Movies

Let’s get this out of the way: I’ve never seen Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple. Don’t know why, but I haven’t. But I have seen the new version, and can definitively say that it’s a spectacular musical put to the big screen. Fantasia Barrino (“American Idol”) delivers a fierce and captivating performance as Celie, a
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A boy is being bullied by his teacher… or is he? That’s the question at the middle of the Japanese drama Monster, which begins simply enough but demonstrates the power of perspective as the situation unfolds. From director Kore-eda Hirokazu, who made the excellent Shoplifters, Monster runs through the same events and their aftermath three
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While watching Imaginary, one thing is guaranteed: you’ll imagine you were watching a better movie.  A tediously generic horror flick that wastes its premise, Imaginary ironically lacks imagination: there’s absolutely nothing clever (or fun) to see here. Directed by Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2), the movie is your typical stupid-little-girl-makes-friends-with-a-malevolent-force story, stuffed with lame dream sequences,
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There are people who devote their lives to predicting who will win at the Academy Awards. That’s not me. Here’s my completely unscientific but absolutely accurate list of who should win an Oscar in 2024. Actor in a Leading Role: Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) Second pick: Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction) Actor in a Supporting Role:
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A loving family with a hardworking father build a wonderful home next to his place of work for convenience and security in The Zone of Interest, an unsettling and unique drama set against the backdrop of the screams and furnaces of Auschwitz.  The Oscar contender focuses squarely on the ability to look away and compartmentalize
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In the space thriller I.S.S., Russia and the U.S. unleash nuclear war while the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station watch from above. Then come the orders: take command from the other side, by any means necessary. It’s a great premise from director Gabriela Cowperthwaite and writer Nick Shafir, one that is brought
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Wow. Just wow. Ava DuVernay’s Origin, based on Isabel Wilkerson’s bestselling book “Caste,” is a searing examination of systemic racism on a global scale. Powerful, moving, and beautiful, Origin is easily one of the best movies of the year. Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor delivers a fantastic performance as… Pulitzer Prize-winning Isabel Wilkerson… who is enlisted to write
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Hot sexy magical kings aren’t all bad, but they aren’t all good either. That’s the theme of Wish, the amusing Disney movie that may not be the Mouse House’s next animated classic but has enough music, humor, and weird talking animals to satisfy kids and parents alike. Wish is about a 17-year-old girl named Asha
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