Celebration (Anković, 2024)
Celebration (Proslava) is one of those films that one wants to grade on a curve. It has a serious topic — the rise of fascism in Croatia. It is competently… Continue reading "Celebration (Anković, 2024)"
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Apologia Pro Vita Joker
“Did I seem like a different person,” asks Arthur Fleck at his murder trial, “or was I the same old Joker?” This line from Joker: Folie à Deux (or FaD… Continue reading "Apologia Pro Vita Joker"
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The Waiting Game (Husain, 2024)
The Waiting Game is a feel-goodish documentary about a charitable organization, the Dropping Dimes Foundation, trying to get the NBA to fund pensions for former American Basketball Association (ABA) players.… Continue reading "The Waiting Game (Husain, 2024)"
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Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. (Komarnicki, 2024)
My favorite scene in Bonhoeffer (I will forgo the cumbersome subtitle for the body of this review) comes early on when Dietrich’s brother has gone to war and their mother… Continue reading "Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin. (Komarnicki, 2024)"
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Gladiator II (Scott, 2024)
“Yay, team good guys, I guess,” said my friend Max while leaving the theater and succinctly expressing my own ambivalence toward Ridley Scott’s dull, plodding, and completely unnecessary sequel. There… Continue reading "Gladiator II (Scott, 2024)"
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Wicked (Chu, 2024)
Wicked is a bright, loud paintball splatter of a movie — one that seems to me to be as uncertain of what it wants to be as it is how… Continue reading "Wicked (Chu, 2024)"
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Red One (Kasdan, 2024)
On the pitch level, Red One sounds as though it should be critic-proof. The always likable Dwayne Johnson stars as an elf who heads Santa’s security team only to see… Continue reading "Red One (Kasdan, 2024)"
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A Real Pain (Eisenberg, 2024)
A Real Pain is a good, not great, film. The film depicts two Jewish brothers cousins (Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin) on a “heritage” tour of Poland and concludes with… Continue reading "A Real Pain (Eisenberg, 2024)"
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Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain’s Journey (Hull & Roberts, 2024)
I was moved by Fighting Spirit, a documentary about military chaplains that is conventional in its filmcraft but mostly lets its powerful content speak for itself. While the film is… Continue reading "Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain’s Journey (Hull & Roberts, 2024)"
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Last Party (Dozol, 2024)
Do a word cloud of early reviews of Last Party, and the most frequently used adjective would most likely be “confusing.” There are, of course, films that are confusing by… Continue reading "Last Party (Dozol, 2024)"