Posts in 3 STARS
MOVIE REVIEW: Stranger Eyes

Missing children are an unsettling movie crisis, often rapt in thriller-sized peril. The helplessness is crippling, even if a happy ending arrives. As well, the fear and uncertainty hit very close to home, even if the viewer is not a parent themselves. More often than not, films about missing or kidnapped children amplify the danger to an exasperating and overwrought level. Stranger Eyes encapsulates the aforementioned proliferating dangers in an almost entrancing, methodical way

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MOVIE REVIEW: The Map That Leads To You

In a movie where being present without the cares of future jobs or the outside world becomes a unifying emotional investment sought by two normally different people, The Map That Leads to You is missing a little bit of that extra level of dramatic bond. Jack’s path of tracing the journal’s exploits—a noble endeavor for sure—feels one-sided at times, more than something broadened to include Heather or a tsunami of pure destiny and rapturous swoon.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Shoshana

As a whole, Michael Winterbottom took on a very difficult slice of history, with many facets and fractures that pit “our land” versus “promised land,” and chose an observant path over a declarative one. In one regard against that arms-length of safety, more terse politics were possible, and probably preferred with this many decades of reflection since the Palenstinian Revolution. The decision not over-project is understandable.

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MOVIE REVIEW: The Bad Guys 2

Based on the popular juvenile graphic novels written and illustrated by Aaron Blabey, which have now spanned 20 episodes in nine years, this series of books and movies is a perfect place to start a future cinephile’s love affair with a good caper flick. Give yourself due credit and earn your cool points, moms, dads, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and family buddies.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Jurassic World Rebirth

The strongest redeeming quality of Jurassic World Rebirth is the hiring of director Gareth Edwards. While being a proven wizard for action and injecting all kinds of geothermal mist in this movie to mask the stalking threats, he has also become an expert at bringing forward human characters and extracting palpable emotions within spectacles of blockbuster and otherworldly proportions. T

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MOVIE REVIEW: A Minecraft Movie

A Minecraft Movie is asking those newbies to enter and welcome a weird new universe. This energetic family movie proudly opens its doors to all comers (and wallets) where no prior knowledge is really necessary. Thanks to the exuberant cast and the kind of contagious entertainment they dispensed, you may just come to love something you didn’t know a lick about 101 minutes earlier.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Eric LaRue

True to a play’s performative spine, Eric LaRue rises to become an actor’s showcase building towards two important summits: the aforementioned collection of mothers and the first visit to Eric in prison. Each seated clash places Judy Greer in the unenviable position as the target of ire and the recipient of painful reactions, where no amount of contrition will be enough and immediate peace is impossible.

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MOVIE REVIEW: Audrey's Children

Audrey’s Children chisels an important story into an extremely well-meaning film. Not all life-saving feats are glamorous and marked with crowds and cheers. Sometimes, all they are is a stabilized vital signs, hopeful test results to live longer, or a family that walks out the door of a hospital intact instead of grieving a loss. To enjoy and appreciate this film is to watch an uncompromising woman taking risks to put in the diligent work to make a difference for, once again, “her kids.”

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