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4/5
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Shakespeare's S...storm
(2020)
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Harris Dang
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Shakespeare's Shitstorm is essentially critic-proof. All the expected flaws of the project are what makes this film a Troma film and if you are a fan of severe head Troma, chances are you are going to love it.
Posted Oct 28, 2025
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3/5
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100 Nights of Hero
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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“100 Nights of Hero” is simplistic to a fault, as it doesn’t do enough with its fairy tale aesthetic and influences. But with a vibrant cast, playful visuals and timely themes on its plate, it’s hard not to admire its convictions.
Posted Oct 20, 2025
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3/5
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Nouvelle Vague
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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It’s an intriguing insight into one filmmaker’s mindset, but as a faithfully recreated, if somewhat unvaried, celebration of one of cinema’s most significant eras, “Nouvelle Vague” is both engrossing and thoroughly entertaining.
Posted Oct 18, 2025
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2/5
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Christy
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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Sadly, between the tonal imbalance, the reliance on cliches, and the hit-and-miss nature of the acting, it’s a film that swings for the thematic fence but whiffs.
Posted Oct 17, 2025
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4/5
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Die My Love
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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The dark visual splendour and the sheer vehemence of Lawrence’s performance makes “Die, My Love” as coldly powerful as a vice grip.
Posted Oct 17, 2025
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3/5
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Rental Family
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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While “Rental Family” teeters on the edge of mawkishness at times, its sentiments are elevated by Hikari’s tender direction and a magnificently sincere lead performance from Brendan Fraser.
Posted Oct 17, 2025
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4/5
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Blue Heron
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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It’s as eloquent as it is even-handed, bolstered by remarkable performances across the board, and cinematography that knows when to be intimate and when to give its characters the necessary space.
Posted Oct 14, 2025
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4/5
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Frankenstein
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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To reinvent the story for a modern audience so succinctly is no easy feat, but del Toro has brought this legendary tale to life once more through his signature gothic visuals, complex moral themes and resounding cry against egomania.
Posted Oct 13, 2025
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5/5
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Sentimental Value
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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Deeply sad but also alive with profound, sumptuous wisdom, it breezes by arm in arm with its characters, hypnotising us with its stunning performances and delicate filmmaking.
Posted Oct 13, 2025
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5/5
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It Was Just an Accident
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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A courageous stand against authoritarian oppression, it explores the nuances of its themes and characters through immaculate craft and a razor sharp script. It’s as haunting as it is wildly entertaining.
Posted Oct 12, 2025
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4/5
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Jay Kelly
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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Stylish to a fault, it scrutinises the nuances of the celebrity image in relation to existentialism dexterously, all to the tune of great performances from Clooney and Sandler.
Posted Oct 11, 2025
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4/5
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Bugonia
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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With titanic performances and direction as ominous as it is absurd, it astutely puts foolish sensibilities in the digital age under the proverbial microscope, delivering mostly engrossing results.
Posted Oct 10, 2025
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3/5
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Ballad of a Small Player
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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When all is added up, there’s just enough thematic meat and creative filmmaking to warrant a viewing, topped off with an excellent Colin Farrell. But, regretfully, it’s a marked downgrade from Berger’s previous efforts.
Posted Oct 10, 2025
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4/5
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Bad Apples
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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The film will almost certainly be too dark for some audiences. But for the right viewer, “Bad Apples” blends empathetic characters with morbid humour and thriller sensibilities to deliver an engrossing, idiosyncratic watch.
Posted Oct 09, 2025
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4/5
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Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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“Wake Up Dead Man” entices the mind with its gripping mystery and delicate balancing act of details, while also engaging our hearts with its scathing views on greed and astute championing of empathy.
Posted Oct 08, 2025
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3/5
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The Ugly
(2024)
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Emma Vine
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Although The Ugly fails to stick the landing, at the very least, the film’s underlying message is a somewhat powerful one that sheds light on the cruelty of humanity and an unhealthy obsession with people’s physical appearance.
Posted Oct 03, 2025
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3.5/5
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Good Boy
(2025)
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Emma Vine
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Good Boy may not completely reinvent the haunted house scare wheel, but it’s a project you deeply respect for bringing such an admirable, fresh idea to the genre.
Posted Oct 03, 2025
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5/5
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One Battle After Another
(2025)
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Calum Cooper
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It’s a timely piece of commentary in this age of extreme political division, but the richness of the crew’s craft, twinned with the unconventional but wildly entertaining tone, make this among Anderson’s very best films.
Posted Oct 02, 2025
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2.5/5
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Dolly
(2025)
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Harris Dang
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Dolly is a fitfully entertaining slasher that adds up to less than the sum of its parts due to its derivative nature and its filmmaking approach on style over substance that could have used more steak alongside its sizzle.
Posted Sep 29, 2025
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5/5
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Deathstalker
(2025)
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Harris Dang
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Deathstalker shows filmmaker Steven Kostanski at his very best – delivering lo-fi genre goodness with loving reverence, cheekily bizarre humour, wonderful practical effects design and a game cast. Highly recommended.
Posted Sep 29, 2025
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Queen Kelly
(1929)
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Sarah Manvel
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The final three reels are summed up with intertitles, appropriately similar footage shot in the late 1920s and the occasional publicity still.... But what remains is so fascinating that any student of cinema needs to see this immediately.
Posted Sep 29, 2025
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4.5/5
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The Ice Tower
(2025)
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Harris Dang
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“The Ice Tower” is a cinematically entrancing, aesthetically haunting and emotionally satisfying coming-of-age fantasy from Lucile Hadzihalilovic at the height of her powers; led by two fantastic lead performances from Marion Cotillard and Clara Pacini.
Posted Sep 27, 2025
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One Woman One Bra
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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Writer-director Vincho Nchogu has burst onto the world stage as a filmmaker to watch. And it can’t be emphasised enough: even with its tough subject matter, One Woman One Bra has a sense of humour. It’s an important debut and an exciting discovery.
Posted Sep 26, 2025
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4/5
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Prisoner of War
(2025)
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Harris Dang
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Prisoner of War stands out as one of Adkins’ best due to its emotional sincerity in its formula narrative, powerful fight scenes and effective performances.
Posted Sep 24, 2025
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5/5
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CAMP
(2025)
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Harris Dang
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CAMP is an incredibly accomplished, beautifully realized and compellingly elusive piece of work that will bewitch audiences with its memorable visuals, three-dimensional characters and its intriguing portrayal of female relationships.
Posted Sep 24, 2025
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3/5
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Good Game
(2025)
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Harris Dang
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Good Game is an eager-to-please, amiable and spirited piece of work that overcomes its trite storytelling and lack of originality with its exploration in internet gaming and an affable cast. Recommended.
Posted Sep 22, 2025
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4/5
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Occupy Cannes
(2025)
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Harris Dang
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A lovingly reverential ode to Troma, independent cinema and all-round free speech, Occupy Cannes — or Troma vs. Cannes as this writer likes to think of it – is a David v. Goliath story worth checking out.
Posted Sep 22, 2025
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Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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It is impossible to be objective about this documentary. But if you have a human heart, it is something you need to see. And it should not be controversial to say that Ms Hassona and her family should still be here with us.
Posted Aug 23, 2025
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2/5
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Red Sonja
(2025)
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Harris Dang
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Even with M.J. Bassett at the helm and the compelling Matilda Lutz as the lead, Red Sonja fails to deliver the impact that the titular character deserves.
Posted Aug 16, 2025
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4/5
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Sham
(2025)
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Harris Dang
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Overall, Sham is a fantastic showcase for Takashi Miike forgoing his striking directorial style to tell a straightforward drama with honesty, eloquence and purity; led by fantastic performances from Go Ayano and Ko Shibasaki.
Posted Aug 05, 2025
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2/5
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Holy Night: Demon Hunters
(2025)
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Harris Dang
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A Frankenstein’s monster of a movie, Holy Night – Demon Hunters is assembled with familiar parts and intermittently shows few signs of life. Unfortunately, the film remains underwhelming and should have been left on the cutting room floor.
Posted Aug 04, 2025
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3/5
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Stuntman
(2024)
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Harris Dang
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Stuntman is an enjoyable and fittingly rousing ode to Hong Kong action cinema does enough to transcend its soapy narrative, predictable storytelling and scant examination of its subject matter.
Posted Aug 04, 2025
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4/5
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Forbidden City
(2025)
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Harris Dang
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The Forbidden City is an extremely entertaining genre mix of hard-hitting martial arts, compelling family drama and brutal crime violence that compels, exhilarates and emotionally stirs all at once with a fantastic debut lead performance from Liu Yaxi.
Posted Aug 04, 2025
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Jane Austen Wrecked My Life
(2024)
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Sarah Manvel
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It’s about how, in finally figuring out what she wants from a relationship, [the heroine] is able to sort her own head out. This is a terrific twist to the rom-com tropes and gives “Jane Austen Wrecked My Life” an unusual kick.
Posted Jul 21, 2025
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Sorry, Baby
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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Subtle, and frustrating, but these things often are. Something so lifelike is rarely shown in movies, and it is even more rarely this perfectly done.
Posted Jul 01, 2025
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Promised Sky
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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Their blackness shapes every second of their lives in their chosen country, where only one of them has legal status. Their daily struggles for security and acceptance mirror the struggles immigrants of every colour face everywhere in the world.
Posted Jun 13, 2025
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Love Me Tender
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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Ms Krieps makes Clémence’s journey through the stages of grief both the story of unimaginable loss and a desperate hope for a new beginning.
Posted Jun 12, 2025
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The Chronology of Water
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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This is not just a story of survival; it’s one of triumph, and the ways in which Kristen Stewart, the former child actress turned very interesting art-house stalwart, has established herself as a director is a second triumph.
Posted Jun 11, 2025
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The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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The old-school queerness... has a fighting spirit and a tenderness that’s become very rare in modern gay movies from anywhere in the world. But the message of hope in unpleasant times that [it] offers is one modern audiences should embrace with open arms.
Posted Jun 10, 2025
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Eleanor the Great
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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It’s pretty human to double down instead of admit a mistake, and it’s pretty unusual to see that depicted onscreen from the hero character. It’s a great hook. The subtlety of Ms Squibb’s work here... is surprisingly relatable.
Posted Jun 09, 2025
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4/5
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Ballerina
(2025)
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Rosa Parra
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“Ballerina” is a strong addition to the John Wick universe...an action-packed film that includes all the elements that make this franchise stand out, I’d be interested to see how a film without a John Wick cameo would evolve.
Posted Jun 08, 2025
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Once Upon a Time in Gaza
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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A good movie, which makes clever use of its tropes to build to a completely unpredicted ending. It’s an incredible reminder of what hope can do.
Posted Jun 06, 2025
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The Encampments
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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If the release of “The Encampments” serves any true purpose, let’s hope it will be to get [Mahmoud Khalil] out of detention and back into the land of the free, home of the brave.
Posted Jun 06, 2025
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Sound of Falling
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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The single location makes the non-chronological story easy to follow and the result is extraordinary. “Sound of Falling” is a beautiful and beautifully shocking film.
Posted Jun 02, 2025
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The Little Sister
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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This assured and friendly film is instead about someone accepting the consequences of self-acceptance. It’s not so much a coming-out story, but a growing-up one. This is rare in queer film but it’s so well done.
Posted May 27, 2025
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Alpha
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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If “Alpha” had been made in 1985, even with the special effects of the time, it would be considered one of the greatest films ever made.
Posted May 26, 2025
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The Mastermind
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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Perhaps “The Mastermind” was always meant to be a kid’s riddle that got sort of out of hand. All of Ms Reichardt’s previous movies were small stories about big topics. For the first time she has made a small story about nothing at all.
Posted May 25, 2025
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Highest 2 Lowest
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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If attention is your greatest currency, spend it elsewhere.
Posted May 21, 2025
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The Old Woman with the Knife
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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As sharp and attention-getting as a knife to the throat.
Posted May 19, 2025
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Leave One Day
(2025)
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Sarah Manvel
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A wonderful choice as the opening film for this year’s Cannes Film Festival. There’s nothing like an iron fist in a velvet glove to make the changing times felt, and nothing like a surprising twist on some old classics to leave you wanting more.
Posted May 15, 2025
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