Tag: Period Piece

The Last Duel Powerfully Probes Main Character Syndrome and When Truth Gets Subjective

Everyone has their own version of how the events in their daily lives play out. This is a natural part of the human experience, but one that has become even more prevalent in the social media age with…

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Licorice Pizza is an Ode to Young Love That Teaches Universal Lessons For Any Age

Coming of age stories can teach us a lot about human behavior and the latest film from Paul Thomas Anderson is no exception. Licorice Pizza takes us to the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s as Gary Valentine (Cooper…

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Cyrano’s Performances and Dynamic Score Create a Treat for Fans of Musicals (Middleburg Film Festival)

In late 2019, Erica Schmidt wrote and directed an Off Broadway adaptation of Cyrano that starred her husband, Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage. After its successful run, the musical has been brought to the big screen by…

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Nightmare Alley is a Rich Visual Homage to Noir But Misses Del Toro’s Charm

Four years after his surprising Best Picture win at the Academy Awards for The Shape of Water, director Guillermo Del Toro returns to the big screen with a bit of a departure from his usual fare based in…

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Aaron Sorkin Hits Stride as a Director with the Well Crafted Being The Ricardos

It’s best not to, but many films suffer the misfortune of being prejudged before anyone has ever seen one frame. Whether it’s preconceived notions about the director or performers, issues with the subject of the film, or brand…

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West Side Story’s Technical Prowess and New Generation Talent Don’t Outweigh Its Overfamiliarity

Remaking art that the public loves is always a tall task, much less when the art being reimagined is universally hailed as a classic. If anyone is capable of tackling such a challenge, it would be legendary director…

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House of Gucci’s Potential Compelling Family Saga of Greed Lost in its Camp

Tales of family strife and gamesmanship currently dominate the entertainment landscape from the just ended Game of Thrones HBO series to Ozark to Succession to Yellowstone. Audiences love to see stories about how greed and business dealings affect…

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King Richard is the Perfect Family Film and Depiction of Parental Determination (Middleburg Film Festival)

The job of a parent is to do anything they can to ensure the safety and future success of their children. In the world of entertainment, the parents who take this task to the extreme with micromanaging and…

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The Power of the Dog, the Crushing Weight of Societal Expectations (Middleburg Film Festival)

Expectations can lead many people down a path of ruin and pain. Sometimes these expectations are self inflicted, other times they come from our families, but perhaps the heaviest expectations of all are those placed upon us through…

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Belfast is an All-Encompassing Family Drama and One of 2021’s Best (Middleburg Film Festival)

At times, our world today feels as if it’s on the precipice of completely splintering. People feel more separated than they have in a long time with a growing number of people in the United States feeling as…

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