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Since 2017: Career film critics continuing the conversation

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The Iron Claw: Wrestling May Be 'Fake,' But This Emotionally Powerful Film Isn't

The Iron Claw: Wrestling May Be 'Fake,' But This Emotionally Powerful Film Isn't

By Jim Slotek

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 19, 2023Wrestling movies, The Von Erich brothers, The Iron Claw, Zac Efron, Kevin Von Erich, Writer/director Sean Durkin, Jeremy Allen White, Ric “Nature Boy” Flair, Maura Tierney, Lily JamesComment

Rebel Moon: Part 1 - A Child of Fire Sharply Mimics Star Wars… If Star Wars Was Lame

Rebel Moon: Part 1 - A Child of Fire Sharply Mimics Star Wars… If Star Wars Was Lame

By Chris Knight

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 19, 2023Rebel Moon: Part 1 - A Child of Fire, Zack Snyder, Sofia Boutella, Charlie Hunnam, Netflix, Ed Skrein, Sci fi, Space drama, space opera, FranchiseComment

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Nostalgia Propels Ace New Adaptation of Beloved Underdog Tale

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 18, 2023Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Adaptation, Rick Riordan, Walter Scobell, Leah Jeffries, Aryan Simhadri, Charles Bushnell, Adam Copeland, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Disney+, Fantasy, Family film, young adultComment

Wonka: A Miserable Concoction More Bitter Than Sweet

Wonka: A Miserable Concoction More Bitter Than Sweet

By Chris Knight

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 15, 2023Wonka, Timothée Chalamet, Gene Wilder, Prrequels of children's classics, Paul King of Paddington 2 fame, Roald Dahl, Tom Davis, Olivia Colman, Calah Lane, Rowan Atkinson, Keegan-Michael Key Comment

Poor Things: Darkly Comic, Disturbing Satire Like Nothing Else You've Seen This Year

Poor Things: Darkly Comic, Disturbing Satire Like Nothing Else You've Seen This Year

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 14, 2023Poor Things, Yorgos Lanthimos, Darkly comic existential satire, Horrific experiments, Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe, Mark Ruffalo, Ramy Youssef, Steampunk Victorian EnglandComment

Immediate Family: Four Legendary Session Players Recall Their Roles in Rock History and Rock On

Immediate Family: Four Legendary Session Players Recall Their Roles in Rock History and Rock On

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 12, 2023Rock documentaries, Documentaries about session players, Denny Tedesco, The Wrecking Crew, Immediate Family, Danny ”Kooch” Kortchmar, Leland Sklar, Russ Kunkel, Waddy WachtelComment

Eileen: Intense, noir-infused character study will leave you wanting more

Eileen: Intense, noir-infused character study will leave you wanting more

By Liz Braun

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 7, 2023Psychological thrillers, Dark friendships, Director William Oldroyd, Thomasin McKenzie, Anne Hathaway, Movies set in the '60s, Novelist Ottessa MoshfeghComment

The Boy and the Heron: Animation God Miyazaki Creates a Winged Wonderland and Asks Us to Ask

The Boy and the Heron: Animation God Miyazaki Creates a Winged Wonderland and Asks Us to Ask

By Chris Knight

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 6, 2023Japanese animation, The Boy and the Heron, Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli, Princess Mononoke, Fantastical creatures and flights of fancy, Composer Joe Hisaishi, Genzaburo Yoshino novel How Do You Live?Comment

The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan - It Took the French to Finally Get the Point (and Thrust and Parry)

The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan - It Took the French to Finally Get the Point (and Thrust and Parry)

By John Kirk

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 6, 2023The Three Musketeers: D’Artagnan, French version of of the Dumas novel, Martin Bourboulon, François Civil, Vincent Cassel, Pio Marmaï, Romain Duris, Eva GreenComment

In The Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50 - The Hardest Working Prog-Rockers Prog-Rock On

In The Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50 - The Hardest Working Prog-Rockers Prog-Rock On

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 4, 2023King Crimson, Prog-rock legends, Bands that last 50 years or more, In The Court of the Crimson King: King Crimson at 50, Toby Amies, Robert Fripp, Jakko Jaksyk, Bill Rieflin, Adrian BelewComment

American Symphony: Jon Batiste and Wife Suleika Jaouad Face Music and Mortality Together

American Symphony: Jon Batiste and Wife Suleika Jaouad Face Music and Mortality Together

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekDecember 4, 2023The personal lives of musicians, Jon Batiste, Suleika Jaouad, American Symphony, Matthew Heineman, Overcoming cancer, Stephen Colbert, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross Comments

Maestro: Not Much Going on Beneath the Pretty Surface of Cooper's Bernstein Pic

Maestro: Not Much Going on Beneath the Pretty Surface of Cooper's Bernstein Pic

By Liz Braun

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 30, 2023Musical biopics, Leonard Bernstein, Maestro, Prosthetics in acting, Bradley Cooper, Actors directing themselves, Carey Mulligan, Felicia Montealegre, Matt BomerComment

Silent Night: John Woo Leaves a Lump of Coal in Our Christmas Stocking

Silent Night: John Woo Leaves a Lump of Coal in Our Christmas Stocking

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 30, 2023Dark Christmas movies, John Woo, Silent Night, Robert Archer Lynn, Joel Kinnaman, Harold Torres, Revenge for the death of a child, Dubious Christmas themes, Kid Cudi, Movies without dialogueComment

My Animal: Small-Town Teen Infatuation and a Coming-Of-Age Under the Full Moon

My Animal: Small-Town Teen Infatuation and a Coming-Of-Age Under the Full Moon

By Chris Knight

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 30, 2023Teen werewolf movies, Canadian horror films, My Animal, Director Jacqueline Castel, Bobbi Salvör Menuez, Sexual elements in horror, Amandla Stenberg, Jae Matthews, Bryn McCashinComment

Raging Grace: Illegal Filipina Domestic Meets British House of Horror in Oddball Social Drama

Raging Grace: Illegal Filipina Domestic Meets British House of Horror in Oddball Social Drama

By Liam Lacey

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 29, 2023Raging Grace, British-Filipino director, Paris Zarcilla, Social drama/horror mashup, Illegal nannies, Max Eigenmann, Jaeden Paige Boadilla, David Hayman, Leanne Best, Best Debut 2023 South by Southwest Festival, Best Debut 2023 South by Southwest (SXSW) FestivalComment

Monster: Hirokazu Kore-eda Paints a Japanese Schoolboy's Troubled Life From Every Angle

Monster: Hirokazu Kore-eda Paints a Japanese Schoolboy's Troubled Life From Every Angle

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 29, 2023Hirokazu Kore-eda, Monster, Shoplifters, Stories told from different perspectives, Screenwriter Yûji Sakamoto, Soundtrack artist Ryuichi Sakamoto, Japanese Schoolboy's Troubled Life, Soya KurokawaComment

Leave the World Behind: This is the Way the World Ends, With Mystery Guests and Unanswered Questions

Leave the World Behind: This is the Way the World Ends, With Mystery Guests and Unanswered Questions

By Chris Knight

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 23, 2023Leave the World Behind, End of the world stories, Author Rumaan Alam, Mysterious strangers, Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Mahershala Ali, Myha'la Herrold, Kevin BaconComment

Saltburn: A Cold, Hard Sleep-Over with a Rich, Dysfunctional Family

Saltburn: A Cold, Hard Sleep-Over with a Rich, Dysfunctional Family

By Karen Gordon

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 22, 2023Social status themes, Saltburn, Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman, Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Carey MulliganComment

Fallen Leaves: Kaurismäki’s Latest Dry Comedy is 'Chaplin-esque,' But Not The Way You Might Think

Fallen Leaves: Kaurismäki’s Latest Dry Comedy is 'Chaplin-esque,' But Not The Way You Might Think

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 20, 2023Finnish films, Cannes Palme d’Dor nominees, Aki Kaurismäki, Kaurismäki’s proletarian trilogy, Fallen Leaves, Unsmiling lovers, Jussi Vatanen, Alma Pöyst, Martti Suosalo, Nuppu Koivu, Jim Jarmusch, Charlie ChaplinComment

Thanksgiving: Eli Roth Carves Up a Glib, Gory Horror Comeback

Thanksgiving: Eli Roth Carves Up a Glib, Gory Horror Comeback

By Thom Ernst

ReviewJim SlotekNovember 17, 2023Thanksgiving, horror, Slasher, Eli Roth, Patrick Dempsey, Milo Manheim, Nell Verlaque, Jaylen Thomas Brooks, Tomaso Sanelli, Gina GershonComment