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| EFC STATS |
| Movies Listed: |
14308 |
| Total Ratings: |
225441 |
| Total Reviews: |
28689 |
![[206786451 Hits]](/cgi-bin/gd.cgi?206786451)
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| VAL |
"A painfully fine portrait."
Rob Gonsalves says... "Not long before the lights go down on the raw and somewhat depressing videography "Val," its subject, Val Kilmer, in character as Mark Twain, offers a question — perhaps, for him, *the* question: “What are the words that heal a broken heart?”" (more)
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| KATE |
"Same old same old."
Rob Gonsalves says... "Slicker than goose shit, Netflix’s #1 trending new film "Kate" is stylishly brutal and will probably be praised in some quarters accordingly, but it leaves us wanting more." (more)
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| LANGUAGE LESSONS |
"Funny, timely, and earnest."
Jay Seaver says... "I did not realize, going in, that "Language Lessons" was a movie that plays out on the characters' computer screens, and while there will probably a few more of those than usual coming out over the coming months,this one seems like it might wind up more than just a time capsule of the present moment. Even when the credits are rolling, it's not obvious whether this was specifically created to be a quarantine movie or not; odds are it's an influence, but it's good enough to stick even for those who don't want any reminders of what life is like now." (more)
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| SMALL ENGINE REPAIR |
"The play you write for yourself becomes a movie that showcase your co-stars"
Jay Seaver says... "Buried at the very end of the credits of this film is that it was adapted from writer/director/star John Pollono's play of the same name, and though it doesn't appear to have been a one-act play, it's got the feel of something where he started from a well-constructed second half and worked backward. He does it well enough that he's not just killing time and padding the movie, but there's certainly something more potent to be distilled from this fairly decent movie." (more)
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| NIGHT HOUSE, THE |
"A thriller that knows what to do with its angry grief."
Jay Seaver says... ""The Night House" is the sort of smart genre movie that I start to get worried about in the middle; I've been burned often enough by supernatural thrillers that are willing to sacrifice the themes that make them resonate in order to get one more scare or twist. This one definitely gives off that vibe at times, sometimes sinking a little too deep into its mythology for its own good, but ultimately the folks involved do want there to be something more to their scares than just making a viewer jump." (more)
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| SHANG CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS |
"More modern Marvel than Master of Kung Fu"
Jay Seaver says... "A funny thing about "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" is how it is in large part made up of pieces that Marvel couldn't use elsewhere as much as his original 1970s comics: On the one side, an Iron Man villain who no longer works as his arch-nemesis when targeting a global market; on the other, what looks an awful lot like Iron Fist material that was too large in scale for that character's Netflix series. Those elements are almost literally this character's DNA comes from in the film, pulling him away from his pulpier origins toward something which fits more comfortably in the Marvel movie mold. It's a good mold and "Shang-Chi" is a pretty good movie, but it could maybe use a little less Marvel Universe and a little more Master of Kung Fu." (more)
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| CRYPTOZOO |
"Indie animation that also works as a fantasy adventure."
Jay Seaver says... "SCREENED VIA FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2021: Is it awful to watch a distinctive piece of independent animation and think that you'd like to see the big mainstream blockbuster version, or maybe just a conventional anime from the same script? Understand, I wouldn't trade this "Cryptozoo" for another, but filmmaker Dash Shaw's style isn't for everyone, even though the movie underneath is the sort of fantasy adventure that an audience would easily go for, if the style was a little more familiar." (more)
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| WHITE AS SNOW |
"Belle Of The Balls"
Peter Sobczynski says... "If you have been longing to see a version of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” in which Snow White ends up having vigorous sex with the majority of the dwarves, your prayers have been answered with “White As Snow,” an utterly bewildering import from French filmmaker Anne Fontaine with a premise so loopy that it almost has to be seen to be believed, not that I would exactly suggest anything that extreme." (more)
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FILMS I NEGLECTED TO REVIEW: GRANDDADDY'S HOME
by Peter Sobczynski |
| "Please enjoy short reviews of "Best Sellers," "Copshop," "Cry Macho," "Cryptozoo," "Lady of the Manor," "Live at Mister Kelly's," "The Nowhere Inn" and "Prisoners of the Ghostland."" (more) |
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'I RUN A COUPLE OF NEWSPAPERS. WHAT DO YOU DO?'
- Charles Foster Kane, Citizen Kane
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