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FlickFilosopher.com

handcrafted film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997

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SXSW

Miss Juneteenth movie review: ordinary lives drawn with extraordinary grace

Wed, Jun 17, 2020
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A beautiful cinematic experience, delicately subtle and bursting with a gorgeous sense of place and character. There is wonderful intimate suspense in every moment of Nicole Beharie’s performance.

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My Darling Vivian documentary review: from ardent lover to cold hard Cash (SXSW 2020)

Fri, Mar 13, 2020
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Nascent celebrity culture and the myth of the artist’s muse are skewered by the tale of Johnny Cash’s first wife, Vivian Liberto, told by her daughters and a trove of vintage photos and love letters.

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a running tally of all the artists and intellectuals hassled by border agents or actually kept out of America under Trump

Sun, Jan 27, 2019
22 comments

And now it’s Jorge Antonio Guerrero, who costars in Roma, who can’t get a visa to attend the Oscars…

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Sadie movie review: coming of age the hard way

Sat, Oct 13, 2018
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This tale of a teenaged girl’s crossing the boundary from childhood to too-early adulthood, simultaneously a portrait of a society quietly yet inexorably collapsing, has a disturbing power that sneaks up on you.

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Science Fair documentary review: these kids today, with their changing the world…

Fri, Sep 28, 2018
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Meet some of the most brilliant teenagers alive, high-school students from all over the world competing at the World Cup of genius geekery. Funny, sobering, and inspiring.

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The Light of the Moon movie review: ‘victim’ is not a dirty word

Fri, Nov 03, 2017
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A tough, uncompromising depiction of a rape and its aftermath that serves as a formidable corrective for how this subject is typically seen onscreen.

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The Retrieval review: the emotional legacy of American slavery

Fri, Apr 11, 2014
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Deceptively simple and deeply cutting. A remarkable little film, a marvel of American indie filmmaking and of stories typically overlooked.

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question of the day: Is the rise of the geek a good thing for movies, or a bad thing? (Or is it too early to tell?)

Fri, Mar 18, 2011
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Are the geeks directing Hollywood, or is Hollywood just learning how to better use the geeks?

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question of the day: Why don’t films from ‘Saturday Night Live’ work?

Mon, May 17, 2010
16 comments

As of this writing, MacGruber — you know, the new film based on the recurring one-joke Saturday Night Live sketch — is at an astonishing 100 percent Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. And not even thanks to “reviews” by “critics” you’ve never heard of at nonexistent small-town newspapers who’ll say anything about any movie if it … more…

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