Author Archive
Film Review – Persuasion
As an adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, Persuasion (2022) tries to play opposite sides of the same coin. On one hand, it’s a classic tale of romance, regret, and reconciliation. On the other, it has a modern sensibility akin to other Austen-influenced endeavors such as Clueless (1995) or Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001).…
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Film Review – Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
Well, isn’t this just lovely? Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris (2022) is so sweet and endearing that it borders on a fairy tale. Perhaps it is. Based on Paul Gallico’s novel, the film takes an everyday person and whisks them off into a fantasy world. This is…
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Film Review – The Sea Beast
The Sea Beast (2022) is a surprisingly effective animated adventure. It has several elements that calls to mind the likes of Moana (2016) and How to Train Your Dragon (2010) but adds a level of intelligence more thought provoking than expected. How many family films would introduce a theme as…
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Film Review – Girl in the Picture
Netflix’s true crime documentaries have a reputation for amplifying the lurid details of their cases. At worst, the approach is meant as shock value to gain attention from viewers. Every so often, though, we’ll get a work that successfully balances the darkness with an earnest…
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Film Review – Official Competition
It’s been said that any movie – regardless of quality – is something of a miracle. That’s because cinema is the most collaborative artform. Painters have themselves, a brush, and a canvas to work with. In contrast, it can take dozens (sometimes even hundreds) of…
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Film Review – Rise
Rise (2022) inserts itself into the long history of Disney’s fascination with underdog sports stories. The formula is effective at pulling the heart strings of viewers of any age. Characters coming up from nowhere, defying the odds, and achieving the impossible is a tale that is easy…
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Film Review – The Man from Toronto
The case of mistaken identity is about as old as storytelling itself. When done well, it can provide for excitement and thrills – Alfred Hitchcock was a master at this kind of structure. When done poorly, you end up getting The Man from Toronto (2022). This is…
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Film Review – Spiderhead
Fresh off his directorial success with Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Joseph Kosinski has returned with the sci-fi thriller, Spiderhead (2022). Adapted from George Saunders’ short story, Escape from Spiderhead, the film examines the themes of control and free will in a society looking to subvert them. This is familiar territory for the genre…
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