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MacGuffin Spotlight
Film Review – Hustle
Now here is a situation where a movie follows a well-worn blueprint but is executed with such flourish that it transcends its cliches. Hustle (2022) has all the ingredients of an underdog sports story: characters coming from nowhere, overcoming impossible odds both external and internal. It’s a…
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Film Review – Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood 
Writer/director Richard Linklater’s entire career has been marked by his obsession with the passing of time and how it feeds into our nostalgia. Whether it be nostalgia for high school (Dazed and Confused, 1993), college (Everybody Wants Some!!, 2016), romance (The Before Trilogy) or childhood itself…
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An Appreciation – Cléo from 5 to 7
Of the French New Wave filmmakers, Agnès Varda stands on a pillar of her own. Although her name may not be the first mentioned – shamefully – along the likes of Jean-Luc Godard or François Truffaut, Varda’s contributions to the movement are just as important, if not more so. Her…
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An Appreciation – Five Easy Pieces
Whenever we talk about Five Easy Pieces (1970), the conversation almost always comes back to the infamous diner scene. Oil rigger Bobby Dupea (Jack Nicholson) tries to get a specific food order, to which the waitress sternly declines. After a heated back and forth, Bobby coolly stands…
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Top 15 Films of 2021 – Allen’s Picks
2021 felt like a year that was in a constant state of limbo. The Covid-19 pandemic has gripped the world for nearly two full years, and while some parts of society have started adjusting to a new way of living, it always felt like a…
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Film Review – The Lost Daughter
All Leda wants to do is go on vacation. She booked a beachfront resort in Greece so that she can take a few days for herself, read, swim, and do a little writing. However, we realize that peace is something Leda will not get here.…
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An Appreciation – The Thing
From the late 1970s through the ‘80s, John Carpenter directed a string of good to great films. Working primarily in the action and horror genres, Carpenter exhibited a keen sense for style – generating atmosphere and building tension. This ability was not only due to…
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An Appreciation – Monsoon Wedding
Director Mira Nair has long been fascinated with the contrast between the traditions of the past and the ambitions of modern youth. Characters divided by age and generation either clash or come together with their differing beliefs. Nair was born in India and was educated…
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