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King Richard 2021
[Crest Cinema Center, M&Ms with Peanuts]
Another one of those "definition of a three-star movie" movies. It's exactly what you expect if you've seen the trailer. If the credits had said "For Your Consideration AGAIN: Will Smith," I wouldn't have blinked. Can't remember a moment in the entire film that surprised me.
Oh, wait. There was one. It involved a gun. Otherwise, nope.
Am I saying it's terrible? No. That's what I mean. It does very well what it sets…
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Paddington 2014
There is something truly magical, and slightly sad but hopeful, in this tale of a lovable Peruvian bear in search of a home. Paddington contains a beautiful message about the importance of family and, to some extent, could even be interpreted as a commentary on immigration. It's a film that may seem slightly naïve and conventional but it is absolutely charming.
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My Childhood 1972
My personal favorite part of the trilogy focuses on surroundings which a young heart can't understand, yet it seeks magic in any corner possible despite the landscapes devoid of any peace. However, the beauty of nature remains, awaiting for a reconstruction that may never arrive.
99/100
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The Hunters 1977
One common thing in Angelopoulos' early works: The thematic obscurity and the emotional distance are almost at the maximum level. Don't expect to comprehend everything without multiple viewings and additional research. However, it's impossible to ignore the marvelous filmmaking on display. The fact that he managed to fluidly weave several events and people from different historical times into ONE LONG TAKE is incredible!
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Licorice Pizza 2021
Maybe there is something in the air. Tarantino, in his most recent film, kicked back and relaxed, and now here comes PTA in the same sort of mood.
Watching a film like this sets an interesting challenge for me. It's not a film that is obviously trying to be an important film, in the way that Magnolia or There Will be Blood or Phantom Thread were trying. The story is small. Yet I know that there is a master behind…
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Everything Everywhere All at Once 2022
4.25 stars. Had to see what the hype is about and having seen it ... the hype is warranted. Wildly imaginative, I had trouble keeping up a few times. A real crowd pleaser, my audience was laughing and chortling throughout. Absolutely fulfills the promise of it's ambitious title.
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Day of Wrath 1943
I have to acclimate to Dreyer's films. The people in them don't behave in ways that I recognize as normal. The emotional temperature is so low, the interactions so muted and subdued, that they seem scarcely to be alive. But patience pays.
This seventeenth century tale about suspicion, love, and religion falls into two parts. The first, about an old woman charged with the capital crime of witchcraft, explores hypocrisy, injustice, and filial piety. In the second half, the focus…
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WandaVision 2021
Watched episodes 1 - 6 so far, post "Dr. Strange", and honestly I'm not enjoying it, not even a little
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Honeyland 2019
Co-directors Tamara Kotevska and Ljubomir Stefanov, working with editor Atanas Georgiev, craft such a compelling, if simple, story out of the verite footage they’ve collected that Honeyland plays less like a National Geographic doc and more like a true-false film from Iranian masters Abbas Kiarostami, Jafar Panahi, and Mohsen Makhmalbaf. You could get caught up in trying to determine what’s “true,” or you could make your own meaning from what you see on the screen.
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Honeyland 2019
It isn't often that the name coming to my mind, over and over, as I watch a new film, is Satyajit Ray, but that was the case here — for reasons that will become obvious when you see it. And I mean that as a high compliment.
This is an extraordinary work of storytelling — or, rather, observation. I had to keep reminding myself that the was not scripted, and the characters were not actors who had been cast. This…
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A Hero 2021
After his trip to Spain, Asghar Farhadi returns to Iran to tell another exquisitely crafted story with a strong moral element about the consequences of our actions and in which, once again, he demonstrates an amazing ability to place the viewer within the skin of his characters and experience the helplessness and despair of the circumstances they have been forced to face. Ghahreman is another brilliant dissection of Iranian society, its complexities, contradictions and its very unique characteristics through which…