Eh, kind of. I liked that it's the first Batman film since RETURNS to acknowledge the kind of dangerous lunatic you'd have to be to go out at night dressed up as a bat and beat up criminals.

From what little I know of Hungarian politics, it sounds like we shouldn't have any illusions that Magyar will be much different from Orbán on immigration or Ukraine, but if he can be less corrupt and less authoritarian, it'll already be a plus. That, and fascists are fuming right now.

Bo Burnham's Eighth Grade is leaving tubi soon, you should watch it

Pleased to say you can now read my short story “The March of the Silent Horde” in Issue 1 of Triptych! Join our narrator as he journeys across a world devastated by climate collapse with the mysterious Quiet Man 🤫

#writing #writingcommunity #sciencefiction

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A ★★★½ review of Dream Scenario (2023) Have you ever had one of those dreams where you’re moving confidently, blissfully, towards a wonderful goal – like a film you can’t wait to watch, some kind of treasure lying just beyond a door or per...

#DreamScenario doesn't completely follow through on the promise of rich psychosocial satire inherent to its core ideas, but Kristoffer Borgli and Nicolas Cage's harmonious collaboration makes it an exhilarating experience nonetheless.
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Belated correction: MISSING IN ACTION came out a year before RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II. Au temps pour moi.

I'd write it off as more opportunistic bandwagon-jumping. That man has never held a sincere conviction in his life other than a toxic mixture of self-interest and deep-seated self-loathing.

fuck all these evil losers trying to eradicate us from public life. you can't make a world without trans people in it no matter how hard you try.

Indeed it's pretty striking that Williams was consistently at the top of his game in all three prequels whereas his work in the sequels, while not bad by any means, is considerably less memorable by comparison. I wonder if George Lucas's lack of involvement made him less passionate about Star Wars.

"Across The Stars" deserved to be the theme of a FAR better love story than Anakin and Padmé. It's honestly one of John Williams's best pieces and his whole score on the film is, as usual, top-notch.

Between this and Belfast, 2021 really was the year Jamie Dornan reminded us all how cruelly his talents were wasted in those FIFTY SHADES movies.

I feel it is my cinephile's duty to inform any unaware followers of the existence of this film and this unsung masterpiece of musical comedy.

Jamie Dornan is hosting #SNLuk tonight, which signals my cue to drop “Edgar’s Prayer” onto the timeline. Nobody else could’ve sold the insanity, ludicrousness and absurdity of BARB AND STAR GO TO VISTA DEL MAR like he did.

A ★★★ review of Sick of Myself (2022) The life of a narcissist must be a lonely one. Imagine being unable to think outside of yourself, unable to truly feel other people’s feelings and share any true connection with them – even with anoth...

Back to reviewing 2022 films, with a very quick paragraph on how #sickofmyself's understanding of the inherent loneliness of narcissism makes it work even if it only fulfills part of its promise.
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Live action remakes of animated films treat animation as just expensive storyboards rather than an artform in it's own right

Happy #WorldPoetryDay all! You can read my poem “The Bog God of Gortnacrannagh” in The Honest Ulsterman if you’re so inclined.

www.humag.co/article/2752...

I'd say THE DELTA FORCE, the MISSING IN ACTION movies (which basically started off as a Rambo 2 knock-off) and especially INVASION USA (which he wrote) were Norris's most overtly political movies - and, even then, so cartoonishly so that it's hard to take them seriously on that front.

This is wrong. Just wrong. On every level.

I don't care if his family approves, this is setting a terrible precedent. There's no telling where this could go next, with actors that have been dead for even longer.

Let Val rest in peace, for goodness sake. He went through enough.

A ★★★½ review of Hamnet (2025) Having watched her prove herself one of the best filmmakers of her generation with three consecutive tours de force in Songs My Brothers Taught Me, The Rider and Nomadland, it was quite disappointing ...

With the #Oscars scheduled for tomorrow, I conclude my review of selected nominees with an in-depth look at the beauty of last #bestpicture nominee #Hamnet and the limits of Chloé Zhao's approach that keep it from greatness.
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A ★★★ review of Song Sung Blue (2025) It’s fitting that Craig Brewer’s return to musical cinema should be a fictionalized remake of a documentary about how a Neil Diamond tribute act from Milwaukee. From Hustle & Flow’s unlikely story abo...

Ahead of #Oscars weekend, a necessarily brief look at the modest pleasures of #SongSungBlue.
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A ★★★★ review of Sentimental Value (2025) Roger Ebert used to say that it was moments about goodness, rather than sad moments, that made him cry in movies. I may not have cried while watching Sentimental Value but I was moved by that very qua...

With just a few days left before the #Oscars, a necessarily brief word on the emotional brilliance of #sentimentalvalue and how its compassion moved me.
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I still can't get over Penn Jillette of all people being so quietly terrifying!

A ★★★½ review of If I Had Legs I'd Kick You (2025) 17 years after dissecting the toxic friendships of a female post-grad student in her feature début, the grimy underground mumblecore classic Yeast, Mary Bronstein takes the next logical step further w...

Yesterday was #internationalwomensday so it's fitting that the #Oscars nominee Deanna & I watched was #IfIHadLegsIdKickYou, Mary Bronstein's uncompromising, occasionally clumsy but always compelling look at the dark side of motherhood:
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A ★★½ review of The Secret Agent (2025) Kleber Mendonça Filho is a frustratingly gifted filmmaker whose dramatic features thus far have always stood just on the cusp of greatness without quite managing the last jump necessary to reach it. T...

With the #Oscars broadcasting this weekend, here's a quick look at #TheSecretAgent which, in spite of its strong individual qualities, I ultimately found a bit hollow.
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THREAD: I got laid off from NYMag/Vulture after 14 years. The family lost 75% of income + medical. Now mzs.press bookstore, once a side project. is do-or-die for Judith & I. I feel weird telling you this because others are doing much worse. But if you could like or share this, we'd be so grateful!

This is disappointing and even a touch hypocritical coming from the man behind INSIDE OUT. Pete Docter's willingness to bend over backwards to online bullying and far-right activism disgraces his legacy as an artist.

A ★★★ review of It Was Just an Accident (2025) Those going into It Was Just An Accident expecting a righteously incandescent denunciation of the brutal Islamic Republic that has been oppressing Iran for the last 47 years will likely be disappointe...

As the #Oscars loom closer and closer, here's a quick word on Jafar Panahi's #ItWasJustAnAccident, a film made praiseworthy by its very existence even if it doesn't rank among its director's best.
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A ★★★ review of Bugonia (2025) After the wearyingly shallow intellectual shock jockeying of Kinds Of Kindness, Bugonia confirms, perhaps once and for all, that Yorgos Lanthimos’s talents are far better spent adapting other people’s...

Back from Guadeloupe to continue my look at nominees from this year's #Oscars with a couple of paragraphs on #Bugonia, a film that confirms Yorgos Lanthimos is at his best when he's not writing his own screenplays.
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