Tag: Period Piece

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…

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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…

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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…

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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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Priscilla is a Thorough Documentation of How Troubled Relationships Develop (Middleburg Film Festival)

The life of Elvis Presley has been subject to countless documentaries, TV shows, books, and films. Being one of the most famous and influential musicians of all-time means that much of your life has been examined with a…

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Killers of the Flower Moon: A Tale of Americana

“But the bigger we get, the more we’re taking from other people.” – Mobsters (1991) Social inequality and equity have become hot topics in American society over the past several years. Politicians, academics, and business leaders have all…

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Outlaw Johnny Black Pontificates As Much as It Entertains

Black Dynamite has grown to become a cult classic in film circles with the blaxploitation parody spinning off into a cartoon show amidst its success. The team behind the film is back with Outlaw Johnny Black, a play…

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Oppenheimer Explores Guilt, Crisis of Conscience in Fusion of Biopic and Tense Procedural Drama

A three-hour biographical drama shot partially in black-and-white does not usually sound like a recipe for a mid-summer theatrical release, but the formula for blockbuster success changes when director Christopher Nolan is involved. His latest film seeks to…

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Chevalier is a By-The-Numbers Biopic Saved By Its Cast

Chevalier sets out to tell the true tale of Joseph Bologne (Kelvin Harrison Jr.), the illegitimate son of an African slave named Nanon (Ronke Adekoluejo) and French plantation owner George Bologne (Jim High). After his father recognizes his…

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Air is an Old School Crowd Pleasure about Shooting for the Stars

Air retells the story of the endorsement deal that changed fashion and sports when Sonny Vaccaro (Matt Damon) worked within the running shoe athletic company Nike to put all their chips on the table in pursuit of incoming NBA…

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