This is a banner for a review of It was Just An Accident.

‘It Was Just An Accident’ Review: Jafar Panahi’s Film Shines a Light on The Difference Between Justice and Revenge

The gift Iranian writer-director Jafar Panahi has given to us all is no accident. Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident uses a very simple scenario to ask unanswerable questions about what makes a person good. It does this by offering four people a chance many dream of: the …

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‘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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‘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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‘Bullet Train Explosion’ Film Review: Visually Sharp, Strong Direction, Narratively Safe

Bullet Train Explosion marks Japan’s return to one of cinema’s most intense rail thrillers, nearly fifty years after the release of Junya Sato’s classic The Bullet Train. This legacy sequel is directed by Shinji Higuchi (Shin Godzilla, Shin Ultraman) and penned by Kazuhiro Nakagawa and Norichika Ōba. While the concept …

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‘Havoc’ Film Review: Gareth Evans Trades Precision for Pandemonium in an Action Misfire

Gareth Evans isn’t a filmmaker with an extensive portfolio, but cult classics The Raid and The Raid 2 were enough to cement his legacy in action cinema. Any avid fan of the genre recognizes these movies as a major influence – not just for the intensity of their fight set …

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‘Silver Star’ Review: An Oddly Compelling Indie Film

Silver Star, a determinedly quirky little movie, is a throwback to the indie cinema of the nineties in the best way. It stands and falls entirely on the actions of two unpredictable people, thrown together through a combination of foolishness and bad decisions, and who stick together through a combination …

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This is a review of Reacher Season 3 Episode 8.

‘Reacher’ Review – Season 3, Episode 8: Unfinished Business

And now, man without fear, he must face the final curtain: except of course it isn’t. Like James Bond (RIP), Reacher will return. The zeitgeist can be guessed at and striven for, but it cannot be faked and it cannot be bought, because the audience never knows what truly speaks …

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‘Freaky Tales’ Review: A Wild, Genre-Blending Tribute to ’80s Filmmaking

I’ve mentioned this countless times throughout my years of film criticism: not every movie needs to be narratively and thematically profound, impacting audiences so deeply with philosophical messages that their lives are forever changed. Cinema is, among many things, entertainment. So, it’s no surprise when films like Freaky Tales emerge, …

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This is a banner for a review and recap of Season 3 Episode 7 of Reacher, LA Story.

‘Reacher’ Review – Season 3, Episode 7: L.A. Story

It’s a new dawn on Reacher. This is the first episode of the entire show in which Reacher (the splendid Alan Ritchson) goes west of the Mississippi! While Neagley (Maria Sten) lives in Chicago, Reacher’s previous adventures have kept him in Georgia, Arkansas, New York City, Maine, and now Massachusetts. …

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This is a banner for a review of Reacher Season 3 Episode 6, Smoke on The Water.

‘Reacher’ Review – Season 3, Episode 6: Smoke on the Water

Well. If we thought the previous episode of Reacher was plot heavy, in Smoke on the Water all those plot points have babies, meaning there’s an entire family tree of stuff going on that, thanks to the spoiler restrictions from Amazon, reviewers cannot reveal. It’s understandable since so much modern-day …

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‘Reacher’ Review – Season 3, Episode 5: Smackdown

The news that Amazon are now the owners of the James Bond franchise has landed with some surprise amidst this new season of Reacher. It’s not so much the sale but the fact that the Broccoli family, who creatively controlled the series for over fifty years, relinquished those creative rights …

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‘Reacher’ Review – Season 3, Episode 4: Dominique

I will bet a hundred billion dollars the character of Dominique Kohl (Mariah Robinson) was named after the heroine of The Fountainhead, Ayn Rand’s smash-hit novel from 1943 that introduced the political philosophy of objectivism to the world. Objectivism has been an incredibly influential ethos in economics and politics in …

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‘Reacher’ Review – Season 3, Episode 3: Number 2 With a Bullet

Dawn breaks over the Maine countryside as Duke (Donald Sales) and Reacher (the remarkable Alan Ritchson) drive back to the compound and discuss the infuriating Angel Doll (Manuel Rodriguez-Saenz). In the kitchen, Reacher tries to glean intel from housemaid Annette (Caitlin McNerney) and sharp-tongued English chef Agnes (Helen Taylor), though …

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‘Reacher’ Review – Season 3, Episode 2: Truckin’

This second episode of the new season of Reacher is a day without much sunshine. By which is meant Reacher (the magnificent Alan Ritchson) has only one physical fight in Truckin’. It is between Reacher and Paulie (Olivier Richters), the unpleasant thug who is literally double Reacher’s size. Fortunately, Reacher …

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‘Daredevil: Born Again’ Review: A Legendary Feat in Television

The return of one of the greatest comic book TV series of all time is ready to shake up the world with Daredevil: Born Again. Charlie Cox and Vincent D’Onofrio return to their lead roles as Matt Murdock and Wilson Fisk. I consider the original Netflix three seasons the best comic book …

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Den of Thieves Pantera

‘Den of Thieves 2: Pantera’ Review: A Safe Bet That Lacks Lasting Impact

Starting a new cinephile year is always exciting, even knowing that January is far from being a particularly memorable month. In fact, even today, the first month of the year is often dubbed “dump January” precisely because it consists of 31 days studios don’t consider appealing or important for their …

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