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| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
31873 |
| Total Ratings: |
248706 |
| Total Reviews: |
28166 |
![[176941971 Hits]](/cgi-bin/gd.cgi?176941971)
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| HER SMELL |
"How Dirty Girls Get Clean"
Peter Sobczynski says... "The year is still relatively young, I suppose, but is hard to think that there will be a more discomfiting cinematic experience this year that “Her Smell,” writer-director Alex Ross Perry’s brutally visceral drama that introduces viewers to a character that most viewers will write off as a spectacularly vain and self-absorbed monster after only a few minutes and then unsparingly observes her in unsparing detail as she goes completely off the rails thanks to a toxic combination of drugs, ego and neediness and then as she struggles to come to terms with everything that she lost along the way. For many viewers, it will all simply be too much—and at 135 minutes, it may strike others as too much of too much—but for those who are able to endure it all, his portrait of a toxic and self-destructive personality crisis writ large is a strangely compelling affair that is anchored by one of the most hellaciously go-for-broke performances that you will likely encounter on the big screen anytime soon." (more)
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| UNDER THE SILVER LAKE |
"It Follows"
Peter Sobczynski says... "Man, what a difference a year makes. it was just about this time last year that the anticipation level for “Under the Silver Lake,” the mysterious new film from David Robert Mitchell (his first since the release of his indie horror hit “It Follows”), hit a fever pitch when it became one of the two U.S. films to play in competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Unfortunately, the word after the premiere was not particularly good and while some critics found some interesting things about it, many dismissed it as a weird and unfocused misfire from a talented filmmaker who had bitten off far more than he could possibly chew. After that, things quickly went downhill as its distributor decided to delay its summer release until Christmastime amidst rumors that Mitchell was working on a reedit. Then it was mysteriously yanked from the Christmas schedule at the last minute and disappeared from view until it was recently announced that the entire release of what was once considered to be a big-ticket item had been reduced to a grand total of two theaters this weekend followed by it hitting VOD this coming Tuesday." (more)
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| CHAPERONE, THE (2019) |
"Slight, but with two very charming performances."
Jay Seaver says... ""The Chaperone" is cheerier and more effervescent than it sometimes seems like it should be; it tells the story of a woman who finds happiness and otherwise makes a less-than-ideal situation better in small, pragmatic ways in a way that's faithful to its 1922 setting despite the modern instinct to want more confrontation and a sharper edge. This movie is pleasant and accommodating even when it seems like it maybe shouldn't be, but that's hardly a mark against it - it's a modestly delightful story that makes a virtue out of finding the best way to look at difficult situations." (more)
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| MISSING LINK |
"Charming, beautiful, just generally well-done."
Jay Seaver says... "There were only a handful of people in the theater for a 3D screening of "Missing Link" on a Sunday evening two days after it opened, and while there are potential reasons for sparse attendance in the description, I'm starting to wonder what more Laika has to do to get people to come out for their movies. "Missing Link" is, as is customary with this company's productions, whimsically designed, big-hearted, impeccably voiced, precisely and beautifully filmed one frame at a time, and just generally everything one might wish a movie for the whole family to be. What else do these guys have to do?" (more)
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| HAIL SATAN? |
"Come for shenanigans, stay for principle (or vice versa)."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED AT BOSTON UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 21: The question mark in the title of "Hail Satan?" does not truly indicate any sort of uncertainty; it is never unclear what sort of conclusions director Penny Lane wants the audience to draw where the Satanic Temple is concerned. Instead, it serves as the same sort of rhetorical device as the Temple itself - a quick, visible way to at least attempt reorienting one's perspective on something that can easily be taken for granted because it's so entrenched. It's a successful gambit, a good initial indication of how good both the film and its subject are at getting attention and making a point." (more)
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| MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE, THE |
"The Windmills Of His Mind"
Peter Sobczynski says... "Whatever else one might have to say about the current state of contemporary cinema, one has to feel some small degree of excitement at the recent appearance of legendary titles that many observers figured that they would never actually see in their lifetime. Last fall saw the release of Orson Welles’s infamous “The Other Side of the Wind,” a work that had gone unseen for decades for numerous complicated reasons. Last week saw the kickoff of the release of “Amazing Grace,” a stunning concert film featuring Aretha Franklin that was shot in 1972 and shelved, first for technical reasons and then, once those were finally deal with, because Franklin inexplicably refused to sign off on its release. At this point, if the announcement of this year’s Cannes lineup included the world premiere of “The Day the Clown Cried,” I wouldn’t be half-surprised. The latest infamous title to finally arrive in theaters (however briefly, as we shall see) is “The Man Who Killed Don Quixote,” a passion project that Terry Gilliam, whose difficulties in getting his films made over the years have been so pronounced that even those who don’t believe in curses may find themselves wondering if there is a voodoo doll out there with his name on it." (more)
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| SHAZAM |
"Captain Marvel-Less"
Peter Sobczynski says... "“Shazam!,” the latest superhero epic to spring forth from the pages of DC Comics in the hopes of challenging the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe for supremacy at the box-office, is trying to do two things at once—it is trying to be a cheerfully goofball entertainment that will stand in blessed relief to such dour recent DC efforts as “Batman vs. Superman,” “Justice League” and the abysmal “Suicide Squad” and it is trying to be an action spectacular for those who are either unfamiliar with the central character or know just enough of his backstory to look upon him as some kind of joke in comparison to the more well-established superhero characters out there. This is roughly the same position that they found themselves in a few months ago with the undersea epic “Aquaman” and while I did not care for the end result very much, I will grudgingly accept the fact that it did work for a lot of people and the sheer weirdness of the entire enterprise perhaps warrants a second look at some point down the road. In the case of “Shazam!,” however, I suspect that additional viewings will not be necessary because while “Aquaman” was strange enough to stick in the mind, there is precious little to this one that will do the same. For a film like this to work, it needs to find the right tone and stick with it throughout and while there are sporadic moments when it does just that, there are far too many other moments when it just flits about aimlessly without demonstrating any particular reason for its existence." (more)
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| HIGH LIFE (2019) |
"An intriguing combination winds up a bit of a mismatch."
Jay Seaver says... ""High Life" plays like the sort of science fiction movie made by people who think they're above the genre - striking to look at and packed with interesting performances and coming at certain tropes sideways with enough confidence that one doesn't want to question the logic of it too much. It's a bit better than that, certainly good enough not to be dismissed, but it's certainly the sort of art-house sf whose appearance of profundity comes as much from being aloof as from being sharp or insightful." (more)
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FILMS I NEGLECTED TO REVIEW:
by Peter Sobczynski |
| "Please enjoy short reviews of "Hagazussa: A Heathen's Curse," "Little Woods" and "Wild Nights with Emily."" (more) |
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'HERE I AM IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, TEXAS, CHASING FEDS IN TANKER TRUCKS.'
- Dana Scully, X-Files
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