Author Archive
Top 15 Films of 2023 – Allen’s Picks
2023 was marked by two historic labor strikes from the writers (WGA) and actors guilds (SAG-AFTRA). The strikes put a halt on American film and television work for months, as the two unions battled with studios over wages, streaming compensation, health benefits, likeness rights, artificial…
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Film Review – Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire
Zack Snyder is a filmmaker who has always put effort into making big, bold, and splashy imagery. Whether it’s superheroes, Spartans, zombies, or an army of owls, Snyder has routinely leaned toward dark and dramatic visual compositions. That would explain why he so often chooses to…
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Film Review – Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
For those that came of age in the late ‘90s and early 2000s, Chicken Run (2000) stands alongside other beloved Aardman Studio productions as an entertaining and thoughtful stop motion adventure. Combining a childlike charm with an adult-style wit, the film worked on several different levels. How many family…
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Film Review – Leave the World Behind
The thing about movies where people face a catastrophic event – whether it be nuclear fallout, a zombie apocalypse, an alien invasion, etc. – is that they usually start off with an intriguing premise. Everyday life gets interrupted by mysterious happenings, and as characters realize…
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Film Review – May December
Director Todd Haynes toes a fine line with May December (2023). There are instances where the material delves into dark and troubling areas, involving childhood trauma, grief, guilt, and unspoken animosity. Other times, the narrative becomes so over the top that what we’re seeing cannot be anything other than…
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Film Review – Leo
The Adam Sandler and Netflix train keeps on chugging, this time with the animated family film, Leo (2023). Just like a previous foray into animation – Eight Crazy Nights (2002) – this latest outing attempts to balance the crude humor Sandler has long been known for, along with a wholesomeness that can adhere…
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Film Review – The Killer
“Do not improvise. Stick to the plan. Forbid empathy. Trust no one. Breathe.” These sayings are repeated again and again by the main character of The Killer (2023). This unnamed assassin goes by these rules like self-help mottos, using them as a guide to be as efficient…
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Film Review – Sly
“Time” is the running theme throughout the documentary, Sly (2023). For its main subject, Sylvester Stallone, time is constantly on his mind. Is there time to make another hit movie? Does he spend enough time with his family? Has he spent enough time building bridges and reconciling with…
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