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FlickFilosopher.com

film criticism by maryann johanson | celebrating 25 years: 1997–2022

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Mad Max

Gold movie review: dust in the wind

Sun, Mar 13, 2022
no comments yet

In a dry, dusty, desperate landscape, Zac Efron goes full grunge, effectively underplaying physical and psychological implosion. But there’s nothing unexpected in this brutal open-air chamber piece.

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in 2010 I asked you: ‘What would you like to see in a Toy Story 4?’ (let’s revisit the replies)

Sun, Jun 23, 2019
12 comments

What do you think about what we thought, almost a decade ago, might be a good way to expand the story, versus what we actually just got?

| 12 Comments

Johnny English Strikes Again movie review: the spy who was a complete doofus

Thu, Oct 11, 2018
11 comments

Better than the unfunny first one, not as witty as the clever second one. But it has a bit of sly Brexit bite that is very welcome right now. Laugh until you cry!

| 11 Comments

The Hurricane Heist movie review: ’tis an ill wind that blows no minds

Thu, Apr 05, 2018
5 comments

A peanut-butter-in-my-chocolate movie, this Die Hard meets Twister monster is so ludicrous it comes all the way back around to being awesome and hilarious.

| 5 Comments

A Quiet Place movie review: hushed horror

Tue, Apr 03, 2018
27 comments

An apocalypse unlike any onscreen before. A film often almost unbearably tense, in part because it audaciously reconsiders the role sound plays in eliciting our emotional response.

| 27 Comments

Scorched Earth movie review: there’s still room for feminism at the end of the world

Tue, Feb 06, 2018
3 comments

Gina Carano roams a mild yet tedious postapocalyptic wasteland as a bounty hunter, and either you are here for this lady badass of our feminazi dreams, or you are not.

| 3 Comments

Maze Runner: The Death Cure movie review: cute boys at the end of the world

Wed, Jan 24, 2018
7 comments

The Auto-Tuned boy-band version of the apocalypse. You will forgive that every plot point that isn’t a cliché is in fact a plot hole because the hero is so dreamy and impossibly perfect, right?

| 7 Comments

The Bad Batch movie review: a girl walks into dystopia alone

Fri, Jun 23, 2017
2 comments

Filmmaker-to-watch Ana Lily Amirpour again shakes up a familiar genre — here, the postapocalyptic adventure — in unexpected ways, but stumbles a bit in the process.

| 2 Comments

Office Christmas Party movie review: messtivities

Tue, Dec 13, 2016
3 comments

Hangover lite, with even more tepid notions of what constitutes debauchery, plus a true dedication to strained contrivance.

| 3 Comments

Blood Father movie review: a take-your-daughter-to-work adventure

Fri, Oct 07, 2016
1 comment

Sly observations on American hypocrisy, a fresh father-daughter dynamic, and terrific performances elevate this a cut above the typical revenge thriller.

| 1 Comment
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