1
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Silk Road (2021)
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Joe Nolan
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Silk Road squanders this moment - and this complex, stranger-than-fiction story - to bring us a talented cast walking through a lazy script.
EDIT
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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2
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4/4
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Nomadland (2020)
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Cory Woodroof
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Zhao's film, however accidental, is the empathy machine we need to get us through the pandemic. For that, it will live eternal.
EDIT
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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3
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PG: Psycho Goreman (2020)
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Jason Shawhan
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At its best, PG: Psycho Goreman feels like a collision between the more anarchic strains of Canadian children's television, the TV Guide description of E.T. ... and one of those splatterific R-rated Italian fantasy epics from the early '80s.
EDIT
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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4
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Willy's Wonderland (2021)
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Jason Shawhan
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...His Cageness shakes, struts, grunts and shrieks, and it's unexpectedly awesome.
EDIT
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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5
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The Vigil (2019)
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Jason Shawhan
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It's not often that we get horror films focused on Jewish traditions (see also 2015's exceptional Tikkun), but this film hits like a ton of bricks.
EDIT
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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6
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4/4
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Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar (2021)
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Jason Shawhan
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"The colors: bright; the mood: uncertain; the vibe: distinctive. And at its heart, a mystery."
EDIT
Posted Feb 25, 2021
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7
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2.5/4
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Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
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Craig D. Lindsey
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Here we go again with another fact-based movie about the Black Panthers that thinks people won't be that interested unless it's told in a pulpy, melodramatic manner.
EDIT
Posted Feb 12, 2021
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8
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4/4
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Minari (2020)
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Sadaf Ahsan
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Minari is a gentle burn of a film. The loudest thing about it, in fact, is just how much of an American story it is.
EDIT
Posted Feb 12, 2021
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9
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News of the World (2020)
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Cory Woodroof
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News of the World is 2020's second-best American Western, and a heartening reminder of why we still long for the Western expanse we see in movies.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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10
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The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
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Cory Woodroof
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Some might critique the final product here as being a bit too Hollywood, but it's got that Frank Capra optimism that might do us all some good.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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11
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Don't Look Back (2020)
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Steve Erickson
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Don't Look Back aims for atmosphere but instead piles on cliché after cliché.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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12
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Synchronic (2019)
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Jason Shawhan
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...in a film about multiple temporal realities, maybe we're meant to question all that we experience.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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13
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Wolfwalkers (2020)
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Cory Woodroof
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At its core, the film carries on a distinctly frank conversation about the horrors of a Puritan society and why it's good to evolve past a ruling class that manipulates its citizens.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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14
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Come Play (2020)
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Erica Ciccarone
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Anyway, Come Play is so much weirder than you might expect, and it does phone-based horror in a new and intriguing way.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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15
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Freaky (2020)
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Jason Shawhan
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Freaky absolutely has the best Vince Vaughn performance since 2000's Made, and it's amazing to see the effervescent joy he brings to this role.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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16
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Hillbilly Elegy (2020)
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Craig D. Lindsey
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t's a film so staid, safe and inoffensive, I'm surprised that shit didn't premiere on the Hallmark Channel.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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17
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Stardust (2020)
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Steve Erickson
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The low budget leads to an unconvincing re-creation of the period, and the film does a terrible job of capturing the hippie era's tail end as it faded into something new.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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18
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Mank (2020)
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Cory Woodroof
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The powerful can do what they may, but if Mank proves anything, it's that the pages of history will have the last word - and it's usually the writer who's in control of those.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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19
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Another Round (2020)
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Nathan Smith
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Though there's emotional weight to the performances and a sense of competence to the craftsmanship of Another Round, one has to wonder if Vinterberg needs ... to push himself to the limit ...
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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20
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Funny Boy (2020)
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Steve Erickson
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Paradoxically, the film is most engaging when it's a relatively laid-back love story. But it also richly conveys the swift demolition of one's ability to feel safe at home.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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21
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Archenemy (2020)
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Jason Shawhan
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... it's a spry and inventive take on storytelling as something genetic and mutable, the way that cultures adapt, and how perspective can be a bridge and/or a weapon.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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22
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To the Ends of the Earth (2019)
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Nathan Smith
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...Kiyoshi Kurosawa is one of cinema's finest conductors of emotional experience.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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23
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Soul (2020)
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Cory Woodroof
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The magic of Soul is how it marries the things we love in life with how we channel those things into goodwill for others.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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24
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Promising Young Woman (2020)
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Sadaf Ahsan
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Promising Young Woman, then, unabashedly offers the bitch-in-sheep's-clothing trope. In its intentionality, it works.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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25
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Film About a Father Who (2020)
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Craig D. Lindsey
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These days, old age has set in, and the younger Sachs predictably finds that getting answers out of the artful codger about his years of reckless philandering/fathering isn't easy.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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26
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Preparations to be Together for an Unknown Period of Time (2021)
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Steve Erickson
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".. it combines the twisted romanticism of Vertigo with a pervasive anomie - its characters may as well be separated by glass.
EDIT
Posted Jan 22, 2021
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27
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3/4
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City Hall (2020)
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Nathan Smith
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Certain sequences stretch to the point of tedium ... But Wiseman always finds a way to bring his vast collection of threads and tangents back together.
EDIT
Posted Nov 6, 2020
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28
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1.5/4
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Antebellum (2020)
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Craig D. Lindsey
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...seeing more Black pain is really something we don't need right now. We already see it on our damn phones every waking moment.
EDIT
Posted Oct 12, 2020
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29
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1/4
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Sibyl (2019)
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Sadaf Ahsan
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"...it's Efira and Exarchopoulos holding this movie up with their impassioned performances, like a bent and battered wire hanger struggling to support an oversized wool sweater"
EDIT
Posted Oct 12, 2020
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30
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4/4
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Possessor: Uncut (2020)
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Jason Shawhan
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If Cronenberg lost control of the tone at any moment, the end result would be unwatchably disturbing. And he does not lose control.
EDIT
Posted Oct 9, 2020
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31
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Boys State (2020)
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J.R. Lind
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It's compelling from the start to its heart-wrenching finish - an examination of young manhood and citizenship, and a reminder that we will choose what our democracy becomes.
EDIT
Posted Sep 3, 2020
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32
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Irresistible (2020)
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Cory Woodroof
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If you're wondering what sets this film apart from its satirical peers, it's the confidence its filmmaker has in his audience.
EDIT
Posted Sep 3, 2020
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33
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First Cow (2019)
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D. Patrick Rodgers
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It's a tender, moving, painful depiction of friendship and classism and privilege and trust, and a film worth seeing in the theater.
EDIT
Posted Sep 3, 2020
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34
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John Lewis: Good Trouble (2020)
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Ron Wynn
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That material is no less vivid and shocking today than it was decades ago, and Lewis was right at the center of numerous epic events.
EDIT
Posted Sep 3, 2020
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35
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We Are Little Zombies (2019)
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Nathan Smith
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Though it's often dazzling in its creativity, the sheer magnitude of its visual inventiveness can start to weigh you down after two hours.
EDIT
Posted Sep 3, 2020
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36
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The Painted Bird (2019)
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Jason Shawhan
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This film is too much. That's certainly the point it's making, and it does so with skill, style and an absence of pity or humanity.
EDIT
Posted Sep 3, 2020
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37
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Feels Good Man (2020)
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Steve Erickson
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Despite Jones' use of animation, Feels Good Man is almost too sober for its own good, determined not to give in to the chaos that co-opted Pepe.
EDIT
Posted Sep 3, 2020
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38
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I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
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D. Patrick Rodgers
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Its sequence of events unfurls strangely and with surrealistic imagery, like a long, complex dream conjured in a deep sleep.
EDIT
Posted Sep 3, 2020
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39
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The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)
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Cory Woodroof
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Supported by a career-best performance from Dev Patel, Iannucci has taken the Dickens tale and turned it into a tasty tonic for tough times
EDIT
Posted Sep 3, 2020
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40
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Tesla (2020)
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Cory Woodroof
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Just like Tesla, Almereyda's film does not stick to conventions. It works in a space where anything can happen
EDIT
Posted Sep 3, 2020
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41
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She Dies Tomorrow (2020)
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Jason Shawhan
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This is experimental and existential horror ... serves up something transcendent and beautiful that will put your emotions through the ringer.
EDIT
Posted Sep 3, 2020
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42
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The Fight (2020)
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Steve Erickson
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Jamming all of this into a brief documentary results in a shallow montage of soundbites.
EDIT
Posted Sep 3, 2020
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43
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Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (2020)
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Nathan Smith
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Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets is a tribute to ... the Platonic ideal of an American dive bar, where the Bud is cold and cheap, the patrons are lovably crusty, and chain-smoking is still accepted.
EDIT
Posted Sep 3, 2020
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44
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Everybody's Everything (2019)
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Nathan Smith
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There's a powerful feeling of catharsis to Everybody's Everything, especially in a time of social isolation...
EDIT
Posted Jul 7, 2020
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45
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Miss Juneteenth (2020)
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Erica Ciccarone
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Miss Juneteenth is a film of small moments that tackle weighty concepts. It avoids big proclamations, opting instead for subtle emotional notes that ring true.
EDIT
Posted Jun 30, 2020
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46
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Ella Fitzgerald: Just One of Those Things (2019)
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Ron Wynn
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Indeed, the primary focus of Ella Fitzgerald is on the joy the iconic performer felt and expressed onstage, her brilliance as a melodic interpreter and rhythmic vocal improviser, and her ferocity as an entertainer.
EDIT
Posted Jun 30, 2020
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47
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Babyteeth (2019)
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Steve Erickson
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Babyteeth suggests a bright future for Murphy, whatever medium she continues in.
EDIT
Posted Jun 18, 2020
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48
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Corpus Christi (2019)
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Steve Erickson
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By the end, Komasa tries too hard to convince us how important and sober his film is, even if its critiques are valid.
EDIT
Posted Jun 4, 2020
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49
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Vitalina Varela (2019)
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Jason Shawhan
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If you can give two hours of your existence to a dark room and sincere thought, there's nothing more essential available right now.
EDIT
Posted Jun 4, 2020
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50
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Deerskin (2019)
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Steve Erickson
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Deerskin works on two levels: as a hilarious and creepy pitch-black comedy, and also as a film rich in allegorical meaning.
EDIT
Posted Jun 4, 2020
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