recent product reviews
After Life (2019–2022)
Very dark, very raw, and very tragic. There are a lot of interesting relationships here, but it’s the Tony’s slow transition from the lowest depths of despair to hopeful that is the most fascinating journey. All of this darkness makes the comedy that much more effective. Gervais’s performance and dialogue…
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They Shall Not Grow Old (2018)
A wonderfully edited collection of interviews. The process of reviewing all of the footage, selecting which clips to use, and putting all of it into a sensible and visually appealing order seems like a Herculean task. I like the anonymity of it. Not having any names but having these people…
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Creed II (2018)
I guess this has to be the next story? How many more of these can they make? Supposedly, this is Stallone’s last. The story is a bit forced. We needed a better reason for Creed to fight Viktor, and for Viktor to fight Creed. Rocky says it himself, there is…
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Roma (2018)
The backdrop of the film is a turbulent 1970’s Mexico City, and Cuarón captures it with incredible authenticity. Courageously long takes and courageously wide shots give us a voyeuristic, unflinching experience in this world. Roma may be one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen, with a rich…
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Trainwreck (2015)
Dramatic and funny, not many movies like that anymore. Schumer’s character is flippant and lazy and sarcastic and hard to like, but we do like her because we believe that her character is a good person at her core and because Schumer’s performance is surprisingly authentic. Hader turns in a…
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Coco (2017)
Disney has taken to making their movies more “cultural” in recent years. An argument can be made that it’s a noble, overdue effort, but sometimes it feels a bit forced. And for the first half of this movie, it felt that way. Scenes are driven more by how Mexican everything…
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Isle of Dogs (2018)
Definitely Wes Anderson, with the symmetry and the quirky humor and displaced flashbacks and nostalgic songs and satire of all things formal. Anderson’s really got full control over the visuals here, and every frame is symmetrical, shot from a flat 90 degrees, beautiful, and quirky, with extra fun animating the…
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Red Nose Day Actually (2017)
A cute little follow-up. Of course, we all want to see more. Amazing how much of the cast came back to help out.
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First Man (2018)
An engaging portrait of space history’s most interesting guy, and an authentic capture of the sights and sounds of early space travel. The subject matter is treated with reverence and authenticity. Anyone who enjoyed The Right Stuff would appreciate this one. I really like how this not a story about…
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Three Identical Strangers (2018)
A polished collection of interviews, reenactments, and stock footage tells an interesting and disturbing story. But I can’t help but feel that it was all stretched out a bit. This probably could have been cut down by half.
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I'm a photographer, web developer, travel enthusiast, and movie buff living in Alexandria, Virginia, USA.In the summer of 1993, I started writing reviews for every movie I saw and haven't looked back. I'm up to 2,321 reviews now. This makes me cool or a complete dork, depending on your perspective.
Some of these reviews contain spoilers, so if that bothers you, don't read!
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