About a third of the way through this odd caper about two young women on a road trip to Florida, unknowingly chased by a pair of inept criminal henchmen, you may find yourself thinking it’s a B-movie from someone trying to do their best Coen Brothers impression. Turns out you’d […]
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Snoopy Presents: Welcome Home, Franklin
This cute new Peanuts short serves as the origin story of Franklin Armstrong, the first African-American character in the Charlie Brown universe. It’s a perfectly pleasant offering (executive produced by Charles Schulz’s son and grandson) that breezily moves along, telling the tale of how Franklin came to town and struggled […]
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Bob Marley: One Love
Kingsley Ben-Adir (‘One Night in Miami…’) leads the way as the reggae superstar in this admirable biopic from director Reinaldo Marcus Green (‘King Richard’). Though it’s a little paint-by-numbers and feels somewhat sugar-coated in the end, particularly given all the turmoil in Marley’s life, fans will love the portrait of […]
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Suncoast
How is Laura Linney not one of the most celebrated actors at work today? Her outstanding talents are yet again on display in this black comedy (or light-ish drama) that centers on teenager Doris (Nico Parker), who is struggling to keep her head above water as her brother is in […]
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Marmalade
Written and directed by actor Keir O’Donnell (helming his first feature), this kinda-romantic, kinda-dramatic heist flick finds small-town loser Baron (Joe Keery) recounting his recent life story to his new cellmate after getting nabbed for robbing a bank. It turns out that everything went south almost immediately after he met […]
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Lover Stalker Killer
This latest Netflix documentary is a captivating Midwestern missing person/stalker/murder/what-the-heck-is-going-on story that builds and builds until we all arrive together at the entirely off-the-rails conclusion. Director Sam Hobkinson does a commendable job painting the picture of a supremely bizarre love triangle, blending present-day interviews, police interrogation footage, recreations, and oh-so-many […]
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Lisa Frankenstein
Written by Diablo Cody and helmed by first-time director Zelda Williams (daughter of Robin), this super-black comedy centers on a teen girl who unwittingly brings a dead young man back to life from the local graveyard. Mayhem (and carnage) ensues, and, like ‘Heathers’ and Cody’s own ‘Jennifer’s Body’ before it, […]
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They Called Him Mostly Harmless
The puzzling tale of an Appalachian Trail hiker whose body was discovered in a tent in Florida in 2018 is the subject of what ultimately is a mildly frustrating documentary from director Patricia Gillespie. The crux of the film is the nationwide effort to identify the off-the-grid man (which ends […]
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The End We Start From
Jodie Comer is brilliant in this powerful drama about a woman forced to go it alone after massive flooding brings on a pseudo-post-apocalyptic event. As the mother of a newborn child, her tribulations are many throughout her journey, but director Mahalia Belo wisely focuses more on the emotions of it […]
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Argylle
Bryce Dallas Howard stars as a cat-lady spy novelist in this all-over-the-place, wildly convoluted action comedy from director Matthew Vaughn (the ‘Kingsmen’ franchise). When the plot from her latest book hits a little too close to home, she finds herself chased by bad guys who think she might know the […]
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