Tag: 2018

The Rider is a Quiet Portrait of a Dying Dream’s Final Moments

“Sometimes we gotta play the hand we’re dealt. Sometimes your dreams aren’t meant to be.” The Rider is the second feature from rising director Chloé Zhao and marks the cinematic debut of newcomer Brady Jandreau in a semi-autobiographical role as Brady…

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Kodachrome Eschews Any Real Understanding of Complicated Family Ties In Favor of Male Wish Fulfillment

Kodachrome follows a record executive named Matt (Jason Sudeikis) who accompanies his terminally ill, estranged, famous photographer father Ben (Ed Harris) and his father’s nurse Zoe (Elizabeth Olsen) on a road trip to develop his father’s old analog…

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Avengers: Infinity War is Marvel’s Biggest Spectacle Yet. But Does Bigger Mean Better?

Avengers:  Infinity War finds the mighty Avengers facing their toughest test yet, the madman from the planet Titan, Thanos (Josh Brolin). Motivated by a desire to bring balance to a universe he finds to be overpopulated and stretched thin,…

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Chappaquiddick Brings Both the Truth, and the Pressure of Expectations, to Light

Chappaquiddick follows the true story surrounding the events of the tragic accident involving then Senator Ted Kennedy and Mary Jo Kopechne, a 28-year-old campaign strategist and family friend of the Kennedy family. On July 18, 1969 while vacationing on Chappaquiddick…

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You Were Never Really Here Explores Trauma and the Painful Ties It Binds

You Were Never Really Here follows Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), a veteran turned contract investigator/killer with a specialty in the tracking of missing girls. After taking a job involving Nina (Ekaterina Samsonov), the troublesome daughter of a New York…

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Blockers Satisfyingly and Entertainingly Mixes Humor, Heart, and Social Commentary

************************This review contains mild spoilers**************************** Blockers is a story following the prom night and pending graduation of high school seniors Julie (Katherine Newton), Kayla (Geraldine Viswanathan), and Sam (Gideon Adlon). As the memorable night draws closer, the three…

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A Quiet Place Puts on a Clinic in Tension Building While Displaying the Power of a Parent’s Love

************************This review contains spoilers**************************** In the year 2020, the world has been besieged by a horde of blind, indestructible creatures with extremely sensitive senses of sound that hunt and kill anything that makes noise. A Quiet Place follows…

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Roxanne Roxanne Lays Bare the Burdens of Black Women

Roxanne Roxanne is a biopic documenting the rise of legendary teenage MC Lolita Shanté Gooden (Chanté Adams) who rose to prominence in the burgeoning rap scene in 1980s New York City as Roxanne Shanté. Shanté‘s foray into stardom…

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Ready Player One Impresses with Computerized Visual Effects While Cautioning Against Technological Dependence

************************This review contains spoilers**************************** Legendary director Steven Spielberg’s latest film Ready Player One transports us to Columbus, Ohio in the year 2045 where reality has turned dystopian and bleak, while a virtual reality world called OASIS, part video…

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Becks Touchingly Delves into the Complicated Side of Love

************************This review contains spoilers**************************** Becks follows a young woman of the same name (Lena Hall) forced to move back to St. Louis with her staunchly Catholic mother Ann (Christine Lahti) after driving from New York to L.A. to…

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