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Eileen’s Bland Story Fails to Take Advantage of Its Talented Cast (Sundance Film Festival)
A new film based on a novel of the same name brings together a skilled cast of actors. Eileen brings us into the mundane, and often painful, life of a shy young woman of the same name, played…
Read More »Napoleon’s Two Quality Halves Don’t Make a Whole
2023 has seen multiple historical epics grace the big screen as if the 1960s have returned. Audiences seem to be warming up to witnessing history unfold in theaters with the hype surrounding multiple pictures and director Ridley Scott’s…
Read More »May December Offers Surprising Nuance to Infamous Public Controversy (Middleburg Film Festival)
We’ve all heard and followed salacious and infamous cases of wrongdoing in the tabloid media, from OJ Simpson to Mary Kay Letourneau. In turning these stories into gossip, the real heinous effect on the lives of those involved…
Read More »Saltburn Tackles Class Stratification Using A Familiar Gothic Story (Middleburg Film Festival)
Emerald Fennell burst onto the scene of talented writer/directors with 2020’s Promising Young Woman and three years later, she makes her anticipated return to multiplexes. Saltburn begins on the campus of Oxford University with freshman student Oliver Quick…
Read More »Dream Scenario is Brilliantly Biting and Funny Satire of the Social Media Age (Middleburg Film Festival)
Much has been made over so-called cancel culture, what it is, and whether it really exists at all. Some believe it is merely bad people facing the consequences of their actions, while some literally believe no one of…
Read More »Next Goal Wins is a Classic Feel Good Sports Movie That Avoids Feeling Cliché
Based on a true story, Next Goal Wins follows soccer coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender) as he is assigned by his estranged wife Gail (Elizabeth Moss) and her new beau/soccer executive Alex Magnussen (Will Arnett) to take the…
Read More »Nyad Swims Past Doubt and Societal Expectations Toward Motivation and Inspiration
As we age, coming to terms with our inevitable physical limitations is hard enough. The expected limitations that are hoisted upon us by society and culture are doubly frustrating for many who still see themselves as possessing the…
Read More »The Holdovers is a Tender, Relatable Study of Loneliness, Depression, and the Need for Connection (Middleburg Film Festival)
Set in the 1970s, The Holdovers tells the story of how curmudgeon high school philosophy teacher Paul Hunham (Paul Giamatti), high school student Angus (Dominic Sessa), and high school chef Mary Lamb (Da’Vine Joy Randolph) all end up…
Read More »Rustin is Part How-to Guide for Political Organizing, Part Character Study, All Engaging (Middleburg Film Festival)
As protests rage on around the world, the how of these massive demonstrations is often forgotten or glossed over. Who organizes these protests? How are thousands of people corralled into one place fighting for one cause? Rustin reintroduces…
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Poor Things is Hilarious but Challenging in A Way That Provokes Thought
Director Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone have teamed together on the big screen once more. Set in Victorian London, Poor Things tells the story of Bella Baxter (Emma Stone), a young woman who curiously behaves like a toddler….
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