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dramedy

Yesterday movie review: imagine there’s no Beatles…

Mon, Jun 24, 2019
59 comments

It’s not interested in a world absent the incalculably enormous impact of the Beatles. It’s just a lazy comedy of one running joke, a regular schmoe enjoying unwarranted success, and a blah romance.

| 59 Comments

Toy Story 4 movie review: recycled playthings… again

Wed, Jun 19, 2019
49 comments

The series’ saving grace is that, with humor and heart so beautifully wise and stunningly rendered (CGI pun intended), even as returns diminish, a new chapter is still warm and smartly entertaining.

| 49 Comments

Papi Chulo movie review: can’t buy him love

Wed, Jun 12, 2019
no comments yet

An uncomfortably clueless portrait of societal privilege taking advantage of financial desperation. Matt Bomer is very effective as a man truly heartbroken, though.

| Leave a comment

Gloria Bell movie review: an (extra)ordinary woman

Fri, Jun 07, 2019
no comments yet

Julianne Moore pulls off the small miracle of tamping down her own intense charisma while still imbuing the ordinary, unglam Gloria with lively verve and a dynamism of low-key resilience personified.

| Leave a comment

Booksmart movie review: these kids today, with their academic overachievement and their niceness…

Wed, May 22, 2019
31 comments

A rare treat: a perfect film. Smart, funny, wise, sparkling with wit both visually and in its snappy dialogue. A self-assured directorial debut from Olivia Wilde, confident and effortless. Pure joy.

| 31 Comments

A Dog’s Journey movie review: Does the Dog Die? The Movie

Thu, May 09, 2019
no comments yet

Pure rerun of A Dog’s Purpose: Pooch Bailey returns again and again (again) in different bodies to love and serve his humans. A sappy tail, pleasantly daydreamy. I’m not crying you’re crying.

| Leave a comment

Unicorn Store movie review: a fantastic beast

Tue, Apr 23, 2019
5 comments

More movies like this, please: a piquant mix of whimsy and snark; an insistence that it’s not crazy to forge your own oddball path; an embrace of girly uncool. Bring on the weird, difficult women.

| 5 Comments

Wild Nights with Emily movie review: the poetess with the mostest

Fri, Apr 12, 2019
4 comments

Like Drunk History but sober, a lively, arch, dryly comedic corrective to the traditional, heteronormative, patriarchal image of Emily Dickinson. Incredibly audacious and utterly delightful.

| 4 Comments

Shazam! movie review: unmarvelous

Tue, Apr 02, 2019
104 comments

Nothing matters in this literal adolescent-male power fantasy, a cheesy mishmash of nonsense and low stakes. Anyone who needs at least a bit of meat in their superhero tales will be disappointed.

| 104 Comments

Dumbo (2019) movie review: you will not believe an elephant can fly

Wed, Mar 27, 2019
28 comments

The most soulless of the live-action Disney remakes yet, weighted down by too many blah characters, too much convoluted plot, unconvincing CGI, and a message that doesn’t say what it thinks it does.

| 28 Comments
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