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 […]
Film – Chuck Koplinski
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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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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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Leviticus both terrifying and heartbreaking, Jessie stars in Toy Story 5
Heartbreaking Leviticus terrifying yet poignant Though discredited, conversion therapy relating to homosexuality is still being used today, albeit with much less frequency. Some of these practices are folded into other approaches, have been renamed and also presented as a free speech issue through a U.S. Supreme Court ruling issued in early 2026. While steps are […]
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Masters of the Universe is fun, Backrooms leads nowhere
Fun is front and center in this Universe Realizing their mistake in passing up the opportunity to license toys for a little movie named Star Wars, the suits at Mattel charged their head designer, Roger Sweet, with coming up with something to rival George Lucas’ universe. Released in 1982, the result was Masters of the […]
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Pressure is gripping from start to finish, Miss lacks emotional honesty
Unwavering determination at the core of Pressure It’s hard to grasp the scope and planning that went into the D-Day invasion that occurred on June 6, 1944. Preparations began in mid-1943 that would result in the deployment of over 156,000 Allied Forces soldiers over a 50-mile stretch of beach across two time zones. Seven million […]
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Grogu is lazy and redundant, Ryan accomplishes its mission as thriller
Grogu stultifyingly dull I remember as a child, while playing with either my army men or action figures, the scenarios I would make up for them were pretty simple. A fight would take place and then a chase, followed by another fight with maybe the arrival of another figure and then another fight and … […]
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Obsession serves as a metaphor for addiction, Kremlin is dull
Obsession a brilliant metaphor for addiction I’m going to assume Bear, the protagonist in Curry Barker’s brilliant horror film Obsession was absent the day The Monkey’s Paw was read in his language arts class. W.W. Jacobs’ seminal cautionary tale drives home again and again that if you happen to have a wish-granting talisman, you must […]
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The Sheep Detectives is captivating, Hokum examines guilt
Deft touch, amazing effects makes for captivating Sheep Deftly executed and suffused with a wry sense of humor, Kyle Balda’s The Sheep Detectives is likely to entertain the adults in the audience more than the children it’s seemingly aimed at. Adapted from the novel Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, the film threads a very […]
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Olivia Newman and Shelby Van Pelt bring life to Creatures
There’s a subtle wave of optimism that gently buffets you when talking to director Olivia Newman and author Shelby Van Pelt, a sense that everything’s going to be all right if you simply sit back and let things take their course. Of course, this comes as no surprise, what with the former helming the big […]
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Body lasts too long, Mummy far more than a monster movie
Body becomes a bit ripe On Monday, April 20, an op-ed appeared in the New York Times with the headline “Movies are Bullying Us with Their Bloat,” by Frank Bruni. In it, the author harps on a complaint I’ve had with American movies for quite some time: their needless length. He points out the average […]
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The Drama serves as a cautionary tale, Thrash a silly, welcome respite
Smart Drama a cautionary tale for today A cautionary tale for today, Kristoffer Borgli’s The Drama is a movie that thrives on making its characters and the viewer uncomfortable. Handling hot button topics with a commendable deft touch, the film puts social media era relationships under the microscope, as well as our ever-shifting perspectives of […]
