Nyad (2024.3, Disappointing , Tank )
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Despite great acting by Bening and Foster, Nyad fails to develop sympathetic characters and an interesting story. (3*)
Drama
Maestro (2024.2, Powerful , Solid )
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Maestro is a well told story of a romance between two individuals over decades and how it developed in the shadow of fame. (4.5*)
2023 Oscar Drama Films
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An overview of all of 2023’s Oscar-nominated movies, focusing on drama films. This is the last review essay of the 2023 Oscar year
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris – Marked Down (3*)
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Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is, ultimately, a Hallmark Christmas movie with the bonus of wonderful costumes and terrific acting from Lesley Manville. (3*)
Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths: Not for Everyone (3.5*)
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Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths is long, complex, statement of a man in multiple transitions. The film will reward viewers who have the time and patience to watch it more than once. (3.5*)
Empire of Light – Frugal and Pale (2.5*)
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Empire of Light is a visual and sonic delight but leaves you empty. It portrays a May – November romance, set in a 1980s coastal movie theater. Needs much more chemistry between the characters and with the audience.
Tell It Like a Woman – Seven Strong Shorts (3.5*)
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Tell It Like a Woman is a compendium of seven shorts, all written and directed by women and featuring women as the main characters. It is not a typical “movie” but has important messages. (3.5*)
Aftersun – Critics Cheer, Viewers Marked Down (2.5*)
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Aftersun is, for most viewers, a rather boring but sensitive story of a young father and his 11-year-old daughter on vacation at a beach resort in Turkey. surreptitiously woven into this story is another, more tragic tale – but good luck to the casual viewer trying to find it.
Causeway – Acting Bonus with Frugal Script and Directing (2.5*)
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Causeway has some terrific acting but the script and direction just don’t cut it. (2.5*)
RRR – Fun-Loving Indian Super-Humans (4*)
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RRR is an over-the-top action movie in the Bollywood tradition. With CGI, action, humor, song, dance, and history, it is just three hours of fun. (4*)
To Leslie – Woozy / Boozy / Mediocre (3*)
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To Leslie showcases a terrific performance by Andrea Riseborough. Unfortunately, its treatment of addiction and substance abuse does not rise to her performance level. (3*)
Blonde – Long Sexy with Hidden Truths (3.5*)
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Blonde is not a biography of Marilyn Monroe, although she is the central character. This is, instead, an unusually forceful exploration of how difficult it is for women to fuse their public and private personas. It is also an indictment of Hollywood, and of men generally. (3.5*)
Glass Onion – Packed with Great Humor and Murder (4*)
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Glass Onion is a terrific sequel to Knives Out. Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) still solves the mystery, but a fun-loving cast helmed by Janelle Monae keeps you thinking. (4*)
Turning Red – Spunky but Lost (2.0*)
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Turning Red is about a 13-year old’s experience with adolescence and her family’s reaction. Though with spectacular animation and colors, who is this story really for? (2.5*)
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On – Extra Bold and Odd (4*)
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Marcel the Shell with Shoes On Will hold your interest with an unusual combination of live-action and stop-motion animation, an intriguing main character, and unique perspectives on life, nature, and relationships. (4*)
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Master Animation, Odd Story (2.5*)
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Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is a superb example of stop-motion animation, but it falls short as a musical and doesn’t tell a story most audiences will enjoy. (2.5*)
EO – A Bold Plunge into Consciousness (4.5*)
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EO is one of those rare movies where, not knowing exactly how, the film transports you into a different world. In the end you never knew you would have so much empathy for a donkey while exploring the meaning of consciousness. (4.5*)
Argentina 1985 – Truth, Humor, and the Wicked (3.5*)
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Argentina 1985 is a docudrama telling the story of the world’s first civilian trial of a military dictatorship. It is a courtroom drama lightened with humor and stories of families. A good film, but maybe a bit difficult to absorb. (3.5*)
Close – Easily Manipulative (2.5*)
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Close evokes emotions, but violates another principle of what makes a good movie. (2.5*)
The Quiet Girl – Simple but with Huge Emotional Impact (5*)
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The Quiet Girl is quite possibly the best movie of the year. (5*)
Babylon – A Rare Failure from a Fine Filmmaker (2*)
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Babylon has some great moments, but is ultimately an overstuffed mess.
The Batman – A Cut Above your Typical Super-Hero (4.5*)
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The Batman is one of this year’s best movies. While nominally an action film, it also is thrilling detective story, told at a human level.
Living – Basic Still and Calm (3*)
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Living is a remake of a 70-year-old Japanese film with the setting changed to London. The story is a classic, about a man who, told he only has six months to live, suddenly decides to do something different with his life. Nighy’s acting is “spot on”, and the film is a tearjerker, but ultimately it doesn’t present anything new.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – Beautiful but Oddly Unsatisfying (2.5*)
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever starts with the death of the former Black Panther and moves through nearly three hours of sometimes beautiful, sometimes action packed, scenes but with so many obligations to fulfill that it is ultimately unsatisfying.
Triangle of Sadness – Insulting, Disgusting and Cheap (1.5*)
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Triangle of Sadness starts as an interesting riff on money and sexual politics, turns into a disgusting display of sophomore humor, and ends as an insult to the audience. How did this become an Oscar nominee? (1.5*)
Women Talking – Deep and Timely and Simple (4*)
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Women Talking is exactly what the title suggests. What you get is a journey what it is like to be a woman in a man’s world, and how that is changing. It is a fascinating conversation. (4*)
The Fabelmans – A Case Study in Creative Success (4*)
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The Fabelmans is a well crafted movie focusing on the roots of Steven Spielberg’s remarkably successful career. Still, it might not be for everyone. (4*)
The Whale A Sweaty Look at a Man with Big Problems (4*)
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The Whale pulls heartstrings as you navigate a week with a morbidly obese man. The movie explores themes of addiction, relationships, literature, and spirituality with an unexpectedly good performance from Brendan Fraser. (4*)
Top Gun: Maverick – Well Structured and a Blast (4*)
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Top Gun: Maverick is this year’s most popular movie. It tells a relatively simple story well, bursting with visual and aural excitement. First of this year’s “popcorn movies” and worth every kernel. (4*)
Elvis – The Price You Pay for Ignoring Your Roots (4.5*)
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Elvis (4.5*) In a dazzling production full of sights and sounds, Baz Luhrmann paints the tragic story of a man who struggled to get back to his cultural roots.
Tar – A Unique Reward for Patience and Concentration (5*)
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Tar is movie requiring much patience and concentration, but the rewards are unique. About a female who achieves the top position in the classical music world and then falls, it is also about power, individualism, and, yes, cancel culture. My first (5*) movie of the year.
All Quiet on the Western Front – A Gut Punch Focus on War (4*)
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A German production, All Quiet on the Western Front re-adapts the 1928 novel of the same name, adding some distinctive scenes and commentary to the story of a young German man, and his friends, thrust onto the “Western Front” to fight the French in the final months of World War I. Accompanied by some stunning cinematography, dominating sound and music, and visceral visual effects, the film reaches new heights in presenting the horror of war. It also adds another, very important message about how events are felt differently depending on where you stand on the social ladder.
The Banshees of Inisherin – When Friendship Ends (4.5*)
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Set during the Irish Civil War in 1923, in a very small village on an isolated island (Inisherin) off the coast of Ireland, Padraic (Colin Farrell) finds his lifelong friendship is torn when his older best friend, Colm (Brendan Gleeson) suddenly, and without apparent reason, finds him “dull” and no longer wants to be with him. The change alters both men, and the entire village, both emotionally and physically. Martin McDonagh’s carefully written and directed script is executed by an Irish-born cast with seemingly perfect chemistry. A must-see film for any adult interested in how and why relationships, of any kind, change and, sometimes, end. (4.5*) The Banshees of Inisherin