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2/5
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Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
(2025)
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Rob Dean
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It took a lot of soul searching and imagination for Springsteen to make “Nebraska”; it’s a pity that the movie about it lacks those elements completely.
Posted Nov 01, 2025
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4/5
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Bugonia
(2025)
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Rob Dean
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Director Yorgos Lanthimos’ films have always mixed the uproarious with the appalling in fascinating ways—truly despicable actions and horrific moments often leading to an unforgettably hilarious bit.
Posted Oct 29, 2025
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3.5/5
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Black Phone 2
(2025)
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Rob Dean
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By forcing these kids to navigate the impossible, outmatched while feeling like weirdos and terrified of the world around them, “Black Phone 2” immediately hooked me.
Posted Oct 22, 2025
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4.5/5
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One Battle After Another
(2025)
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Rob Dean
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Anderson hasn’t just crafted a fun and engaging movie, but it’s also a deeply layered tale whose immediacy with our current political climate is unfortunate but necessary, exploring areas in ways that most other artists would shy away.
Posted Oct 07, 2025
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4.5/5
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Weapons
(2025)
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Rob Dean
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[Cregger] masterfully uses the full gamut of human emotions and experiences to not only produce a great meditation on tragedy but also create a thoroughly satisfying and unique film that will remain with audiences for decades to come.
Posted Sep 26, 2025
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3.5/5
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The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
(1988)
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Bob Westal
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“The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!” graduates to the big screen with more action, less movie-geek jokes, and a more famous collection of over-the-hill actors.
Posted Jul 22, 2025
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4.5 / 5
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28 Years Later
(2025)
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Rob Dean
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Like all great horror movies, including this year’s “Sinners,” there is a lot of commentary and broader thematic elements at work, but it never crowds out the heart or the narrative.
Posted Jun 28, 2025
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4/5
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Predator: Killer of Killers
(2025)
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Rob Dean
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“Predator: Killer of Killers” proves that “Prey” wasn’t a fluke and that Trachtenburg and team deeply understand how to craft a fun “Predator” film that is equal parts classic and innovative.
Posted Jun 08, 2025
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4/5
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Friendship
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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“Friendship” manages to be about something, have a real aesthetic profile, and be hilarious at the same time.
Posted Jun 08, 2025
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3/5
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Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning
(2025)
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Rob Dean
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On its own, “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” is a fine film with a couple of stellar moments and impressive sequences.
Posted May 30, 2025
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3/5
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Freaky Tales
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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“Freaky Tales” will find its audience, I think, and will probably gain infamy in time with clips and GIFs of some of its better moments, though I don’t think it will ever be the cult film it so clearly wishes it were.
Posted Apr 05, 2025
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4/5
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Ash
(2025)
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Rob Dean
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Flying Lotus’ film is flawed in many ways, but it does so much so well and in such an original manner that it’s easy to forgive a lot of its cinematic trespasses.
Posted Mar 22, 2025
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3.5/5
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We Live in Time
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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“We Live in Time” is an effective romantic emotional rollercoaster because you fall in love with the couple, and that caring about them leads you to be engrossed when things go bad.
Posted Nov 07, 2024
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3.5/5
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Smile 2
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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“Smile 2” still has the same awkward/unfortunate allegory as “Smile,” though it’s not as repugnant in its presentation of mental illness as that first entry.
Posted Nov 07, 2024
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3/5
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Venom: The Last Dance
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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Marcel’s film has a ton of potential in a cast that’s clearly game and centered on a terrifically entertaining performance from Hardy. When it’s having fun, “The Last Dance” is infectiously delightful, but those moments are too far and few in between.
Posted Nov 07, 2024
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4/5
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Heretic
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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“Heretic” is a terrific film that is worth seeking out. It will lead to multiple conversations and debates for viewers around religion and philosophy and faith and much more.
Posted Nov 07, 2024
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4/5
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The Apprentice
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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Gary Sherman’s script does an amazing balancing act of highlighting all the ways that Cohn and Trump were scumbags, and yet there is still a genuine deference to their humanity.
Posted Oct 12, 2024
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3/5
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Saturday Night
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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Credit where it’s due, Reitman does a good job balancing a ton of moving parts and making sure that the audience immediately understands the stakes, the relationships, and the characters involved with “Saturday Night.”
Posted Oct 12, 2024
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2/5
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Joker: Folie à Deux
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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Those looking for familiar versions of Harley Quinn or Joker will remain disappointed as these are some low IQ stand-ins that, even in their musical fantasies, still seem pretty drab and dull.
Posted Oct 04, 2024
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3.5 / 5
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Blink Twice
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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Zoë Kravitz has crafted a very entertaining and engaging movie that is truly remarkable for her first time helming a feature.
Posted Sep 21, 2024
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3.5 / 5
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My Old Ass
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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“My Old Ass” will make for a delightful comfort movie for people. It’s a great world to exist in for 88 minutes with people you like and issues you understand.
Posted Sep 21, 2024
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3.5 / 5
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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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“Mostly works.” That’s the term I keep coming back to when thinking of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.” Because it does mostly work – but not without some asterisks and stumbling along the way.
Posted Sep 21, 2024
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4.5/5
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The Substance
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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“The Substance” is brilliant. It is sexy. It is sickening. It is hilarious. It is tragic. It’s an artist with something to say but without any qualms of going to extremes to say it.
Posted Sep 21, 2024
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3.5/5
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A Quiet Place: Day One
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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Sarnoski does an excellent job with the script and direction and is greatly aided by the fantastic actors. It’s a strong story with an interesting angle that finds more to explore in this world of “A Quiet Place.”
Posted Sep 13, 2024
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4.5/5
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Kinds of Kindness
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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The subject matter can certainly be a bit grim, but the movie never feels like it’s trying too hard or is some edgelord poser that just wants to be provocative for the sake of being brash.
Posted Sep 13, 2024
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3/5
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MaXXXine
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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There are some great performances, some stand out scenes, excellent music, and it all moves at a clip. But no artist should be aiming for “fine enough” (and, in fact, few artists do) and it’s hard not to mourn the wasted potential in West’s film.
Posted Sep 13, 2024
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3.5/5
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Twisters
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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There’s a refreshing retro quality to “Twisters” that’s found in how the filmmakers value the cast and personalities and leverage them to bolster their spectacle.
Posted Sep 13, 2024
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3/5
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The Instigators
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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“The Instigators” is fun enough with a few strong scenes and funny lines, but it’s not especially memorable. It feels like that glut of mid-‘90s Tarantinoesque where they all became part of the same tableau
Posted Sep 13, 2024
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2.5/5
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The Killer's Game
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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The characters are meant to be outrageous or goofy, but the dials never turn up enough to actually make it memorable or colorful enough
Posted Sep 13, 2024
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2/5
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The Watchers
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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The Irish countryside is a beautiful location, and the cast does an adequate job with what they are given, but too much of “The Watchers” is met with a shrug of indifference.
Posted Jun 21, 2024
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9/10
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The Bikeriders
(2023)
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Rob Dean
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“The Bikeriders” is a terrific movie that seeks to explore a simple truth: everyone wants to fit in somewhere. No matter how much of a loner or misanthrope a person is, there is still that primal tug to be part of a larger group.
Posted Jun 21, 2024
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4/5
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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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Ball, working from a script by Josh Friedman, has created a full world in “Kingdom,” with truly whole (and dynamic) characters that make for an excellent story combined with the usual mix of nihilism and hope that is found in every “Apes” movie.
Posted May 28, 2024
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4/5
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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” is a triumphant return to this shattered world that Miller and company have created.
Posted May 28, 2024
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3.5/5
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Abigail
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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“Abigail” is thoroughly delightful on every level. Again, some small issues with pacing and the ending, but nothing that is enough to drown out the large grin most people will be wearing on their faces for most of the movie.
Posted May 04, 2024
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4/5
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The Fall Guy
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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Director David Leitch’s “The Fall Guy” is, put simply, utterly delightful. It’s hilarious and heartfelt in all the right ways.
Posted May 04, 2024
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2/5
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Napoleon
(2023)
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Rob Dean
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This lavish production never feels like an incredible story, nor does it ever feel particularly intimate. Truthfully, Napoleon rarely feels like anything; perfunctory emotions that are adequately portrayed by talented actors adrift in a sea of tedium.
Posted Mar 06, 2024
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4/5
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Maestro
(2023)
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Rob Dean
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It’s a romance set in our complicated world with our complex feelings and relationships. Even when we find someone with whom we can be our authentic selves, that doesn’t mean we know who our authentic self is.
Posted Mar 06, 2024
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3.5/5
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Ferrari
(2023)
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Rob Dean
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It is a sumptuous movie powered by tremendous visuals and performances that occasionally aggressively pushes audiences away, almost daring them to forget all the good that has come before.
Posted Mar 06, 2024
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1.5/5
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Madame Web
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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Cinematic disasters shouldn’t be this boring. Directed by S.J. Clarkson, Madame Web is a collection of misfires and missteps, awkward dialogue, weightless action, shoehorned-in references—all told without any sense of urgency at all.
Posted Mar 06, 2024
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4/5
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Drive-Away Dolls
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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Coen and Cooke have crafted a rousingly fun movie that may end up becoming a cult classic over the years. But, even if it doesn’t, it certainly has been made with great affection and attention, resulting in a terrific slice of ‘90s cinema here in 2024.
Posted Mar 06, 2024
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4.5/5
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Dune: Part Two
(2024)
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Rob Dean
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Dune: Part Two is the real deal in terms of sci-fi epics, and will probably end up being one of the most defining films of the genre for the next decade to come. It’s a tremendous work and stunning sequel that is simply unparalleled.
Posted Mar 06, 2024
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4.5/5
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Killers of the Flower Moon
(2023)
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Rob Dean
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Killers of the Flower Moon proves once again that there is no better artist who understands the complex rot at the heart of America than Martin Scorsese.
Posted Oct 20, 2023
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2.5/5
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Dumb Money
(2023)
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Rob Dean
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Strong performances, an interesting topic and a compelling mixture of archival footage and staged content aren’t enough to escape the film’s insistent mediocrity.
Posted Sep 29, 2023
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3.5/5
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The Creator
(2023)
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Rob Dean
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While clichéd narrative beats and hackneyed action-speak mar The Creator, that doesn’t stop it from being an entertaining and well-made film.
Posted Sep 29, 2023
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3.5/5
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A Haunting in Venice
(2023)
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Rob Dean
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A Haunting in Venice isn’t just a vast improvement on what’s come before — it’s a very entertaining film in its own right.
Posted Sep 13, 2023
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4/5
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
(2023)
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Rob Dean
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[Mutant Mayhem] is a genuinely joyful time at the theater, with visual splendors matched by clever comedy.
Posted Aug 02, 2023
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3/5
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Haunted Mansion
(2023)
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Rob Dean
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Like the theme park ride on which it’s based, there’s just enough humor and delight to ensnare even the most ardent of curmudgeons.
Posted Jul 28, 2023
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4.5/5
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Oppenheimer
(2023)
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Rob Dean
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The gorgeous visuals by DP Hoyte van Hoytema, the impeccable sound design by Richard King and the impressive editing by Jennifer Lame come together to create something stirringly grandiose yet delicately intimate.
Posted Jul 21, 2023
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4.5/5
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Barbie
(2023)
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Rob Dean
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Barbie is an inventive slice of cinema that’s bursting with creativity and comedy.
Posted Jul 19, 2023
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4/5
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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One
(2023)
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Rob Dean
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An incredibly entertaining slice of cinema that wows constantly in its stunts and set pieces.
Posted Jul 09, 2023
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