Set amidst the intellectually rarefied environment of some university philosophers, I thought this might have had some similarities to “Tár” (2023) when a student makes an unsubstantiated accusation against one of her teachers and, well you know what they say about mud sticking. Sadly not, though, as this seems intent on avoiding dealing in any depth with any of the potentially interesting points that it raises. Acclaimed professor “Alma” (Julia Roberts) is seeking tenure, has an unique sort of marriage with psychiatrist “Frederik” (Michael Stuhlbarg) and has a very tactile rapport with provoc…
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Charlize Theron is really quite convincing as the down-at-heel Aileen Wuornos, a real life character who went from hooker to serial killer in late 1980s Florida in the United States. Her’s is a dangerous profession where she encounters some of life’s slime who may pay her with cash or with a beating. It’s after one particularly toxic encounter that she finds herself in a gay bar where she meets Selby (Christina Ricci). Initially very sceptical of her new friend’s motives, she quickly finds herself determined to raise her game and try to provide for both of them. That is when she realises that …
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I loved it. It's a unique movie, and Indy (dog) deserves an Oscar for acting so well in this movie.…
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Bertolucci’s acclaimed “Last Emperor” (1987) gave us an indication of the Japanese colonial aspirations in Manchukuo, but there aren’t so many features that tell of their similar dismantling of the Korean state. Ruled by the Joseon dynasty, their last emperor had declined to accept the Japanese annexation of his kingdom and so something toxic was added to his vermillion cordial. This left his daughter Deok-hye (Son Ye-jin) at the mercy of the manipulative counsellors who had her shipped to Japan for “integration” into the Japanese Imperial family. Used occasionally to assist their puppet-maste…
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“Milos” (Václav Neckár) is about to start his new job as a trainee dispatcher on the Czech railways, and is proudly sporting his new uniform as he proudly arrives for duty. He is to work with “Hubicka” (Josef Somr) who has a penchant for the ladies and that merely serves to remind our young man that as yet, he has only very limited experience with the opposite sex. That’s despite some obvious flirting with “Mása” (Jitka Scoffin) who clearly has designs on his body! It’s late one evening and they manage to get some time together, alone and intimate - but something goes wrong! Next thing, the no…
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When dad “Chris” (Scott Eastwood) and her aunt “Jenny” (Willa Fitzgerald) are killed in a car accident, the young “Clara” (Mckenna Grace) finds her relationship with her now widowed mum (Allison Williams) becoming a bit strained. This might also be because she has recently started seeing local school heart-throb “Miller” (Mason Thames) who already has a girlfriend and so might just be a bit one-track minded? Also on her radar is her mother’s long term friend “Jonah” (Dave Franco) who was married to “Jenny” and so is now also grieving as he attempts to bring up his newborn baby. “Jonah” happens…
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Did you know there in an American “Rear View Mirror Safety Club”? Well they are listed as a contributor in this entertaining and entirely car-free look at the fun and dangers of driving. It is the dapper gentleman (Chuck Menville) who gets into his invisible car - he is basically sitting on the tarmac, and sets off for work. Meantime, the boy racer (Len Janson) sets off for his joy ride bedecked in his sunglasses and smoking his cigar. He catches up with our suited chap and thinks he sees an easy mark to engage in a bit of “Whacky Races” in the hills above the city. It gets off to quite an ami…
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"The Astronaut" is a somewhat predictable but nonetheless entertaining, sci fi, horror thriller.
Its our personal perception of reality and threat that this film subverts and finally turns on its head, that makes it work. What we think of as familiar and alien, as safe and unsafe, are not what they appear to be.
Its these core concepts that this film plays with, developing a story that's creepy, atmospheric and psychologically unsettling.
On the downside, for veteran viewers, the story may be a little predictable. I'd worked out what was happening about two thirds of the way through…
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Honesty is a subject on seemingly everyone’s mind these days, for a variety of reasons. It’s widely regarded as something inviolable and sanctimonious, not to be questioned or minimized. But can there be such a thing as too much honesty, situations in which revealing more than what one realistically needs to know can be detrimental? And what if the truths that surface in those scenarios are impacted by a phenomenon like telepathy, where purposely containing the unrestricted and unfiltered flow of information can be challenging, if not impossible? Such are the circumstances set out in writer-di…
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The Manor was...a good try....sorta. There is really nothing more that can be said about it as far as merit goes. I say that because it has what is needed for it to be a thriller, **IF** that thriller's suspense rating were fixed at a 2 instead of being able to utilize the full range 10 scale available.
The movie had all the right ques for suspense, it just didn't have that "edge of the seat" guesswork, that "grip your husband's bicep" fear factor, nor the..._je ne sais quoi_ needed to make this movie engaging. The writers did a good job of showing how the MC's age and the problems she…
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