recent product reviews
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)
Tim Burton is right at home here, delivering his signature blend of quirky macabre, high school theater-style effects, and retro claymation. He’s always had a playful relationship with goth aesthetics and a light-hearted take on death, and this film is no exception. But my beef with Burton is that he…
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Perfect Days (2023)
A contemplative exploration of the tragic beauty of life. Vintage Wenders. Like the guy’s life, the film moves at a gentle, deliberate pace, though it feels a bit slow at times. If the message is simply to appreciate every day above ground, I’m not sure we needed to watch a…
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Idiocracy (2006)
Simpleton humor and dialogue, not much more sophisticated than Judge’s TV cartoons. But the message is prescient and socially aware. This is kind of what’s happening. Will society decline? Luke Wilson is always an interesting presence, but he’s not great here. Not sure goofy comedy is his thing.
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Alien: Romulus (2024)
Story doesn’t offer much in the way of originality, we’ve seen it many times before. That said, the film shines in its aesthetic. The retro sets and cinematography are clear highlights, paying loyal homage to the look and feel of the original Alien films from the ’80s. The ensemble cast…
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Erin Brockovich (2000)
A feel-good story about a regular person rising above. Easy Oscar material. Robert, at 33, is hot. What a presence she has. Worth every penny of that record-setting contract.
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Anora (2024)
Definitely an unconventional Best Picture. Strong acting all around, for sure, but shouldn’t a Best Picture tell a larger story? Anora is about a young woman making a series of bad choices, and while she has moments of independence, integrity, and spunk along the way, she ultimately ends up worse…
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Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken (2023)
Decent story with nice animation, but the over-exaggerated expressions, fast talking, and simplistic humor don’t make much of an impression. Fonda is an interesting voiceover choice.
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Memoirs of Snail (2024)
Nicely told, but it lacks a bit of wit and edge. I wanted it to be just a little smarter—leaning on more than caricatures and on-the-nose comedy. That said, the “testicle” line got me. The animation is impressive, somehow both cute and grotesque. But from a dramatic standpoint, I’m not…
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Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
The story bends over backward to the point of near-incomprehensibility, but if that’s the price for all these fun cameos, I’ll take it. And there are certainly plenty—some from deep in the past, a few showing their age, but still a blast to see. It does make me wonder who…
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Transformers One (2024)
As a fan of the series that entertained me throughout my childhood, it’s hard to be objective on this one. On the one hand, I feel like this is what Transformers fan really wanted and deserved, not the Michael Bay atrocities. On the other, I wonder how much of my…
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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 2,383 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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