recent product reviews
Flee (2021)
Highly praised, and the historical background is tragic, but the personal story didn’t grab me, and I found it awfully boring. The animation and subtle score were nice and barely enough to keep me engaged.
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The Whale (2022)
Heavy (pun intended). Watching someone die is never fun. Fraser’s first proper dramatic performance. Always found him very annoying, but he conveys some real heart through that fat suit. Sink plays a good bitch. She has a fiery, articulate cuteness like Britt Robertson. Morton’s pretty good as a trashy American…
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The Father (2020)
Cleverly structured movie, with editing and visual tricks that recreate Anthony’s confusion and delusion for the viewer. Not as disjointed and manipulative as Chris Nolan’s Memento, but definitely a step in that direction. Is there a movie that captures the excruciating and heart-wrenching experience of dementia more effectively? The one…
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The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
Delightful little story. I could imagine this playing out perfectly on the stage with a couple of quality actors. The story is driven by the dialogue, and oh how wonderfully playful and natural it is. This is some really good writing, worthy of Best Screenplay awards. Beautifully shot. Everything takes…
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Farha (2021)
In a horrifying, depressing, but beautifully simple way, Sallam shines a light on a bit of history that many may not be familiar with. As the first movie I can think of that makes the Jews the bad guys, it’s definitely making me rethink things a bit. This story is…
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All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
Probably the most horrifying war movie I’ve seen, with vivid grit and graphic brutality that eclipses even Saving Private Ryan and 1917. In this one, we have an interestingly sympathetic German perspective, but in the end, we get the familiar statement about the senselessness and futility and tragedy of war.…
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The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023)
A light-hearted, faithful story with lots of homages to the franchise. Good characters, fun voices, and great music, with lots of familiar themes thoughtfully reworked to fit scenes. Pratt does this stuff with ease, though maybe he wasn’t given enough free reign here. He’s not hilarious. Anya Taylor-Joy gives Peach…
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Werewolf by Night (2022)
Wonder, weirdness, and dark whimsy of Tim Burton with the realism and structure of Marvel. A wonderful play on the genre, with old school horror music and title cards and expressionist lighting and blood spatters. And the wonderful color twist at the end. A cute little story! Great casting and…
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Glass Onion (2022)
Blanc is in the tradition of Holmes and Poirot and Colombo. I wonder who’s the smartest? Watching these, we try to keep up with Blanc, right? We want to see if we’re as smart as he is. But there’s no way to do this if things are hidden from us…
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Tina (2021)
Nicely paced with great footage, dramatized just enough with a gentle score. She seems like a great woman.
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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 2,334 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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