REVIEW: Battle of the Sexes [2017]

“Libbers not lobbers” Between the title and trailer, I assumed Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris‘ Battle of the Sexes would focus strictly on the circus surrounding the event itself. It’s not like there isn’t enough content to make that happen between the political, social, and athletic motivations behind the media frenzy. But screenwriter Simon Beaufoy knew he had to go further back to truly understand the climate that led to former champion and current senior tour member Bobby Riggs (Steve Carell) calling up Billie Jean King (Emma Stone)—arguably the best…

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REVIEW: The End of the Tour [2015]

“You might just have to read it” A young writer whose day job involved scribing 500-word reviews of boy band albums during the 90s comes to the decision of pitching his editor something Rolling Stone hadn’t done in years: interview an author. Who better than in-the-moment rockstar David Foster Wallace on the road promoting his magnum opus Infinite Jest? Thus begins a five-day tape-recorded session taking place inside Wallace’s home, his college, multiple airplanes and automobiles, and the Minneapolis, MN hotel hosting his final stop. Even though that initial article…

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REVIEW: Missed Connections [2013]

“When I think about the soft bigotry of low expectations, I think of dating in New York” Sometimes we must look past formulaic cliché and an overreaching desire to transform a less than trustworthy internet dating tool on Craigslist into a phenomenon used with overwhelming success before realizing entertainment can be enjoyed on levels above or below intellectual stimulation. First-time feature director Martin Snyder and co-writer Marnie Hanel may fall victim to glamorizing a gimmick in order to construct the framework underneath their story, but they don’t skimp on catching…

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Top Ten Films of 2012: Ensembles upon ensembles

Many have been saying 2012 was a great year for movies. I’m not sure I fully agree. There were a ton of solid 7/10s and 8/10s, yes, but how does that compare with previous years when the amount of 10/10s were also drastically reduced? It took until September for me to give a film four stars and the two I did laud with such a distinction that month were the only ones. Rather than a showcase of masterpiece cinema, 2012 was instead a year of the performance. And I mean…

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TIFF12 REVIEW: Frances Ha [2013]

“Ahoy, sexy” A Noah Baumbach film through and through, I can’t help but praise lead actress and co-writer Greta Gerwig‘s influence in making Frances Ha the quirky, subtly hilarious portrait of a twentysomething refusing to accept she is overdue for adulthood that it is. When her titular Frances unabashedly apologizes for “not being a real person”, the hyperbolic exclamation isn’t far off the mark. Living to have fun while hoping life will ultimately fall into place, the realization it’s only passing her by leads to a quarter-life crisis of identity…

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