Author: Jay Gabler
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Movie review: “Ballad of a Small Player” hits its notes too hard
The protagonist’s struggle with his demons becomes the film’s focal point — to diminishing returns, because we’ve seen that story before.
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TV review: “Star Wars: Visions” dazzles in third season
None of the episodes are anything less than visually dazzling, but Volume 3 saves the real pyrotechnics for the end.
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Movie review: Revenge is sour in “The French Italian”
Writer-director Rachel Wolther bets big on an implausible premise that “The French Italian” strains to sustain.
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Three Star Wars retcons Kenner kids can’t accept
Those of us who grew up with the original Star Wars trilogy and collected the Kenner toy line remember how real those action figures felt compared to the images we caught only occasionally onscreen. Now, with the movies available on demand and elaborate documentation available online and in print, we’re asked to come to terms…
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TV review: “Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy – Pieces of the Past”
It’s hard not to like, and no one seems to be enjoying themselves more than the veteran actors who return to their classic characters.
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Movie review: “My Sunshine” is a low-key charmer
“My Sunshine” is a beautiful film. There’s more below the surface, but writer/director Hiroshi Okuyama doesn’t spell it out.
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Movie review: “Twinless” stretches an implausible premise
The story touches on grief, sexuality and male loneliness, but writer-director James Sweeney does those themes short shrift.
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Movie review: “Swiped,” a Bumble biopic
It’s a good thing the story is true, because, sadly, this triumph over toxic masculinity would beggar belief if presented as fiction.
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Movie review: “The Luckiest Man in America” hits a whammy
For all this movie’s missed opportunities, it remains a watchable, often engaging movie about a guy who decided to make his own luck.
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Movie review: “Hot Milk” is sour
Would this film ever have been made if it was about homely people in Rochester, Minnesota?
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Movie review: Don’t let “Oh, Hi!” in
The premise has potential, if the movie could build a world and stay there, but it’s as if director Sophie Brooks and co-writer Molly Gordon keep getting distracted.
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Movie review: “Hot Spring Shark Attack” is a very Japanese “Jaws”
“Hot Spring Shark Attack” quickly spirals outward in its nods to everything from superhero cinema to “Jurassic Park.”