The worst thing about the new Netflix original Desperados isn’t the fact that it completely squanders all the goodwill that the streaming service has recently built up with fun originals like Always Be My Maybe, The Half of It, and the recent Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga. It also isn’t the fact […]
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Hamilton
After a musical about a “bastard, orphan, son of a whore” becomes the biggest thing Broadway has seen in ages, what comes next? The once-in-a-lifetime show had people spending in the neighborhood of $1000 for a single ticket, and though many folks were lucky enough to be in the room […]
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2020 in Movies: The First Six Months
THE TOP 5 1. The Vast of Night (review) “Though steeped in easter-eggy homages to everything from The Twilight Zone to The War of the Worlds to Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the film is undeniably still a one-of-a-kind original (along with being wildly entertaining… and worthy of not one but multiple viewings). It is also, […]
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My Spy
Though My Spy may seem like the latest entry in the long line of kiddie flicks featuring tough guys hanging out with (and getting softened by) their young co-stars—think 2007’s The Game Plan or even 1990’s Kindergarten Cop—it actually carries a PG-13 rating. And that little bit of an edge gives parents a reason to […]
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Irresistible
News Flash: The American political system is corrupt, driven by greed, and fueled by money. If you need further proof, ex-Daily Show anchor Jon Stewart’s Irresistible (which he wrote and directed) spells it out for you with all the subtlety of a ball-peen hammer to the skull. Couched as a political satire, Irresistible […]
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Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of watching the annual Eurovision Song Contest and marveled (perhaps while chuckling politely) at the slickly-produced, over-the-top performances of the frothiest of frothy pop songs, just imagine what a Will Ferrell-written homage to it would look like. If you have a very, very active […]
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Athlete A
Despite all of us being well aware of the scandal that brought down USA Gymnastics a few years ago, my guess is that the vast majority of people have never heard the name Maggie Nichols. And I’ll admit that until I watched Netflix’s powerful and vital new documentary Athlete A, I […]
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7500
Though marketed as a somewhat cheesy, Liam Neeson-esque thriller, writer-director Patrick Vollrath’s debut 7500 (streaming free on Amazon Prime) has a surprisingly decent amount of heft to it and is anchored by yet another rock-solid performance from Joseph Gordon-Levitt. One of the more vastly underrated contemporary actors, JGL has continuously proven his […]
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Da 5 Bloods
Even if Spike Lee’s fantastic new film Da 5 Bloods hadn’t debuted this week (on Netflix), it still would be one of the most powerful and resonant films of the year. Arriving as it does, however, in the midst of Black Lives Matter protests and national unrest, helps it hit home that […]
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Artemis Fowl
With a $125 million budget and a primo post-Memorial Day weekend opening, Artemis Fowl was all set to be one of the tentpoles of Disney’s summer, nestled snuggly between the live-action Mulan and the Dwayne Johnson/Emily Blunt-starrer Jungle Cruise. It was also, presumably, the kick-off of a multi-film extravaganza based on the wildly popular YA […]
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