1
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Promising Young Woman (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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A pretty good picture that could have used some cheap thrills and righteous violence.
EDIT
Posted Jan 15, 2021
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2
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Effigy: Poison and the City (2019)
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Glenn Garvin
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Made by a team of rookies, it's an eccentric yet intriguing mix of murder, psychopathy, weird feminism and primitive police procedural.
EDIT
Posted Dec 18, 2020
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3
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My Psychedelic Love Story (2020)
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Glenn Garvin
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This is a wildly entertaining, if often incoherent, tale. Even when she is idiotic, amoral, or nearly indecipherable --which is pretty often -- Harcourt-Smith is a charming storyteller as she weaves the Leary story.
EDIT
Posted Nov 30, 2020
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4
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Fatman (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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The assassin's name is Jonathan Miller, and he's played by the great Walton Goggins, who is as always a treat to watch.
EDIT
Posted Nov 13, 2020
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5
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Exhumed: A History of Zombies (2020)
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Glenn Garvin
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PBS unleashes a slavering pack of fanged academics on zombies, and the bloody brain cells and decapitated IQ points are scattered in all directions. Save yourself and stick to CBS' kidney-transplant sitcom.
EDIT
Posted Nov 4, 2020
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6
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Roald Dahl's The Witches (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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Why has Hathaway been allowed to affect a braying Zsa-Zsa-Lugosi Hungarian accent that might have been designed to trigger tension headaches in anyone exposed to it?
EDIT
Posted Oct 30, 2020
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7
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J.R. "Bob" Dobbs & The Church of the SubGenius (2019)
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Kurt Loder
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The Church of the SubGenius was not, in fact, founded by a pipe-smoking salesman from the 1950s. You may have heard that, but you've been misinformed.
EDIT
Posted Oct 16, 2020
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8
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Love and Monsters (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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You don't have to be a 12-year-old to appreciate the craft with which this picture is made. But it maybe wouldn't hurt to have a 12-year-old standing by.
EDIT
Posted Oct 16, 2020
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9
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Books of Blood (2020)
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Glenn Garvin
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A genuinely creepy collection of stories that collide as they snowball down a hill of murder, suicide, and ghosts, ultimately forming into something that you'll be sorry you watched when it's time to turn the lights out.
EDIT
Posted Oct 9, 2020
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10
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All the Way (2016)
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Glenn Garvin
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A pockmarked hodgepodge of a narrative that fails to provide the context that made Johnson's civil-rights efforts so stunning.
EDIT
Posted Oct 7, 2020
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11
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Possessor: Uncut (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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A world-class body horror movie that has no idea when enough is enough, and no interest in finding out.
EDIT
Posted Oct 2, 2020
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12
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No Escape (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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It has the hunched and gasping air of an old-school torture-porn movie. But there's no torture! Or rather, there is torture, but you mostly don't see it. It's torture lite.
EDIT
Posted Sep 18, 2020
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13
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The Nest (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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Jude Law gives one of the strongest performances of his career, playing a man whose life has evolved into a shaky edifice of lies, too many of which he has come to believe himself.
EDIT
Posted Sep 18, 2020
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14
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Skin: A History of Nudity in the Movies (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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Looking back on the cinematic sexy-wars of the last century from the promised land of total pornography we inhabit today must be a little puzzling for young cinephiles.
EDIT
Posted Sep 11, 2020
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15
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Centigrade (2020)
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Glenn Garvin
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IFC Midnight's immersion in survivalist tedium.
EDIT
Posted Aug 28, 2020
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16
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The Binge (2020)
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Glenn Garvin
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Isn't that bad, but certainly isn't that good, either.
EDIT
Posted Aug 28, 2020
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17
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Class Action Park (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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The park offered the liberation of extreme, largely unchaperoned thrills to a generation of bored latchkey kids. Unfortunately, some of them left the place in body bags.
EDIT
Posted Aug 28, 2020
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18
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()
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Glenn Garvin
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The real strength of The Sleepover is the kids. Kevin and Clancy, played by Disney Channel regulars Maxwell Simkins and Sadie Stanley, are hilariously authentic.
EDIT
Posted Aug 21, 2020
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19
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Jazz on a Summer's Day (1959)
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Kurt Loder
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The pleasures of this great concert documentary-filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and now re-released in a rich 4K restoration-seem more abundant than ever, and its few problems a little bit less problematic.
EDIT
Posted Aug 14, 2020
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20
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Creem: America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine (2019)
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Kurt Loder
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And then there was Lou Reed, with whom Lester Bangs had some hilariously hostile interactions. "Lou Reed and Lester brought out the legend in each other," says Cameron Crowe, who made Lester a character in his 2000 movie Almost Famous.
EDIT
Posted Aug 14, 2020
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21
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The Enforcer (1976)
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Charles F. Barr
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The screenplay by Stirling Silliphant and Dean Riesner provides occasional and much-needed touches of humor, while James Fargo's direction is crisp and forceful.
EDIT
Posted Aug 3, 2020
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22
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The Go-Go's (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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Let us now praise the Go-Go's, glittering jewels of the New Wave moment.
EDIT
Posted Jul 31, 2020
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23
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The Old Guard (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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Like Atomic Blonde, this film is adapted from a graphic novel. Also like Atomic Blonde, the film version doesn't quite work.
EDIT
Posted Jul 17, 2020
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24
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Archive (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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The movie's elegant execution makes the old mysteries feel fresh again.
EDIT
Posted Jul 10, 2020
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25
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The Outpost (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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An instant classic. A shame it can't be shown on a big screen at the moment, but it can still reach out and excite you on a smaller one.
EDIT
Posted Jul 3, 2020
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26
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Mr. Jones (2019)
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Glenn Garvin
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Director Holland tells this story in masterful style... Chalupa's script is effective -- she frames the issues efficiently and her characters are compelling -- but less accurate.
EDIT
Posted Jun 29, 2020
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27
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You Should Have Left (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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Given the movie's source-a twisty horror novella by Daniel Kehlmann-it could have been more than just a riff on The Shining.
EDIT
Posted Jun 19, 2020
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28
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Babyteeth (2019)
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Kurt Loder
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A cancer-kid movie that rises high above its weepy tradition.
EDIT
Posted Jun 19, 2020
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29
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The Vast of Night (2019)
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Glenn Garvin
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If you're looking for a movie where people say things like "There's something in the sky!" and "I've seen good people go bad, and smart people go mad!", you're not likely to do better than The Vast of Night this summer.
EDIT
Posted Jun 12, 2020
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30
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Shirley (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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The picture isn't without interest, but it's artsy and jumbled, and it feels interminable.
EDIT
Posted Jun 5, 2020
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31
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The Trip to Greece (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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Not a moment too soon, maybe a bit too late...
EDIT
Posted May 22, 2020
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32
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The Wretched (2019)
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Glenn Garvin
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I've seen deer-gutting videos that made more sense.
EDIT
Posted May 1, 2020
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33
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Beastie Boys Story (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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A chronicle of how the Beasties' party-monster stage act took over their lives and how they eventually managed to outgrow it.
EDIT
Posted Apr 24, 2020
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34
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Big Time Adolescence (2019)
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Kurt Loder
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The picture won't change the world, but it could change an otherwise joyless day for the better.
EDIT
Posted Mar 20, 2020
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35
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The Hunt (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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Sometimes funny, but no way as witty as it needed to be. The most enjoyable thing about the movie is the wild blood-and-gutsy violence, quite a bit of which is pretty excellent.
EDIT
Posted Mar 13, 2020
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36
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The Invisible Man (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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A new Invisible Man now moves among us, and he's much, much scarier.
EDIT
Posted Feb 28, 2020
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37
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EMMA. (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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A movie so deliciously detailed you want to step inside of it and wander around, marveling at the bonnets and capes, the candle-lit banquet tables , the vast country manor with its cavernous rooms and sweeping greensward.
EDIT
Posted Feb 21, 2020
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38
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Buffaloed (2019)
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Kurt Loder
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The picture crackles along on the trademark energy of its star, Zoey Deutch, and you keep wanting it to work even after it starts letting you down.
EDIT
Posted Feb 14, 2020
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39
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The Assistant (2019)
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Kurt Loder
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Deals with the subject of sexual harassment in whispers and sighs, and the result is chilling.
EDIT
Posted Feb 7, 2020
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40
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Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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As the opening installment of a projected franchise, it's pretty promising...
EDIT
Posted Feb 7, 2020
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41
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The Rhythm Section (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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Starts out strong, as you'd expect of a movie produced by the tenders of the James Bond franchise, but steadily loses interest on its way to a piddling conclusion.
EDIT
Posted Jan 31, 2020
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42
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Color Out of Space (2019)
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Kurt Loder
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The family seems like a normal bunch-or as normal as any bunch might be with Nic Cage at its helm.
EDIT
Posted Jan 24, 2020
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43
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Underwater (2020)
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Kurt Loder
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The movie is an unabashed embrace of a much better film, but it's not too bad itself.
EDIT
Posted Jan 10, 2020
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44
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Little Women (2019)
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Kurt Loder
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Gerwig, nominated for Oscars as both writer and director for her breakthrough movie, the incomparable Lady Bird, here settles fully into her status as an exceptional American filmmaker.
EDIT
Posted Dec 27, 2019
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45
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Cats (2019)
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Kurt Loder
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I so wanted to slam this movie, but then...
EDIT
Posted Dec 20, 2019
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46
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Bombshell (2019)
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Kurt Loder
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Might have been a better movie if it were a full-on Megyn Kelly biopic-with her ambiguous relationship to Ailes, she's a richly complex character.
EDIT
Posted Dec 13, 2019
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47
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Uncut Gems (2019)
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Kurt Loder
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A vivid simulation of what it might be like to live inside a pinball machine, giving Adam Sandler his showiest role, which he embraces obvious appreciation.
EDIT
Posted Dec 13, 2019
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48
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Marriage Story (2019)
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Kurt Loder
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Driver and Johansson have likely never been better and are sometimes electrifying.
EDIT
Posted Dec 6, 2019
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49
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Knives Out (2019)
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Kurt Loder
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Despite the story's many incidental pleasures, it never really takes off.
EDIT
Posted Dec 2, 2019
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50
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A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019)
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Kurt Loder
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He knew that children grapple with some of the same issues adults do-death, sorrow, insecurity-but are less prepared to deal with them. That was where Mister Rogers came in.
EDIT
Posted Nov 22, 2019
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