Category: Mini Review
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Mini Review: Digger
Not only does Cruise nail his performance, but I was impressed with Sandra Hüller & Riz Ahmed as well. Digger is stylish, loud & fourth wall breaking. And it kind of worked for me, particularly the message nailed home by Jesse Plemons character. But I need to let this one sit.
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Mini Review: Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!
I wasn’t expecting the zaniness of Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty! But the fantastical dance numbers were delightful and really give the movie some emotional highs amongst the painful lows. While it ultimately hits on familiar beats, it certainly brought a smile to my face.
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Mini Review: Resident Evil
I think Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil works well as a video game adaptation, capturing the essence of the game without needing to copy it. While the film leans way more comedy than horror, the set pieces work, with maybe the final one being a little too stupid silly for my taste.
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Mini Review: Forgotten Island
Wow, I was totally taken aback by the story of friendship at the heart of DreamWorks Forgotten Island, that added the perfect emotional weight to balance its frenetic & bold visual style. What a great new animated film & a beautiful ode to Filipino culture. Consider me impressed!
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Mini Review: Primetime
Oppenheim captures 2000s era TV making with such fascinating style in Primetime, propelled by a truly transformed performance by Pattinson & incredible support from Gisondo & Wever. While the film asks more questions than it answers, it’s a great directorial debut nonetheless.
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Mini Review: Hope
If the intention of Hope was for me to like the monsters more than the people, than bravo. Especially since most of the characters are one-note caricatures. The scale of the film is impressive. But it doesn’t lived up to the hype, with a story that starts strong & then flatlines.
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Mini Review: Colony
The first half of Colony serves as an incredible set up to a different take on the zombie apocalypse genre, & is filled with tons of exciting set pieces. But the film falls apart as more characters make horrible choices & ultimately become too difficult to root for. So I’m torn.
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Mini Review: Late Fame
The satire in Late Fame wouldn’t work nearly as well if it wasn’t for Willem Dafoe’s wonderfully warm performance coupled with Greta Lee’s zany but layered counterpoint. Because man some of those art students are beyond annoying and need a little punch in the face.
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Mini Review: The Magic Faraway Tree
There’s a level of wholesomeness in The Magic Faraway Tree that is almost nostalgic, with a lot of heart buried amongst the silly fun and beautiful set design. Some may find it cringe, and at times it is, but man can Andrew Garfield really crush any role that’s handed to him.
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Mini Review: Tony
Tony is the good kind of biopic, giving new insights into the subjects life, not shying away from the morally ambiguous, all while still giving us a full character arc. Dominic Sessa delivers a good, layered performance (albeit similar to past roles). So overall, I’m satisfied.
