Category: 4 1/2 Stars

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4 1/2 Stars Movies

May December (2023)

There is not as much shame as there used to be when I would admit to going into a movie thinking it was bad and it ends up being good (or vice versa).

 I had more of a “mistaken identity” when watching May December. I’m not sure where I read it (or where I thought I did) but I went into the film thinking that the two main actresses, Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, were a married couple. Regardless of how I came to this false conclusion, it is not the case the new film by Todd Haynes, but that does not at all take away from the true film, with one of the more unique and admittedly disturbing premises in recent memory.

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4 1/2 Stars Movies

The Holdovers (2023)

There is a strong argument that can be made that we have been undervaluing Paul Giamatti. 

My earliest recollection of him must have been his small parts in 1998’s Dr. Dolittle with Eddie Murphy and the war classic Saving Private Ryan (the same year). It was then in 2003 he got deserved claim in American Splendor and then his big break a year later in Sideways (two movies I have needed to revisit for some time now).

For some baffling reason, the only Oscar nomination of his career came in 2005 with Cinderella Man. Of course, he has been in his bad share of movies, but (at least from the ones I have seen) has yet to give a bad performance. 

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4 1/2 Stars Movies

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour (2023)

Yesterday was my first time back at my local Six Flags Theme Park in many years.

It was refreshing, knowing that, in my mid thirties, I am still able to stomach (most of) the rides, both new and classic (not to mention all the walking).

All of that was a cake walk to the previous night, when I went to see Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.

(It should now me stated that this is not so much a review of a film as it is of an experience.)

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4 1/2 Stars Vintage

American Graffiti (1973)

The tagline for George Lucas’ pre-Star Wars breakthrough American Graffiti reads 

“Where were you in 62?”

Simply put, I was a quarter of a century away from being born. Even so, if the film were set in 1962, 1922, or 2006 (the year I graduated), the film would still showcase human elements that apply to young adults everywhere. 

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4 1/2 Stars

Theater Camp (2023)

It is true you can’t judge a film just by its title, but when a movie has two things I have always held special places in my heart for (in this case, theater and summer camp), well, my heart was pitter pattering with more anticipation than I have had in some time.

By the end of Theater Camp, my heart was satisfied with an extra helping of warmth.

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4 1/2 Stars Movies

Oppenheimer (2023)

With the possible exception of Tom Cruise, no entity in Hollywood today cares more about the theatrical experience more than Christopher Nolan.

His name is the first to come to mind when thinking of directors of his generation, and few have been as successful. His is one of the very few names in Hollywood that can draw an audience just by his name alone. He is one who goes big with every ingredient that makes a movie, letting everyone from the actors to the replacement sound guy to shine. In Oppenheimer, he has gotten the closest he has gotten to outdoing himself in some time, as it is easily the best he has done in years.

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4 1/2 Stars

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

Like many a nerd, I have spent the last few weeks glued to my Nintendo Switch playing The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (which I admit to playing as I do this review)

What makes it a truly effective sequel to the brilliant Breath of the Wild is not just the story (which has elements of Infinity War, time travel, and even Spirited Away) is that it expands upon its already vast world into new heights. The same can be said about Spider-Man: Across the Spider Verse, the sequel to the animated masterclass Into the Spider Verse.

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4 1/2 Stars

Blackberry (2023)

It seemed I was always behind when it came to cellphones.

It wasn’t until the spring of my senior year of high school when my parents finally relented and got me one (after they realized I had to borrow my friends’ to call for a ride), albeit a hand me down.

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4 1/2 Stars Movies

How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2023)

“If the American Empire is calling us terrorists then we are doing something right.”

This quote from Michael (Forrest Goodluck) is one of the hidden elements of How to Blow a Pipeline that make it more than just a hard core conservative’s nightmare of a film (the title alone would make one queasy). 

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4 1/2 Stars

Air (2023)

From the ages of 9-13, my closet was flooded with shoes. 

I can’t recall why I had so many shoes as a kid (being a small kid mean having a small shoe size, so I assume they were cheap), but I am sure I had some form of Air Jordans (most likely a hand me down): I do distinctly remember the dunking MJ silhouette. Did I think they would make me a better basketball player? Perhaps (I was never good at the sport), but there was no denying the fact that it would increase my cool factor in the class room (especially since I grew up in the Chicago suburbs.)

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