Peter Sobczynski
Tomatometer-approved critic
Writer. Film Buff.
All-Time Faves:
Buckaroo Banzai
It's a Wonderful Lif
eDuck Soup
Dumbo
GoodFellas
Heathers
Jaws
Vivre Sa Vie
The Shining
Rio Bravo
Blow Out
Chicago, IL
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Inside (2023) |
This is the kind of wild, let-it-all-hang-out work we know going in that Dafoe is capable of pulling off, and as a result, his descent into savagery has a whiff of the familiar to it. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Mar 17, 2023
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Raging Grace (2023) |
[W]hile Zarcilla’s film is undeniably uneven, the parts where he does connect hit hard. - The Spool
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| Posted Mar 17, 2023
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Juniper (2021) |
[Rampling] brings a refreshing tartness to "Juniper" that keeps it from sinking entirely into gooey sentimentality. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Feb 24, 2023
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The Accidental Getaway Driver (2023) |
[A]n undeniably intriguing and compulsively watchable variation on a standard theme. - The Spool
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| Posted Feb 13, 2023
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Divinity (2023) |
Sadly, seen in the cold and sober light of day, it cannot be regarded as anything other than a mess. - The Spool
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| Posted Feb 13, 2023
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L'immensità (2022) |
[A]lmost every time Cruz comes on the screen, she serves as a distraction. - The Spool
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| Posted Feb 13, 2023
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A Little Prayer (2023) |
A Little Prayer admittedly looks and feels as if designed in some kind of cinema laboratory specifically to premiere at Sundance. Nonetheless, to the film’s considerable credit, it still proves well worth watching. - The Spool
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| Posted Feb 13, 2023
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The Disappearance of Shere Hite (2023) |
The resulting story is equal parts fascinating and enraging and fits quite nicely alongside recent documentaries dedicated to exploring the lives of culturally vilified women like Pamela Anderson and Britney Spears. - The Spool
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| Posted Feb 06, 2023
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Squaring the Circle (2022) |
Hardcore rock fans will no doubt enjoy this warm nostalgia bath...At the same time, those less involved will probably find it pleasant but forgettable—the exact opposite of the typical Hipgnosis creation. - The Spool
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| Posted Feb 06, 2023
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Little Richard: I Am Everything (2023) |
There is a great, profound, and provocative film to be made on the life and lasting legacy of Little Richard—alas, Little Richard: I Am Everything is not that film. - The Spool
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| Posted Feb 06, 2023
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Full Time (2021) |
An intelligent and mostly engrossing movie about a situation that will seem all too familiar to many. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Feb 03, 2023
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Blood (2022) |
"Blood" delivers plenty of the titular substance but not much else of note other than a couple of decent scenes here and there. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Jan 28, 2023
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Kim's Video (2023) |
[C]omplaints aside, Kim’s Video is a film that should warm the heart of most hard-core cineastes. - The Spool
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| Posted Jan 26, 2023
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Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb (2022) |
It is true that Turn Every Page is mostly a celebration of its two subjects and their accomplishments. Still, there is a certain edge to the proceedings that keeps the film from being too self-congratulatory. - The Spool
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| Posted Jan 14, 2023
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The Devil Conspiracy (2022) |
One of the nuttiest films that I have ever borne witness to. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Jan 13, 2023
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The Old Way (2023) |
Perhaps if more Westerns were being made these days, The Old Way—which is more of a half-baked mistake than a total disaster—might have been a little palatable or at least easier to forgive. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Jan 06, 2023
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The Treasure of His Youth: The Photographs of Paolo Di Paolo (2021) |
An uncommonly beautiful-looking documentary. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Dec 09, 2022
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Violent Night (2022) |
A largely tedious cinematic lump of coal that unsuccessfully tries to stretch its one-joke premise out to 101 minutes. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Dec 02, 2022
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Slumberland (2022) |
The biggest problem with Slumberland is its utter innocuousness. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Nov 18, 2022
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Bad Axe (2022) |
There will doubtlessly be many more documentaries dealing with the pandemic and the Trump era in the years to come. But few will likely come close to equalling the quiet, bracing humanity of this film. - The Spool
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| Posted Nov 17, 2022
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The Inspection (2022) |
A well-meaning but ultimately wanting work that trades in hard truths for mawkish melodrama and ends just when it seems about to get interesting. - The Spool
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| Posted Nov 17, 2022
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Next Exit (2022) |
Although it doesn’t really come together, Next Exit is reasonably ambitious and made with just enough skill to make curious to see what Elfman does for a follow-up. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Nov 04, 2022
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Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) |
[T]he real triumph of the film is watching the eclectic cast as they bounce off of each other while delivering Johnson’s often-hilarious dialogue. - The Spool
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| Posted Oct 22, 2022
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Dark Glasses (2022) |
Dark Glasses proves to be little more than a tired rehash of Argento’s hits from his heyday strung together by a screenplay (reportedly written two decades ago) that is nonsensical even by his admittedly loopy past standards. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Oct 07, 2022
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Goodnight Mommy (2022) |
One of the most patently unnecessary films of the year. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Sep 16, 2022
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House of Darkness (2022) |
An intriguing and occasionally quite witty battle of the sexes, in which not all of the bloodshed is strictly metaphorical. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Sep 09, 2022
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The Good Boss (2021) |
Whether or not Blanco is able to save his factory, Bardem is able to navigate the narrative missteps surrounding him and ultimately make The Good Boss worth a look. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Sep 02, 2022
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El Tiempo Perdido (2020) |
Listening to these people grapple with Proust’s work and relate it to their own individual lifetimes of experience is often fascinating. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Aug 12, 2022
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Night Shift (1982) |
Unlike most of his subsequent features, Howard is not exactly striving for respectability here and Night Shift is all the better for it. - The Spool
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| Posted Jul 31, 2022
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Endangered (2022) |
An eye-opening and often enraging glimpse at four journalists attempting to do their jobs circa 2020 and the attacks they endure as a result. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Jun 28, 2022
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The Integrity of Joseph Chambers (2022) |
In many ways, the film is like a brutally effective modern-day retelling of the classic Jack London short story To Build a Fire, another tale in which a guy determined to prove himself to himself finds himself in a very bad way for no real reason at all. - The Spool
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| Posted Jun 28, 2022
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Rudy! A Documusical (2022) |
By adding in the musical numbers, Rothstein turns that film into something closer than a gimmick, the kind of thing that looks good in a festival catalogue but simply doesn’t work in practice. - The Spool
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| Posted Jun 26, 2022
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Lynch/Oz (2022) |
While it may not ultimately be anything more than an extended bit of screen minutiae—the kind of thing that a film major might point out late at night after a toke or 12 stretched out to nearly two hours—it is still kind of fun on some basic level. - The Spool
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| Posted Jun 26, 2022
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Official Competition (2021) |
A very funny, sometimes thoughtful examination of the ways the tensions of real life can end up informing a film project. - The Spool
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| Posted Jun 26, 2022
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Bitterbrush (2021) |
I found myself mesmerized by this spare, affecting, and powerfully humane work that may seem quiet and reserved, but which ends up packing a surprisingly powerful emotional punch by the end. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Jun 17, 2022
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Halftime (2022) |
In the end, Halftime is unlikely to majorly shift anyone’s thoughts on Jennifer Lopez. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Jun 14, 2022
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Deception (2021) |
If you've never read the works of Philip Roth, Deception is likely to come across as an absolutely baffling exercise in tedium that has nothing to say about anything in particular and won’t shut up about it. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted May 20, 2022
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Take Me to the River: New Orleans (2022) |
Take Me to the River: New Orleans contains a lot of good music and a number of fascinating subjects for discussion, but never quite figures out how to bring them all together in a satisfying manner. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Apr 29, 2022
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Memory (2022) |
One of our most powerful actors is again wasting his time on the kind of half-baked thriller Charles Bronson used to crank out with depressing regularity during the waning days of his career. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Apr 29, 2022
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Cat People (1982) |
Those who prefer their cinematic fantasies to be of the decidedly unshackled variety (so to speak) will always be able to embrace the vision by Schrader, that most tortured of cinematic romantics, that captures amour at its most plus fou. - The Spool
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| Posted Apr 24, 2022
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The Tale of King Crab (2021) |
A wild and compelling work that simultaneously evokes the influence of such disparate filmmakers as Terrence Malick, Werner Herzog, and Sergio Leone. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Apr 15, 2022
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All the Old Knives (2022) |
All the Old Knives is never much more than a film whose narrative curlicues cannot quite disguise just how familiar it all is. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Apr 08, 2022
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Night's End (2022) |
Reeder still shows herself to be a filmmaker of promise, if not yet a particularly good judge of material. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Mar 31, 2022
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To Leslie (2022) |
Riseborough is one of the best actresses currently working, and Leslie shows her at her most impressive. - The Spool
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| Posted Mar 22, 2022
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The Prank (2022) |
(The Prank) may not be the single worst film in this years somewhat lackluster SXSW lineup, but its close. - The Spool
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| Posted Mar 22, 2022
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Umma (2022) |
An occasionally interesting but ultimately unsuccessful debut feature from writerdirector Iris K. Shin. - RogerEbert.com
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| Posted Mar 18, 2022
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2022 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Animation (2022) |
All of the entries here are good and while I love the look of Boxballet, I think that my favorite of the bunch is the undeniably crowd-pleasing Robin Robin and I suspect that it will win the award.
- eFilmCritic.com
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| Posted Mar 04, 2022
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2022 Oscar Nominated Shorts - Live Action (2022) |
Of these, my favorite is probably the tender character study that is The Dress. - eFilmCritic.com
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| Posted Mar 04, 2022
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Asking for It (2021) |
It has nothing of interest to say about its characters, all of whom are painted in the broadest imaginable strokes. - eFilmCritic.com
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| Posted Mar 04, 2022
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After Yang (2021) |
While I feel that After Yang is a comedown after the heights reached by Columbus, it is, despite its flaws, still a reasonably thoughtful and visually striking work that deserves to be seen and one that confirms that Kogonada is indeed the real thing. - eFilmCritic.com
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| Posted Mar 04, 2022
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