REVIEW: Raya and the Last Dragon [2021]

Who’s hungry? As Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) states during her expository prologue to Don Hall and Carlos López Estrada‘s Raya and the Last Dragon (written by Qui Nguyen and Adele Lim), events that should unite us often end up doing the opposite. For the Asiatic world of Kumandra, this phenomenon occurs in the aftermath of their most dire moment once the plague known as druun (a virus-like creature that multiplies with every attack, turning living creatures into stone) is finally annihilated thanks to the bravery of a dragon named Sisu…

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Online Film Critics Society Ballot 2018

Below is my December 27th ballot for the 22nd annual Online Film Critics Society Awards honoring movies released domestically in the United States during the 2018 calendar year. Each category is ordered according to my preferential rankings. Group winners are labeled in red. (No option to abstain was supplied this year.)

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REVIEW: Blindspotting [2018]

To stare is to see. Are we more than what others believe us to be? This question is unanswerable since perception is king and powerful enough to transform your identity. After all, how many times can you be blamed for something you didn’t or won’t do before you break and think you might as well? If you’re to be judged as that which others presume you to be, why not earn their ire? Why not lean into the stereotype or slander or racism? Being better and proving people wrong is…

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