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2.5/4
|
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
(2023)
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Rafer Guzman
|
Shazam! Fury of the Gods fairly panders to the under-13 set. But Levi still works his chatterbox charm, and the movie maintains an appealingly easy-breezy tone (aside from the occasional impaling).
Posted Mar 15, 2023
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3/4
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Boys on the Side
(1995)
|
Jack Mathews
|
... To acknowledge lesbian desire at all -- an element of Fried Green Tomatoes that was cowardly abandoned between the book and the movie -- Hollywood is showing some sign of growing up.
Posted Mar 14, 2023
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2.5/4
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Scream VI
(2023)
|
Rafer Guzman
|
Returning directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett seem less inspired than last time, but returning writers James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick still have a knack for red herrings, subliminal hints and fake-outs.
Posted Mar 10, 2023
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2.5/4
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Champions
(2023)
|
Rafer Guzman
|
Harrelson shines as a man learning that there’s more to life than NBA fame, and he has a terrific leading lady in Katilin Olson, as Alex.
Posted Mar 08, 2023
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2.5/4
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One Sings, the Other Doesn't
(1977)
|
Joseph Gelmis
|
Varda has failed to find a satisfying emotional narrative to communicate her personal conviction.
Posted Mar 08, 2023
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2/4
|
Little Nemo: Adventures in Slumberland
(1992)
|
Gene Seymour
|
What you’re left with isn’t a dream brought to life so much as another efficient baby-sitting machine. Winsor McCay deserved something better.
Posted Mar 07, 2023
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|
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9 to 5
(1980)
|
Joseph Gelmis
|
One more botched job, several chuckles before a descent into sighs and frowns.
Posted Mar 03, 2023
|
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2.5/4
|
Creed III
(2023)
|
Rafer Guzman
|
Jordan’s directorial debut starts strong but tires out in the final round.
Posted Mar 02, 2023
|
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2/4
|
Celine and Julie Go Boating
(1974)
|
Joseph Gelmis
|
Exotic fare not aimed at the average moviegoer.
Posted Mar 02, 2023
|
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2.5/4
|
Thelma & Louise
(1991)
|
Jack Mathews
|
There have been many occasions where European directors have managed to capture quirky American life better than most American directors, but Thelma & Louise is one case where the right idea and the right actors came together with the wrong director.
Posted Mar 02, 2023
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|
|
Flower Drum Song
(1961)
|
Ben Kubasik
|
Flower Drum Song wasn't very good as a Broadway musical. It's worse as a movie.
Posted Feb 27, 2023
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3/4
|
Sharper
(2023)
|
Robert Levin
|
A fun thriller with lots of twists.
Posted Feb 18, 2023
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|
2/4
|
Godzilla
(1998)
|
John Anderson
|
With every technological advantage at his disposal, Emmerich has made a movie that is so emotionally uninvolving you can’t help but scrutinize every minor detail -- most of which come up lacking.
Posted Feb 15, 2023
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|
1.5/4
|
Your Place or Mine
(2023)
|
Robert Levin
|
The movie seems almost purposefully inconsequential.
Posted Feb 13, 2023
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|
|
Requiem for a Heavyweight
(1962)
|
Mike McGrady
|
Requiem for a Heavyweight has been etched in acid, framed in uncompromising realism and comes to life with one of the year's finest dramatic performances.
Posted Feb 10, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
Magic Mike's Last Dance
(2023)
|
Rafer Guzman
|
“Magic Mike’s Last Dance” offers the spectacle of perfectly sculpted bodies in motion; why try to justify it? Better to let us — as Mike might say — just sit back and enjoy it.
Posted Feb 09, 2023
|
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3/4
|
You People
(2023)
|
Robert Levin
|
Here's a recipe for success: great actors, including Eddie Murphy and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, plus an affecting story and lots of droll, awkward comedy.
Posted Feb 02, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
Knock at the Cabin
(2023)
|
Rafer Guzman
|
Shyamalan’s latest works passably as both horror-chiller and allegory for a conspiracy-blinkered world.
Posted Feb 02, 2023
|
|
|
Blazing Saddles
(1974)
|
Joseph Gelmis
|
Most of the shorter sequences work nicely. The superb comedienne Madeline Kahn has a role as Lili Von Shtuppe that la a wonderful excuse for her to do a Marlene Dietrich imitation.
Posted Jan 30, 2023
|
|
1.5/4
|
Dog Gone
(2023)
|
Robert Levin
|
The movie offers what it promises. But it could have been more.
Posted Jan 21, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
The Big Lebowski
(1998)
|
Jack Mathews
|
There are hilarious bits strewn throughout, and a deft set of performances... But there also are more comic misfires, more uninspired gags and meaningless camera tricks than the Coens have accounted for in all their previous films combined.
Posted Jan 20, 2023
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|
|
Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.
(1992)
|
Sheryl McCarthy
|
Harris’ movie shows that girls like Chantel realty do struggle against the forces that seek to trap them, and that they are for more than just victims or statistics.
Posted Jan 11, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.
(1992)
|
Gene Seymour
|
Johnson's juicy performance deserved a better film. Not that first-time director Leslie Harris doesn't make a good try.
Posted Jan 10, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
Alma's Rainbow
(1994)
|
John Anderson
|
Alma’s Rainbow is about... sisterhood, in all its twisted and occasionally destructive permutations. The film may be flawed, but it does has something to say.
Posted Jan 10, 2023
|
|
1.5/4
|
The Pale Blue Eye
(2022)
|
Robert Levin
|
A serious disappointment.
Posted Jan 10, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
Eve's Bayou
(1997)
|
John Anderson
|
Rather than a story that develops toward some tragic crescendo, what we get are vignettes and anecdotes in a friendly but formless soup.
Posted Jan 10, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
A Man Called Otto
(2022)
|
Rafer Guzman
|
It’s sentimentalism by the numbers in this do-over of a 2015 Swedish hit.
Posted Jan 05, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Down in the Delta
(1998)
|
John Anderson
|
The camera movement seems literally to be by the book. But Alfre Woodard is majestic as Loretta, even when she’s at her lowest (particularly when she’s at her lowest) and Al Freeman Jr, who doesn’t work enough, has never been better.
Posted Jan 05, 2023
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|
3/4
|
M3GAN
(2022)
|
Robert Levin
|
A cautionary tale about a deranged, dancing doll. Sign us up.
Posted Jan 04, 2023
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|
3.5/4
|
A Dry White Season
(1989)
|
Terry Kelleher
|
Paicy revamped a screenplay by Colin Welland and succeeded in turning the original Andre Brink novel into a movie that works more than acceptably a a thriller. But the relationships form the heart of the story.
Posted Jan 04, 2023
|
|
1.5/4
|
White Noise
(2022)
|
Robert Levin
|
Kudos to Baumbach for trying something new, but White Noise is an endurance test.
Posted Dec 30, 2022
|
|
3/4
|
Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical
(2022)
|
Robert Levin
|
"Matilda the Musical" serves as a textbook example of how to adapt a stage production adapted from a book to the screen without sacrificing the spirit of its author.
Posted Dec 29, 2022
|
|
2/4
|
Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody
(2022)
|
Rafer Guzman
|
A quick-hit timeline of Houston's life that adds little new information or insight.
Posted Dec 23, 2022
|
|
2/4
|
Babylon
(2022)
|
Rafer Guzman
|
“Babylon” may not be Chazelle’s “Heaven’s Gate,” exactly. But it’s definitely the most maddening movie experience you’ll have this year.
Posted Dec 21, 2022
|
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3/4
|
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
(2022)
|
Rafer Guzman
|
A bright and bubbly whodunit, perfect for holiday-season escapism.
Posted Dec 21, 2022
|
|
3.5/4
|
Groundhog Day
(1993)
|
Jack Mathews
|
With Bill Murray delivering the most mature performance of his career, it has a romantic charm to match its freshness and its constant good humor.
Posted Dec 21, 2022
|
|
3.5/4
|
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
(2022)
|
Robert Levin
|
Del Toro's re-imagining of the Pinocchio story is not for the youngest kids, but anyone interested in what happens when a brilliant filmmaker takes on classic material will find a lot to admire.
Posted Dec 19, 2022
|
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2/4
|
Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
(2022)
|
Robert Levin
|
This is a tough sit, albeit one with a lot of beautiful imagery.
Posted Dec 19, 2022
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|
3/4
|
Avatar: The Way of Water
(2022)
|
Rafer Guzman
|
“Avatar: The Way of Water” is fully engrossing, always eye-popping and occasionally touching. Like its predecessor, it’s a movie to admire and enjoy, if not quite love.
Posted Dec 19, 2022
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|
1.5/4
|
Deadly Friend
(1986)
|
Bill Kaufman
|
It's strictly kid stuff, but, at times, suspenseful kid stuff.
Posted Dec 09, 2022
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|
2.5/4
|
Empire of Light
(2022)
|
Robert Levin
|
There's a thin line between affection and myopia; "Empire of Light" skews too heavily toward the latter.
Posted Dec 08, 2022
|
|
1.5/4
|
Disenchanted
(2022)
|
Robert Levin
|
The abundant charm that elevated "Enchanted" to the status of a minor Disney classic has been excised from this sequel
Posted Dec 08, 2022
|
|
2.5/4
|
Emancipation
(2022)
|
Rafer Guzman
|
For all its harrowing moments, “Emancipation” is best judged as a piece of entertainment, and on that point it just about succeeds.
Posted Dec 08, 2022
|
|
3.5/4
|
Idina Menzel: Which Way to the Stage?
(2022)
|
Verne Gay
|
Fine eye-level portrait of a musical theater great.
Posted Dec 08, 2022
|
|
4/4
|
"Sr."
(2022)
|
Robert Levin
|
This is one of the best movies of the year, unmissable even if you've never seen a Downey Sr. movie.
Posted Dec 05, 2022
|
|
1.5/4
|
The People We Hate at the Wedding
(2022)
|
Robert Levin
|
If your happiness or well-being absolutely depends on seeing every last romantic comedy, give it a shot.
Posted Nov 22, 2022
|
|
2/4
|
Devotion
(2022)
|
Rafer Guzman
|
A well-intentioned but underwhelming war drama.
Posted Nov 22, 2022
|
|
3/4
|
Braveheart
(1995)
|
Gene Seymour
|
Not quite [a classic]. Still, in orchestrating its raw energy, evocative beauty and senses-shattering violence to compelling emotional peaks, Mel Gibson shows he’s got the goods to be as powerful a force in the director’s chair as he is at the box office.
Posted Nov 17, 2022
|
|
3/4
|
Spirited
(2022)
|
Robert Levin
|
At a certain point, you just wish they'd get on with it already. But it delivers the Christmas movie goods.
Posted Nov 17, 2022
|
|
3/4
|
She Said
(2022)
|
Rafer Guzman
|
A solid dramatization of the reporting that launched the #MeToo era and changed workplaces around the world.
Posted Nov 16, 2022
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