Recent reviews

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  Ryan's Daughter 1970

  ★★★★ Added

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  I admit it took me awhile to warm up to Ryan’s Daughter, David Lean’s 1970 epic set against the Irish troubles and World War I. Maybe because it was not quite as good as Lean’s three previous film masterpieces (The Bridge On the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago). But once I was able to see the full 192 minute version in its original widescreen format, I came to appreciate this flawed yet moving epic romance.

  Sarah Miles is…

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  No Time to Die 2021

  ★★★ Added

  Daniel Craig's final outing as James Bond is a fun, exhilerating ride all the way down to its explosive climax. There are lots of enjoyable moments along the way but the movie is overstuffed with too many storylines. The fact that it has TWO prologues to get the story started indicates how it will go. And I am not sure I buy the central issue between Craig and Lea Seydoux that sets the plot in motion. But Craig is wonderful.…

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  Spider-Man: No Way Home 2021

  ★★½ Watched 06 Jan 2022

  Not a horrible film but not a good one either. I saw some of the previous Spider-Man movies which enable me to recognize some of the references but much of this movie went over my head. You have to be a MCU expert to enjoy this film. Tom Holland makes a fun Spider-Man. He has good chemistry with Zendaya and Jacob Batalon. Marisa Tomei is very good as his aunt. But despite some nice moments here and there, the movie…

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  Encanto 2021

  ★★ Watched 04 Jan 2022

  This one just didn't work for me. The opening number threw too much information and too many characters at me far too quickly and the movie never recovered. I could never figure out the basic premise let alone why this family was special. Too many characters and I was still figuring out their relationship to each other during the climax. They had magic powers but the powers seemed very specific to the point of being pointless. It was never clear…