This banner is for a review of The Phoenician Scheme.

‘The Phoenician Scheme’ Movie Review: Wes Anderson’s Stylish Misfire

Everybody knows the greatest thing about Wes Anderson’s movies is their sense of style. Style is the tool he uses to bring lightness to dark and complex subjects such as grief, the creeping threat of fascism and being an insufferable young person. The staging and blocking, the centering of images, …

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This is a banner for a review of the film Case 137 or Dossier 137.

‘Case 137’ Film Review: France and Lessons Learned From 2018

The ripped-from-the-headlines Case 137 (Dossier 137) combines two genres everybody loves. The first is the detailed bureaucracy of justice and how much easier it is to find objective truth since we all started carrying recording devices (our mobile phones) around at all times. Think Anatomy of a Fall and Saint …

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This is a banner for a review of Mission Impossible - The Final Reckoning.

‘Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning’ Movie Review: So Excellent It’s Hard to Believe

Some years ago I went to Arles for the annual photography festival and discovered that, on Saturday nights, the local bullfighting school put on a show in the Roman amphitheatre. I paid my ten euros and watched three young matadors in training kill their bulls while the locals treated this …

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This is a review for the documentary Toroboro: El Nombre de las Plantas.

‘Toroboro: El Nombre de las Plantas’ or ‘The Name of the Plants’ Documentary Review

The Ecuadorian director Manolo Sarmiento is a crucial figure in the local documentary community. He is the co-founder and executive director of EDOC, Encuentros del Otro Cine, a singular festival for Ecuadorian cinema. Sarmiento produced a diptych, a two-piece work on the native people of the Rio Napo. The indigenous …

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This is a banner for a review of the pilot Chasers.

‘Chasers’ Pilot Review: A Bold, One-Shot Exploration of Dreams, Love, and Showbiz Struggles

In recent years, there has been a massive influx of movies and TV series that showcase the reality of the entertainment industry and how youngsters navigate the world of showbiz. Most importantly, these titles exhibit how young people navigate through life while trying to achieve something, which makes them raw …

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‘The Return’ Review: An Unusually Subtle and Thoughtful War Movie

The only flaw in the magnificent The Return is that, by virtue of the casting, the audience is able to predict the plot before the characters can. This is however an extremely small complaint in the grand scheme of an unusually subtle and thoughtful war movie. For one thing, it’s …

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This is a banner for a review of the movie Corina, from director Urzula Barba Hopfner.

‘Corina’ Movie Review: A Mature Directorial Debut by Urzula Barba Hopfner

Cinema represents reality by allowing us to imagine ourselves in situations that may seem far from our daily existence. In her directorial debut, Mexican director Urzula Barba Hopfner envisions the life of Corina (Naian González Norvind), an agoraphobic woman. She has an anxiety disorder that affects her when she is …

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