REVIEW: Murder at Yellowstone City [2022]

You killed hope. Nobody in the Montana Territory circa 1881 is watching a former slave like Cicero (Isaiah Mustafa) walk into town without keen interest. That goes for friends and foes alike. Luckily for him, Yellowstone City is a progressive settlement in many ways. It has its fair share of racists and bigots to be sure, but you can’t help feeling heartened as far as seeing a saloon owned by a gay couple (Richard Dreyfuss‘ Edgar and John Ales‘ Mickey) who act as fathers to wayward souls like the young…

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REVIEW: Mortal [2020]

Do you believe me now? In a world more than ten years into an historic Marvel Cinematic Universe run, the only word to describe someone outside the Hollywood system deciding to make a film about a young man with the same powers as Norse mythology’s most iconic God is bold. Why? Because it won’t really matter whether André Øvredal‘s Mortal is good or not. He’s willfully going up against the zeitgeist and many audience members will scoff at whatever direction he’s taken simply because it diverts from what they think…

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REVIEW: The Fault in Our Stars [2014]

“Pain demands to be felt” We all die. Heaven, Hell, Purgatory, Oblivion: they’re all destinations that connote life has ceased to be. This is the constant; what you do during the interim is not. So whether you’re healthy, sick, sad, or happy, you have the power to make the best of any situation. You do. Not your parents, friends, loves, idols. You. Nothing teaches this lesson in literature better than the kind of cancer tome John Green hoped to put his own unique spin on with The Fault in Our…

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REVIEW: Admission [2013]

“Thank you, sad lady” When your movie depends on its unorthodox relationship between star (Tina Fey‘s Princeton admissions officer, Portia) and central plot device (Nat Wolff‘s soon-to-be high school graduate dreaming of attending said college, Jeremiah) stemming from the very real possibility they’re estranged mother and son, it’s unsurprising to discover the world around them is a laundry list of eccentrically unique parents. Between her former live-in boyfriend leaving to have twins despite hating children (Michael Sheen‘s Mark), her feminist Bohemian mother who spent years trying to break free from…

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