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| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
30552 |
| Total Ratings: |
245749 |
| Total Reviews: |
27535 |
![[155949844 Hits]](/cgi-bin/gd.cgi?155949844)
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| OKJA |
"That Won't Quite Do, Pig. That Won't Quite Do."
Peter Sobczynski says... "“Okja” is a film that is so strange in so many different ways that to call it bewildering would be seriously underselling the oddness on display. Under normal circumstances, I am always down with a movie that is willing to let its freak flag fly but this one is beyond the pale to such a degree that I am still not entirely sure what I think of it. On the one hand, it is a film that is clearly trying to hit the same sweet spot that “E.T.” did 35 years ago and there are a number of moments here that are indeed as magical, both technologically and emotionally, as anything that Spielberg whipped up back in the day. On the other hand, the film as a whole is bogged down by enough profanity and violence to make it largely unsuitable for the very same family audiences that it is aiming for, it goes on for far too long thanks to a bunch of scenes that go on forever without doing much to advance the narrative and a couple of performances by well-known and regarded actors that are so off-puttingly weird that you’ll hope that someone comes out with a behind-the-scenes documentary that explains what they could have possibly been thinking of when they stepped in front of the camera and let loose with such head-scratching turns." (more)
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| GOOK |
"Bringing what was a side-story on the news to the fore."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2017: You may feel uncomfortable asking for a ticket for this one by name, and knowing there's a scene that explains the title's etymology may not be much help. It's absolutely worth doing if you get the chance to do so, and if saying the title aloud stops you, then that's what the touchscreen kiosks at the front of the theater are for. It's a pretty terrific little film that does an excellent job of zooming in on what felt like a sidebar to a bigger news story and making it the focus." (more)
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| BABY DRIVER |
"Ansel Elgort Pops His Clutch And Tells The World To Eat His Dust Brothers"
Peter Sobczynski says... "On the surface, Edgar Wright’s “Baby Driver” may look like an over-the-top action spectacle and on that level, it succeeds mightily. For most movies these days, that would be enough but in this case, the film is only getting started. It also plays as a wry character comedy, a reasonably intense crime saga and a sweet-natured romance and works quite well in those regards as well. Best, and most surprisingly, of all, “Baby Driver” is also pretty much a full-scale musical and a spectacularly entertaining one at that. Granted, it may not be a musical in the most traditional sense of the word—the music comes entirely from the wall-to-wall soundtrack and the intricate choreography is done almost entirely by cars screaming down the street at excessive speeds—but when the end result is as effective and ridiculously entertaining as this, even the biggest of churls would be hard-pressed to fail to succumb to its charms." (more)
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| JOURNEY, THE |
"Colm Meaney in a more upscale 'Van'."
Jay Seaver says... "There are many far worse reasons to make or see a film than the promise of Colm Meaney talking to someone for an hour and a half, something that gets more enticing when the other person in the road trip movie is Timothy Spall. Add a little John Hurt to the mix and it almost doesn't matter that the stakes to this conversation going well are huge. If it had a little more to recommend it than that great cast, it might really be something." (more)
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| BABY DRIVER |
"Your soundtrack for your next cross-country trip"
alejandroariera says... "Edgar Wright is to movies what any good, self-respecting DJ is to music: a connoisseur, a master of the form who understands its history and can effortlessly combine the DNA of several genres to create something new, something that will enthrall and surprise the audience and keep their blood pumping from beginning to end in the same way that a DJ keeps his audience dancing non-stop with his or her remixes. It helps that Wright is also a music lover who digs deep in his record collection and playlists to pull out those tunes that will not only elevate but also propel the plot of his films. Music is front and center in his new film “Baby Driver”: not only does music drive (pun unintended) the story but it also defines and informs its characters’ lives. The action sequences are even choreographed the beats of a specific song. It is, in fact, the closest a film has ever come in portraying the dominant role music plays in our lives." (more)
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| LITTLE HOURS, THE |
"Really, there need to be more raunchy convent comedies."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2017: I might not have known I needed a movie about foul-mouthed nuns and the hunk hiding in their convent as a deaf-mute before seeing "The Little Hours", but I did, especially at the end of a day of serious documentaries about societal inequity. This movie is tremendously funny, but also has a weirdly sweet core under the sarcastic exterior." (more)
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| TRANSFORMERS: THE LAST KNIGHT |
"It Only Feels Like 13 Hours"
Peter Sobczynski says... "Although this news will probably comes as no surprise to anyone who has taken even a cursory look at my reviews of the various entries in the “Transformers” saga, I must state for the record that I would just as soon lower my dangling bits into a blender than sit through “Transformers: The Last Knight” again in this lifetime. That said, there is one circumstance in which I would cheerfully and happily purchase the Blu-ray of the film when it hits stores and that would be if it took a page from the home video release of the live-action “Beauty and the Beast” remake and included video of the actors gathered around for the first table read of the screenplay. This, I hasten to add, is not because I want an opportunity to savor the sparkling dialogue on display—of which the most profound statement may be Merlin (yes, Merlin) remarking “God, I’m sozzled”—but because I am curious to see how the actors reacted to the jumbo helping of word salad masquerading as a script that they were charged with making sense of and bringing to life. Did someone like Mark Wahlberg or John Turturro or the celebrated Sir Anthony “Freejack” Hopkins at any point stop the proceedings to ask if any of what they were reading made a lick of sense to anyone or did they simply shut up those thoughts and think instead of the buckets of money that they were presumably given to appear in it? My guess is that such footage will never appear on the Blu-ray but if anyone has access to such a thing and can leak it, it would be most appreciative—not only would it be an invaluable guide to how much silliness a star is willing to swallow in the name of a big paycheck but it would almost certainly prove to be more entertaining—or at least quieter—than the film itself." (more)
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| WARRIORS OF THE DAWN |
"Good enough not to have to call for substitutes."
Jay Seaver says... "The story at the center of this film is not bad - a frightened crown prince trying to stay ahead of a Japanese invasion has only a squadron of mercenaries to support him. All must come to recognize a greater purpose, and it turns out that the prince is, in his way, serving the same purpose. It's a solid enough base that basic competence will make it enjoyable enough, although it would be really nice if it had a bit more to offer." (more)
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'IF YOU TRY ANY PERVERSIONS IN THERE I'LL BLOW YOUR HEAD OFF.'
- Guano, Dr. Strangelove
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