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‘THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7’ A Timely, Effective But Unremarkable Courtroom Trial

Aaron Sorkin lives and dies by the legal pen. Dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s within his characters’ puffed-up political proceedings or as they finesse through complex legalese is the writer-turned-director’s bread and butter. As a writer, no one can alchemize technical jargon and otherwise boring statistician noise into storytelling gold quite like Sorkin. Within the exhibits of his great successes, nothing towers higher than The Social Network, though dedicated fans of The West Wing would gladly point to that popular and long-standing series as the high watermark of his career.  Read More

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High-Schooler’s Slow-Motion Self Destruction Vividly Captured in ‘WAVES’ 

Waves is a film in two parts, at once as connected and severed as a man following a trip to the guillotine. In a sense, it’s almost a story and sequel in one package. One whose first and second parts have alternating sets of lead characters, battling tonality, and wildly diverse cinematography, though its hip-hop-saturated musical through-line binds its saga together as does the overbearing sense of cause and effect that ripples throughout the Williams family’s lives. Waves moving outwards and growing in intensity, born of the smallest pebble dropped in the pond, grow to towering surf, stretched over devastating undertow.  Read More

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Taut ‘LUCE’ A Creeping Mystery Box Thriller With Great Performances

We like to think we know the people in our lives, especially those in our close-knit little nuclear families. But do we ever really know what someone is capable of? Who they are beneath it all? What they want and what they’re willing to do to get it? Whether they will threaten those on their bad side with fireworks? For most of us, the answer is probably yes, yes, yes, yes, and no but for Amy Edgar (Naomi Watts), it might not be so clear. Read More