Manuel Betancourt
|
Corsage is a masterful and melancholy meditation on loneliness with a sucker punch of an ending.
Posted Jan 19, 2023
|
|
B
|
Missing
(2023)
|
Leigh Monson
|
Screenlife may never be one of the primary ways we tell cinematic stories, but 'Missing' is a prime example of what the format is capable of, tapping into our increasingly digital humanity to excellent effect.
Posted Jan 19, 2023
|
|
|
Alice, Darling
(2022)
|
Luke Y. Thompson
|
...pulling off effective emotional beats even when the story seems to be operating on screenwriting 101 paradigms. All that remains is to find a script that’s up to the rest of it.
Posted Jan 18, 2023
|
|
A
|
Saint Omer
(2022)
|
Murtada Elfadl
|
The screenplay, alongside Kagmae’s restrained performance, takes its time to connect the dots, making Saint Omer’s payoff even grander.
Posted Jan 14, 2023
|
|
B-
|
Plane
(2023)
|
Jordan Hoffman
|
If you buy a ticket for this one, just know there’s no First Class option. But with moderate expectations, you’ll still get to your destination.
Posted Jan 14, 2023
|
|
|
The Drop
(2022)
|
Luke Y. Thompson
|
The Drop isn’t really about dropping a baby. But it’s not about much else, either.
Posted Jan 13, 2023
|
|
|
House Party
(2023)
|
Luke Y. Thompson
|
When it goes high concept in the third act and finally calls for actual story, it excels, but not, perhaps, for long enough.
Posted Jan 13, 2023
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