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The Critic (2023) Review
The Critic (2023)Director: Anand TuckerScreenwriters: Patrick MarberStarring: Ian McKellen, Gemma Arterton, Lesley Manville, Mark Strong, Ben Barnes, Romola Garai, Alfred Enoch Whenever a filmmaker presents an idea to a small British film company, they are restricted in what they can do to get funding. Small genre films (low budget horrors), wartime dramas, kitchen-sink mumblecore, or…
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West Side Story (1961) Review
West Side Story (1961)Directors: Robert Wise, Jerome RobbinsScreenwriter: Ernest LehmanStarring: Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, George Chakiris, Rita Moreno, Russ Tamblyn, Simon Oakland, William Bramley Like films, music often startles us by how it knows us. With no prior encounter, the right piece can read us, leave us high on emotions we kept secret. In a…
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Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) Review
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024)Director: Tim BurtonScreenwriter: Alfred Gough, Miles MillarStarring: Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Catherine O’Hara, Jenna Ortega, Justin Theroux, Monica Bellucci, Willem Dafoe When it comes to identifying the origin point of the ongoing trend of bland fairy tale and fantasy adaptations that have plagued us since the 2010s, it is generally accepted that the…
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‘Dr Strangelove’ at 60 – Review
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)Director: Stanley KubrickScreenwriters: Stanley Kubrick, Terry Southern, Peter GeorgeStarring: Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Slim Pickens, Peter Bull, Keenan Wynn, James Earl Jones, Tracy Reed, Jack Creley Originally seeking to adapt Peter George’s “Red Alert” and conceived as a straight…
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Sing Sing (2024) Review
Sing Sing (2024)Director: Greg KwedarScreenwriters: Clint Bentley, Greg KwedarStarring: Colman Domingo, Clarence Maclin, Sean San Jose, Paul Raci, David Giraudy, Patrick Griffin, Mosi Eagle, James Williams, Sean Dino Johnson We’ve seen a lot of art about art recently. Some of it has been used to express contemporary concerns on the future of all art in…
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AfrAId (2024) Review
AfrAId (2024)Director: Chris WeitzScreenwriters: Chris WeitzStarring: John Cho, Katherine Waterston, Havana Rose Liu, Lukita Maxwell, David Dastmalchian, Keith Carradine In late 2022, Blumhouse, a studio known for making one good and successful movie every so often which then in turn funds ten abominations, released M3GAN, a sci-fi thriller about a robotic doll that gains sentience…
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‘The Third Man’ at 75 – Review
The Third Man (1949)Director: Carol ReedScreenwriters: Graham GreeneStarring: Joseph Cotton, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard, Bernard Lee The Third Man is a film that is more legend than picture. A Palme d’Or winner in 1949, and winner of the Academy Award for Best Cinematography – Black and White for Robert Krasker in 1951, Carol…
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Black Dog (2024) Review
Black Dog (2024)Director: Hu GuanScreenwriters: Rui Ge, Hu GuanStarring: Eddie Pang, Tong Liya, Jia Zhangke, Zhang Yi, Zhou You, Yuan Hong, Vision Wei, Wang Yanhui, Hu Xiaoguang Winner of the 2024 Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard award, Black Dog is an affecting, low-key piece of social realism interspersed with moments of stunning beauty. Director…
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Strange Darling (2023) Review
Strange Darling (2023)Director: JT MollnerScreenwriter: JT MollnerStarring: Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Barbara Hershey, Ed Begley Jr. Movies about serial killers are nothing new, and the enduring popularity of true crime media shows the fascination with such stories will continue. Like many genres, audiences have a growing understanding of the machinations of killer thrillers, so how can…
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The Crow (2024) Review
The Crow (2024)Director: Rupert SandersScreenwriters: Zack Baylin, William SchneiderStarring: Bill Skarsgård, FKA twigs, Danny Huston Contrary to popular belief, lightning can, in fact, strike the same place twice. Additionally, the odds of getting struck by lightening are low – but never zero. The same could be said of reboots, remakes, and reimaginings of films. Although…