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A Winning Team
(2023)
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Brett White
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A Winning Team plays it too safe instead of going for the gold.
Posted Mar 20, 2023
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The Cases of Mystery Lane
(2023)
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Brett White
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The Cases of Mystery Lane delivers all of the wit and charm that you’d expect from a movie starring two performers who shine in everything they do.
Posted Mar 20, 2023
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All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
(2022)
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John Serba
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The manner in which Poitras structures and presents the many layers of Nan’s story is simply extraordinary, a portrait of advocacy like no other.
Posted Mar 20, 2023
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Dragged Across Concrete
(2018)
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Marshall Shaffer
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While it's certainly not a pleasant watch thanks to its brutal violence and bloated runtime, the murkiness merits discussion and deliberation.
Posted Mar 20, 2023
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The Hillsdale Adoption Scam
(2023)
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Liz Kocan
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It has all the right credentials: A ripped-from-the-headlines plot, a lead actress with name recognition, and plenty of ridiculous plot twists, which makes an entertaining, if not predictable two hours.
Posted Mar 20, 2023
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In His Shadow
(2023)
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Marshall Shaffer
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In His Shadow is a familiar fraternal tale that shies away from exploring anything innovative with its central character’s state. While not without moments, those alone are not enough to emerge from the long shadow cast by its adherence
Posted Mar 18, 2023
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Noise
(2023)
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Marshall Shaffer
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The aural landscape resists obviousness with its many layers – commanding attention between scenes when the story itself cannot.
Posted Mar 18, 2023
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Still Time
(2022)
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Marshall Shaffer
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It’s by no means a revolutionary take on the workaholic humbling tale, but it’s got a good heart and enough entertainment value to make for a worthwhile enough watch.
Posted Mar 17, 2023
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Money Shot: The Pornhub Story
(2023)
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John Serba
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... For every fascinating moment there are too many staid, momentum-killing instances of people reading lines from legal documents, or talking heads making claims that go unquestioned and unsubstantiated.
Posted Mar 17, 2023
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Bert Kreischer: Razzle Dazzle
(2023)
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Sean L. McCarthy
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Nobody will ever put Kreischer on their list of greatest joke-writers or stand-ups, but neither will anyone ever accuse him of being a dull time.
Posted Mar 15, 2023
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Cocaine Bear
(2023)
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John Serba
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Cocaine Bear has no style, no suspense, no functional comedy.
Posted Mar 15, 2023
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Love, Lizzo
(2022)
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Benjamin H. Smith
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Love, Lizzo is the latest bio-doc of a pop star in the middle of their career, not the end, and hits all the same notes (to an almost comic degree), from scenes of them crying in bed to excitedly watching the Grammy announcements.
Posted Mar 14, 2023
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Game of Love
(2023)
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Brett White
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Game of Love may not be as complex or provocative as Settlers of Catan, but watching it feels like playing a new edition of an old favorite — like a Hallmark branded Clue or Life.
Posted Mar 13, 2023
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Unexpected Grace
(2023)
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Brett White
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Unexpected Grace could offer as much emotional catastrophe as catharsis, so you’re gonna have to do some self-evaluation and think about how you want and need to feel...
Posted Mar 13, 2023
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Have a Nice Day!
(2023)
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John Serba
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... A simple and modestly nutritious slice of life.
Posted Mar 13, 2023
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Girl in the Closet
(2023)
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Liz Kocan
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Though there’s a through-line about how Cameron’s faith keeps her optimistic that she will one day be reunited with her mother, this is a story whose entertainment value comes from the increasingly horrible things Mia does to Cameron.
Posted Mar 13, 2023
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Luther: The Fallen Sun
(2023)
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John Serba
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... It’s unrelentingly grim and humorless. But hey, at least it’s handsome, right?
Posted Mar 11, 2023
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1922
(2017)
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Zach Dionne
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1922 is a new type of Stephen King movie, executed with as much artistic inventiveness as passionate faithfulness.
Posted Mar 10, 2023
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Chris Rock: Selective Outrage
(2023)
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Sean L. McCarthy
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But much like he did in Tamborine, Rock shifts his focus in the second half of his special from observations about the world to look inward at himself and how he’s reacting to the world now that he’s single again in his 50s.
Posted Mar 09, 2023
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Marlon Wayans: God Loves Me
(2023)
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Sean L. McCarthy
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Marlon now can thank Chris for roasting him as a young comic, thank Will for taking all those movie roles that he had unsuccessfully auditioned for, and Jada for teaching him about love.
Posted Mar 09, 2023
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Faraway
(2023)
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John Serba
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Faraway is nice, but “nice” doesn’t always mean “good.”
Posted Mar 09, 2023
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10 Days of a Good Man
(2023)
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John Serba
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It’s a tangle. But it’s a stylishly directed, keenly photographed and highly enjoyable tangle, with across-the-board wily performances.
Posted Mar 09, 2023
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Black Girl Missing
(2023)
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Brett White
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As it is, Black Girl Missing tries to be a composite of all the stories and ends up feeling a bit generic.
Posted Mar 09, 2023
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Gulmohar
(2023)
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John Serba
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Although Gulmohar begs for another pass through the writers’ room, it’s still a solid family-ties drama carried by the power of its performances.
Posted Mar 09, 2023
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Love at First Kiss
(2023)
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John Serba
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The opportunity to generate some heat is right there, but the film doesn’t capitalize on the chemistry among its game, talented cast. And yet, despite its untapped potential, Love at First Kiss is a modestly enjoyable 96 minutes...
Posted Mar 09, 2023
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A Whole Lifetime with Jamie Demetriou
(2023)
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Sean L. McCarthy
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There’s enough here for any Stath fan to love, and anyone unfamiliar with Demetriou to go looking for more afterward.
Posted Mar 03, 2023
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Magic Mike's Last Dance
(2023)
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John Serba
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Give it props for its audio-visual savoir-faire, but dramatically and emotionally, Magic Mike’s Last Dance isn’t much to get hot and bothered about.
Posted Mar 03, 2023
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Tonight You're Sleeping With Me
(2023)
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John Serba
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Call the power company, Maw – this love shack got no electricity.
Posted Mar 03, 2023
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Sommore: Queen Chandelier
(2023)
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Sean L. McCarthy
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In an age where Google can give us all the knowledge we could ever seek, Sommore prefers to acquire wisdom. And thankfully share it.
Posted Mar 01, 2023
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Kathleen Madigan: Hunting Bigfoot
(2023)
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Sean L. McCarthy
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Madigan is the mischievously friendly person you might meet in a bar...
Posted Mar 01, 2023
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A Man Called Otto
(2022)
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John Serba
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A Man Called Otto is mechanically engineered for maximum lachrymosal extraction.
Posted Feb 28, 2023
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EO
(2022)
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John Serba
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EO is a marvel, a singular vision. You’ll poke holes in it, question it, be immersed in it, and you won’t see anything quite like it for a long time.
Posted Feb 28, 2023
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Disconnect: The Wedding Planner
(2022)
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Liz Kocan
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... the film is more frustrating than satisfying, and it doesn’t give us any characters to truly root for.
Posted Feb 28, 2023
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Spin Me Round
(2022)
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Marshall Shaffer
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Familiarity and danger rest side-by-side. The resulting movie is something off-kilter and oddly entertaining as it toggles almost imperceptibly between the all too real and the unreal.
Posted Feb 28, 2023
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I'm Totally Fine
(2022)
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John Serba
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It’s an absurd idea with great potential for pathos or comedy, but it’s underdeveloped, leaving Bell and Morales without the robust material they need to bring the movie to life.
Posted Feb 28, 2023
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Call Me Chihiro
(2023)
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John Serba
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The film’s airiness can be both comforting and frustrating; sometimes Imaizumi seems to be aiming for profound reticence, and lands on inertness. But the breezy tone isn’t insubstantial...
Posted Feb 28, 2023
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The Strays
(2023)
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John Serba
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It’s a stylish film, but one that’s ultimately too shallow and familiar to be truly effective... The Strays feels too much like Peele Lite.
Posted Feb 28, 2023
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A Sunday Affair
(2023)
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John Serba
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A Sunday Affair is a decent technical achievement, and its lead performances are good, but that threadbare love-triangle story is lukewarm at best.
Posted Feb 28, 2023
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The Whale
(2022)
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John Serba
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Aronofsky’s career-long obsession with the grotesque is alive and well here, and he skirts the edge of exploitation. But The Whale is very much a splayed-open tragedy, and a weirdly romantic one at that...
Posted Feb 28, 2023
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Knock at the Cabin
(2023)
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John Serba
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[Shyamalan is] as strong a visual craftsman as ever, a master manipulator who toys with his audience with the winking acerbity of his idol Hitchcock.
Posted Feb 28, 2023
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Three Thousand Years of Longing
(2022)
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John Serba
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So the visionary efforts are present, absolutely, but they’re not memorable without a consistently compelling narrative.
Posted Feb 28, 2023
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Welcome to Valentine
(2023)
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Brett White
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Valentine may be a small town but it has a whole lot of heart.
Posted Feb 28, 2023
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Jim Jefferies: High n' Dry
(2023)
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Sean L. McCarthy
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Jefferies might not find himself as popular in Sweden after this, but he’ll still have plenty of fans ready and willing to hear his “sex jokes” and escapades, even if they’re a bit less wild now that he’s actually gone legit.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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Sharper
(2023)
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John Serba
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Sometimes you watch a movie like Sharper and feel double-crossed. Duped. Hornswoggled. But not this one. Even in its inherent flimsiness, it’s slick, tight and entertaining.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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Armageddon Time
(2022)
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John Serba
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The Caucasian guilt in Armageddon Time is bald, raw, ugly and anti-sentimental; Gray shows us his unflattering truth and urges us to reject it.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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All the Places
(2023)
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John Serba
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It’s lightly episodic, highly predictable and far too artificially flavored to yield an organic emotional response, especially when the siblings are forced through the abattoir sluice-grate of this phony-ass third act.
Posted Feb 15, 2023
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Re/Member
(2022)
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Marshall Shaffer
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Re/Member does not bring anything new to the time loop concept, nor does it particularly satisfy as a teen movie outside its plot gambit.
Posted Feb 15, 2023
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Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark
(2023)
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Sean L. McCarthy
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Even the joke Maron claims is so dark he debated not telling it at all, turns out is just as funny and relevant for our times as when Carlin joked in his final HBO special about going through his address book to cross out the names of his dead friends.
Posted Feb 14, 2023
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A Paris Proposal
(2023)
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Brett White
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Yeah, it has a familiar plot, but literally everything else about it is so unique, so captivating, so timeless. It’s anything other than pedestrian or provincial.
Posted Feb 14, 2023
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Marcella Arguello: Bitch, Grow Up!
(2023)
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Sean L. McCarthy
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Arguello says her ADHD means the audience distracts her from her craft, but actually, she’s so in tune with them that it makes for a funnier show and a better special.
Posted Feb 11, 2023
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