Film Reviews
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The Color Purple (2023)
I still remember when I first saw The Color Purple (1985). I was a young kid, and it was the first time the film was to be shown on television. I could be off, but…
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ORIGIN (for AWFJ)
Ava DuVernay is a sculptor of non-fiction, shaping her films into something real and yet interpretive. Her best work is art and reality all at once. Origin is only different in that it is her finest…
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Ferrari
Ferrari is a perfectly-tuned machine, elegantly crafted by the one expert capable of executing it.
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The Iron Claw
Sean Durkin and A24’s biopic is a deveastingly effective look at the Von Erich family.
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Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire
Rebel Moon Part One should be good. It has all the component parts: a seasoned director, a story based on the Seven Samurai plot engine, gorgeous production design, a charming and ‘really really ridiculously good-looking’…
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Aquaman and the lost kingdom
I guess it’s time to say goodbye to this version of the DC Universe in film. The first attempt at an interconnected movie universe started with Man of Steel in 2013. An experiment that was…
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The Taste of Things (for AWFJ)
Filmic Feasts are an irresistible category. The Taste of Things centers on chef Doudin Bouffant and his partnership with his cook, Eugénie.
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WISH: What Should We Wish For?
This week sees the release of WISH, the 62nd Disney animated film. The movie follows Asha (Ariana DeBose), a young woman whose wish upon a star accidentally sets her against sorcerer-king King Magnifico (Chris Pine).…
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Godzilla Minus One
In 1945, a kamikaze pilot fakes an engine failure to avoid taking his final flight. He survives a devastating attack by a monster but has to live with a crippling secret.
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American Fiction
As a form of protest, Thelonious “Monk” Ellison pens a satirical clapback called My Pafology, a novel filled with all the tropes he hates. That’s when Murphy’s Law kicks him in the throat (by turning…
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Poor Things
Yorgos Lanthimos’ newest film features a go-for-broke performance from Emma Stone in a bizarro, engaging play on a coming-of-age story.
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Wonka
I watched Wonka on Thanksgiving day because (the other alignments between Doctor Who and Willy Wonka) it felt like perfect timing.
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All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt is a film that, while confusing me at times, stuck with me for days after. It’s a film that doesn’t follow what most expect on how a story is…
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Cypher
Tierra Whack is one of the current era’s more exciting and talented new Rap recording artists. A woman artist in a very unwelcoming field to women, most of the time, she’s currently blazing a path…
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Candy Cane Lane
It’s the Christmas season, so now we’re in the wave of holiday movies, especially on all the many streaming services and basic cable channels. Amazon MGM has one entry themselves, Candy Cane Lane partnering Eddie…
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The Boy and the Heron
Miyizaki returns to the markers of his style. A young person (a boy this time but traditionally a girl) dealing with the repercussions of war and the portal fantasy through which they escape—but only for…
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Napoleon
We have two octogenarians out here in the modern cinema landscape. With Scorsese taking up a lot of the mind space because of superhero movie fans’ issues with his feelings about the MCU and Superhero…
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Wish
So Disney is celebrating 100 years this year. What’s funny is that it might be in the most tumultuous years in its history, between the writers’ and actors’ strikes happening simultaneously and the CEO becoming…
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The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
While the huge phase of the YA novel series adaptations dominating the movie theater has moved on to the possible falling times of the Superhero era, we get a new Hunger Games film out of…
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Interviews with Colman Domingo and George C. Wolfe for Rustin + The Marvels, Scott Pilgrim, Saltburn, Poor Things, May December
It’s the SHERIN & MAE CAFE featuring Colman Domingo, George C. Wolfe, and a cameo from Julian. Along with the wildest movies we’ve seen in a while.
RIOTUS 