Category: 4 Stars

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4 Stars Movies

Highest 2 Lowest (2025)

As someone who has yet to visit New York City (still near the top of my bucket list), I in no way feel I can say what director in the history of cinema has best captured the city.

A few names do come to mind: Martin Scorcese, Nora Ephron, Sidney Lumet, and Woody Allen (despite his troubled personal life). Then of course there is Spike Lee. While he has not entirely relied on New York for all of his films, his best ones (namely Do the Right Thing in 1989) have helped shape parts of the city that never sleeps in our movie going psyche.

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4 Stars

Superman (2025)

Ever since his 1938 introduction to society, no other fictional character (let alone superhero) has had to put up with society more than Superman. 

It is no wonder there have been comparisons to biblical figures like Moses and Jesus (in the original film, remember the dialogue of “I have sent them you, my only son”). It is not too far fetched to believe that we as humans would not take long to start treating the man of steel as an after thought. Yet still, as portrayed in James Gunn’s Superman, he persists to protect us.

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4 Stars Movies

Thunderbolts* (2025)

It is odd to think of, but Marvel is almost going to have more movies than I have in years on this planet (according to wiki, they will have caught up to me by 2027).

(This of course does not include the TV shows, Limited Series, and what not).

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4 Stars

DJ Ahmet (2025)

(This is the first of two films from this year’s Sundance Film Festival I got virtual tickets for.)

Am I alone in saying that the majority of what I learn about other cultures is from art?

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4 Stars

Conclave (2024)

Just as Conclave, the new film by Edward Berger (who most recently did the 2022 remake of All Quiet on the Western Front) began, a random thought occurred to me: Ralph Fiennes has not received a knighthood.

Being American, I confess proudly I have no idea how that system works, but he surely belongs in the conversation of the greatest British thespians of the last few decades (it is astounding to me that he only has two Oscar nominations). Like most of the actors in Conclave, he is not one of the best known of movie stars, but he surely is known for capital A Acting.

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4 Stars

Didi (2024)

One of the main reasons I’ve always been a fan of coming of age films is simply the idea of character development.

The second decade of our lifetimes has arguably more life lessons learnt than any other time in our lives (or at least the most memorable ones). That makes that time of a life ripe for picking when it comes to drama. Whether it takes place in the rebellious 1950, the  John Hughes 1980s universe, or the tech driven 21st century, teen life is hard all around.

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4 Stars

Twisters (2024)

Call it divine intervention or whatever you want, but it is worth noting that between revisiting the 1996 hit Twister and the sequel, there was at least two nights of pretty bad weather here in the Midwest.

Of course, being that I have grown up in the Midwest, it was nothing too new to me. Still, tornadoes are nothing I would dream of getting near (the closest I ever got was a few years ago driving home, not aware until later that a twister had touched down about a mile away). Thinking of it, the original Twister (which was always a go to rental for me at a point in my childhood) had a small bit of the “stay away from this force of nature” effect that Jaws had on me (as well as the whole world.)

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4 Stars Movies

The Bikeriders (2024)

You know how you can sometimes be oblivious to any form of accent you have when speaking?

As someone who has grown up in the midwest his whole life, I definitely never picked up on having an accent of any kind. Even so, it was impossible for me to not notice the accent work of Jodie Comer is using in The Bikeriders.

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4 Stars

Inside Out 2 (2024)

The best of the Disney/Pixar films have been able to somewhat shape our views of the world, regardless of age.

As a kid, the aftermath of Toy Story had me admittedly silently trying to sneak a look at my toys, to catch them in the act of being alive. It took me a while to stop looking at a fish tank in a doctors office differently thanks to Finding Nemo, or what it would be like talking with my ancestors after Coco. And yes, even after nearly a decade, I still sometimes wonder what the emotions in my head are like after the original Inside Out.

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4 Stars

Suncoast (2024)

I was a Junior in High School when the Terri Schiavo case made headlines.

From what I remember, it was brought up in at least one of my classes as a potential debate topic, and it also was something I thought could hurt the film Million Dollar Baby at that year’s Oscars (it didn’t). Being what introduced the world (or at least me) to the term “euthanasia”, the whole impact of the ordeal seems to have been lost to time.

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