Mini Movie Reviews Archives
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27th Annual PHILADELPHIA FILM FESTIVAL Coverage
I'm going to highlight the last first CLICK HERE to jump below to my interview with director OLIVIA LICHTENSTEIN & producer NICK BEDU of the closing night film TEDDY PENDERGRASS: IF YOU DON'T KNOW ME
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First Man
Directed by Damien Chazelle (WhipLash & La La Land), written by Josh Singer (The Post & Spotlight) with Ryan Gosling once again Chazelle’s lead actor; in this he plays the very stoic and reserved first astronaut on the moon, Neil Armstrong. I suppose technically this is a biopic because it’s based on the official biography of Neil Armstrong by James R. Hansen, but the beats don’t play out like a biopic. It’s more the idea of how this dream, this notion of putting a man on the moon came to fruition; seen through the eyes of Neil Armstrong and his wife Jan (Claire Foy (The Crown) and their children. The…
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A Star is Born
by Le Anne Lindsay, Editor A STAR IS BORN deserves all the buzz its garnered leading up to it. It’s the first film I’ve seen in 2018 that feels Oscar worthy, other than this small indie I saw called Puzzle, which unfortunately has no buzz. Bradley Cooper has now proven himself to be a super talent, directing himself and Lady Gaga in this remake which is rich and cinematic. I love the soundtrack especially the songs from the early part of the film that have a country rock sound. I’ve listened to the track “The Shallow” several times on Youtube already. His vocal voice is surprisingly professionally soulful and his…
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PUZZLE
I SO recommend this film. PUZZLE is one of those quiet films full of authenticity, great character development and fine layers. The surprising humor found in Kelly Macdonald & Irrfan Khan’s characters as they get to know one another while practicing for a doubles puzzle championship is completely winning. Will definitely be on my top 10 list for 2018. The director Marc Turtletaub was motivated to direct Puzzle for a personal reason… “It’s a story about a woman who’s a mother and a wife living in suburban Connecticut, doting on her husband and her sons. And I knew that woman – it was my mother. I grew up in suburban…
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CRAZY RICH ASIANS
Tinsel & Tine’s look at Jon M. Chu’s CRAZY RICH ASIANS By Le Anne Lindsay, Editor Remember the first time you saw Pretty Woman and Vivienne (Julia Roberts) strolls back into the posh shop which had snubbed her on Rodeo drive, loaded with shopping bags, asking the sales person if she works on commission – “Big Mistake, Huge!” Well, there’s a similarly satisfying scene of judgement and retribution which opens the movie Crazy Rich Asians, directed by Jon M. Chu, based on a bestselling 2013 novel by Kevin Kwan. Constance Wu plays Rachel Chou, a NYU Econ professor. For the last year she’s been dating Nick Young, a guy she assumes…
