Logic trips up The Runner You gotta give it to Gal Gadot. She can run, and do so in a variety of ways. If you need her to run with joy, she’s on it. If she needs to run with desperation, no one does it better. Throw in being able to commit this act in […]
Film
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Portraits of grit and determination in “Her Game is Hardball”
A revelatory dive into baseball history as well as a testament of hope, Mark Durand’s Her Game is Hardball is a fascinating documentary that looks at many forgotten eras of American sports history while portending the birth of another. Nine years in the making, the film examines the struggles of women’s baseball in America, while […]
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Mayday is smart and funny, realistic Sun shines
Reynolds, Branagh energize Mayday With the exception of 1988’s Red Heat, I’d be hard-pressed to name a Cold War buddy movie. John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein set out to double the total of this subgenre with Mayday, a surprisingly entertaining piece of ridiculousness. Smart, funny and driven by as an unlikely duo of actors […]
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Acme is imaginative and fun, great acting saves Tony
Satire and humor run riot in Acme Propelled by the kind of publicity money can’t buy as well as a cleverly subversive advertising campaign, Dave Green’s Coyote vs. Acme arrives in theaters with great fanfare, an event that seemed destined never to occur two years ago. This was one of three films that David Zaslav, […]
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Faraway Tree provides a magical escape, Oak Street is a half-baked dino film
Tree casts a delightful spell A fantasy for both children and adults, Ben Gregor’s The Magic Faraway Tree finds the perfect balance of whimsy and post-modernism to make it work for both groups. Based on the novels by Enid Blyton, the film leisurely casts its spell, its story unfolding effortlessly between an idyllic rural landscape […]
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Don’t Say Good Luck realistic and moving, subplots derail Brink of War
Realism buoys Good Luck There are numerous ways a film like Don’t Say Good Luck could go wrong and yet director Julia Hart applies just the right touch to pull off this small miracle of a movie. Working from a script she co-wrote with husband Jordan Horowitz and first-time scribe Laura Hankin, the filmmaker handles […]
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Night lacks chemistry, Man is a vile piece of work
Narrative pieces lack chemistry in Night Your ability to compartmentalize will determine whether you like Will Gluck’s odd new rom-com One Night Only. If you can accept an oppressive dystopian society pitched in a kinda light-hearted tone and forget about a key part of the premise, you’ll likely be charmed. But if, like me, you […]
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Latest Spider-Man film effectively restarts franchise, I Want Your Sex a sharp satire on art world
Spidey begins anew with Day One of the unavoidable consequences springing from the success of the MCU has been its narrative growth. What with its stable of thousands of characters, producer Kevin Feige has been more than willing to bend the knee toward fans to provide as many big-screen representations of their favorites as possible. […]
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Motor City a thriller, The Dink is saved by its cast
“Motor” needs no words to thrill A highly stylized experiment, Potsy Ponciroli’s Motor City takes a standard revenge plot and gives it new life by omitting nearly all dialogue between its characters. Much like In a Violent Nature (2024), a slasher film with no music soundtrack, the omission of a narrative element we’ve come to […]
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Moana too familiar for its own good
There was an interesting article recently in the New York Times. Apparently, much like The Lion King (1994) was the go-to movie for a previous generation, Moana (2016) has become the default video to keep 2-5-year-olds captivated. Having been streamed more than 1.5 billion hours on Disney+ (yes, you read that correctly) it has become […]
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Odyssey an ambitious, grand film; Invite looks at domestic discord
Nolan’s realistic approach grounds epic Odyssey If nothing else, Christopher Nolan must be commended for his ambition in adapting Homer’s The Odyssey. No half measures are taken in this $250 million production and if the filmmaker’s reach exceeds his grasp, it certainly isn’t for lack of imagination or effort. By its very nature, this unwieldy, […]
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Sex Pass takes swipe at Hollywood, Ladies turns workplace dynamic on its head
Sex Pass a Tinseltown parody Like many couples, my wife and I have an understanding. If, on the off chance, the actor Miles Teller, in all of his hunkiness, showed up on our doorstep, rang the bell and stated it was time for he and Beth to embark on their once-in-a-lifetime romance, I’m to, without […]
