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Out in Theaters: ‘THE FIRST PURGE’ 

There’s a moment in The First Purge where Isiah (Joivan Wade), a young African American teetering on the brink of breaking bad, wanders down an alleyway. His eyes are illuminated a ghastly blue, irises cloaked in live-stream contact lens there to capture the experimental first night of legalized murder. Any newsworthy POV footage documented for mass distribution is met with “financial compensation”, as is remaining in the kill zone. As Isiah hunts a leaky junkie by the name of Skeletor (a crazed and wildly watchable Rotimi Paul), a multitude of different colored lens peer at him, stalking his moves.  Read More

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Out in Theaters: ’ANT-MAN AND THE WASP’

Bigger seems to always be better in the eyes of many studio executives but Ant-Man knows better. Marvel quite literally blew up their world in this summer’s Infinity War, a massive cross-over event starring most of the biggest names in Hollywood and three of its favorite Chrises. If only by contrast, Ant-Man and the Wasp’s shrunken stakes and narrower focus on character gives it that much more super-powered punch. Threats of world domination, universe destruction or the untethering of reality itself only carry so much weight, particularly when they’re doled out as often as an E. Coli outbreak, so making this movie more a rescue mission than another save the world ordeal works to its favor. Shrinking everything down to a nice self-contained chapter allows director Peyton Reed to hone in on what really makes these characters work, and where they come up short.  Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM’ 

Fallen Kingdom indeed. If you’re considering seeing the latest Jurassic World movie, do yourself a favor and flush that $13 down the toilet instead. There’s maybe 15 minutes of Fallen Kingdom’s 130-minute runtime that is almost, kind of watchable. The rest is some of the most embarrassing tentpole bullshit this side of a Transformers movie. Hackneyed dialogue, a shamelessly uncreative and entirely predictable plot, awful acting, boring characters, and zero memorable set pieces to distract from all the awfulness, Fallen Kingdom sets an incredibly low bar for the once beloved dino series, delivering an abomination of blockbuster filmmaking that makes one wish for a meteorite to strike their local theater and wipe its nasty existence clean from this Earth.  Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘THE INCREDIBLES 2’ 

The state of superhero films today can only be described as ubiquitous.  In 2018, there’s a new superhero movie every month. Sometimes two. And with Marvel films like Black Panther and Infinity Wars doing absolute gangbusters at the box office, there is no sign of slowing for the super-charged genre. But before Iron Man ever suited up or Batman began again, Brad Bird and Pixar offered a family-friendly spin on the Golden Age of superheroes with 2004’s widely adored The Incredibles. Its sequel, Incredibles 2, may pick up right where its predecessor left off but its commentary about popular culture is as timely as can be.  Read More

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SIFF ’18 Capsule Review: ‘BREATH’

Ruminating surfer drama Breath, based on the best-seller from Tim Winton, cherishes the micro exchanges of male machismo. A thoughtful meditation on self-discovery, fear, and personal limitations, this coming-of-age drama from Simon Baker features delicate performances and beautiful oceanside cinematography. Within, two teenage boys befriend a veteran surfer and learn the ebb of his unstable world. The feature becomes briefly bogged down in a boy-thinks-he-becomes-man-by-proxy-of-sex plot but is buoyed by a writer’s sense of purpose and spirit for adventure, all of which allow the subtle emotionality to capture lightning. (B) Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘OCEAN’S 8’ 

The king is dead, long live the queen. With the apparent demise of George Clooney’s smug, square-chinned Danny Ocean, kid sister Debbie (Sandra Bullock) has taken up the family mantle of thievery, having cooked up the perfect jewel heist while locked in a state penitentiary for the past five years. There’s double-crosses, jobs within jobs, slick montages, and a brand new bag of femme fatales to get to know but Ocean’s 8 is very much an offshoot of the popular rebooted franchise brought to life in the early 2000’s.  Read More

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SIFF ’18 Capsule Review: ‘DON’T WORRY, HE WON’T GET FAR ON FOOT’

Recovery is a marathon not a sprint, not that the snarky wheelchair-bound protagonist of Gus Van Sant’s Don’t Worry would be able to stand for either. Telling the true story of celebrated, irreverent Portland cartoonist John Callahan, from his reckless drinking days to his untimely paralysis to his long tenure at AA, Van Sant’s latest is a hopeful salvation saga sprinkled with un-PC delights lead by a powerful Joaquin Phoenix performance. Lippy but uplifting, Don’t Worry crutches on a jumbled timeline that can make the narrative feel sloppy and untethered but is harnessed by a message of preservation in the face of all obstacles. Jonah Hill is raw as a flowy flaxen-haired sponsor amidst a standout supporting cast. (B) Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘HEREDITARY’ 

Every once in a blue moon, there comes a horror movie that’s legitimately capital-T terrifying. One that’ll cause your eyes to dart around the dark stillness of the theater at the smallest creak. One that’ll hitchhike a ride home with you to invade your dreams; an unabortable mental pregnancy. One whose delirious imagery will burn into your cranium as if doused in paint thinner and struck by a match. I am happy to report that A24’s Hereditary, dear readers, is just that kind of movie. It’ll take your damn head off. Read More

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Out in Theaters: ‘HOW TO TALK TO GIRLS AT PARTIES’ 

John Cameron Mitchell is a man of many talents, talents which erupted in 2001 when he wrote, directed and starred in to-be cult classic Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a devilishly stylish, strictly adult, anti-musical about a transgender punk-rocker from East Berlin. Mitchell has flexed his filmmaking muscles infrequently since, his most notable follow-up work being 2010’s sorrowful study of marital grief, the well-regarded Rabbit Hole starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart. With his latest work, the somewhat over-named How to Talk to Girls at Parties, Mitchell exercises a different set of sinew, stretching into unfamiliar territory – new-age punk-rock sci-fi – in an effort that reaches for the stars but comes up a parsec short.  Read More

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SIFF ’18 Capsule Review: ‘HEARTS BEAT LOUD’

Nick Offerman plays a hipster record shop owner/has-been musician/doting father to the talented and driven Sam (Kiersey Clemons in a vibrant coming out party of a performance) as the two start an unlikely band in Brett Haley’s lovely indie musical Hearts Beat Loud. The pair share wonderful screen chemistry – Offerman has never been better – while the movie itself transforms into a warm blast of dreams, acceptance, and growing pains that’s luminously riddled with maturity. This charmed musical crowdpleaser hits all the right notes, delivering a bucket of all-the-feels alongside some delightfully head-bobbing tuneage. (B+) Read More