This is the purest distillation of charming, wholesome storytelling that I've seen in some time. Marcel's boundless curiosity and creativity, and his infectious love of life and community, result in a beautiful, exceptionally tender and hilarious journey told via outstanding stop-motion animation. Jenny Slate's vocal performance is one of the best I've ever heard - a wonderful marriage to the endearing on-screen animation of little Marcel and a pitch-perfect mockumentary script. Marcel made me laugh more than I have any…
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Top Gun: Maverick 2022
That's. How. You. Do. It.
A beautifully reverential, exciting, perfectly balanced legacy sequel that blends nostalgia, adult drama, and blockbuster action to create an emotionally powerful coda for one of the greatest cinematic heroes of my generation. I loved it with all of my heart, and I cannot wait to watch all of the special features on visual effects and flight stunts that are bound to come out after with its home video release. Gloriously jaw-dropping stuff.
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20 Days In Mariupol 2023
War is hell, especially when you didn't ask for it and it comes not on a battlefield but directly into your city. The crisp, no frills, day-to-day accounting here of Russian atrocities committed against Ukraine is so gut-wrenching. Journalism is vitally important and I'm grateful we live in a time when brave reporters like those here can provide proof of historical events so that they may not be rewritten by those who would wish to twist the truth. The exhausted and heartbroken tone of the narration really got me, too. I cannot imagine witnessing such massive agony and devastation first-hand.
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Beyond Utopia 2023
Incredible, powerful use of filmmaking as true documentation. Not the most enjoyable documentary to watch and I could quibble some with the editing structure and how it jumped around in a way that I found occasionally confusing, but rarely is footage this important captured and presented to the world. I appreciated that in addition to the family's harrowing Underground Railroad-like escape from North Korea there is frequent historical context given for the brainwashing and downright evil dominance that people in…
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Thor: Love and Thunder 2022
When everything is a joke, is anything actually funny? The first half is overly ridiculous and toothless even for Waititi. The CGI is often awful. The second half makes actual attempts at emotion, but it feels soooooo forced at this point and barely works. Luckily a terrifying Christian Bale as Gorr is at least something worth paying attention to for the performance even if they completely waste a badass villain concept by rushing through it. I LOVE where it ended…
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The Batman 2022
Dark, gritty, and moody, this is a bleak story that provides the Dark Knight an opportunity to showcase his great detective skills more so than maybe ever before. The action is exciting, too, and feels like the fight choreographers must have played the excellent series of Arkham games. Cinematography, score, and Zoe Kravitz are all aces, while Pattinson shines as the Bat and mostly bores as endlessly depressed Bruce. Serkis as Alfred is fine, but forgettable, and Dano as The…
