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1.5/4
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Mercy
(2026)
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James Berardinelli
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The biggest problem with Mercy, aside from its somnambulant pacing, is that the background and storyline are simply too thin. Aside from the hook of a man engaging in a real-time trial for his life, there's not much here.
Posted Jan 23, 2026
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3/4
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28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
(2026)
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James Berardinelli
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The Bone Temple doesn't work entirely well as a stand-alone, but as part of a larger whole, it is a very good continuation of the ongoing tale.
Posted Jan 20, 2026
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3.5/4
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Train Dreams
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Train Dreams is a lyrical film—a movie concerned more with emotional impact, nostalgia, and powerful imagery than rigid plotting. It is the kind of cinema where a state of reverie is not merely encouraged, but required.
Posted Jan 15, 2026
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3.5/4
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No Other Choice
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Park shows an almost uncanny ability to switch from tragedy to comedy at the flip of a coin, a tonal tightrope walk that few directors can manage. Lee Byung-hun anchors this madness with a performance of subtle gradations.
Posted Jan 12, 2026
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3/4
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Primate
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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This is a solid horror film that delivers pretty much everything a fan could want or expect (especially considering that it’s January). It doesn’t feel fresh, but neither is it stale.
Posted Jan 12, 2026
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2/4
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Greenland 2: Migration
(2026)
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James Berardinelli
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The special effects are solid and Waugh gives us the beginnings of an intriguing world order, but any genuinely interesting ideas are quickly shunted aside just so the poorly defined characters can trudge toward their pre-ordained conclusion.
Posted Jan 12, 2026
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3.5/4
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Sentimental Value
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Sentimental Value is serious without being oppressive. It succeeds as a character study because it treats its characters as people rather than symbols.
Posted Dec 27, 2025
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3/4
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Marty Supreme
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Driven by Chalamet’s fearless performance and a directorial style that refuses to blink, the film leaves an impression. It can be a challenging watch, but in the landscape of late-2025 cinema, it is electrifyingly alive.
Posted Dec 27, 2025
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2/4
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The Housemaid
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Made well, this sort of material has the potential for a deliciously lurid two hours. But Feig's lack of aptitude with the material results in a cheap and artificial product...
Posted Dec 27, 2025
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3/4
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Song Sung Blue
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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...Song Sung Blue is a good story—heartwarming, uplifting, tear-jerking, and chock full of a beautiful noise.
Posted Dec 19, 2025
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3/4
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Is This Thing On?
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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The best aspects of the film, aside from Arnett's performance, are the stand-up sequences. These have all the authenticity one might expect from someone getting his feet wet and having more than a few jokes fall completely flat.
Posted Dec 18, 2025
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3.5/4
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Avatar: Fire and Ash
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Fire and Ash is an experience unlike anything else released this year: immersive, exciting, and visually stunning.
Posted Dec 18, 2025
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3/4
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Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Although Wake Up Dead Man isn't quite on the same level as its immediate predecessor, Glass Onion, or the progenitor of the series, Knives Out, it remains entertaining, if a little long.
Posted Dec 10, 2025
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3/4
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Rental Family
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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or viewers open to embrace the oddball premise—and willing to read more than a smattering of subtitles, since only about half the dialogue is in English—Rental Family offers roughly 105 minutes of solid, character-driven entertainment.
Posted Dec 03, 2025
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3/4
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Zootopia 2
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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It’s an enjoyable diversion, working better as a family film than as something with the depth or complexity suitable for adult-primary entertainment.
Posted Dec 01, 2025
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3.5/4
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Eternity
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Although unquestionably playing by the rom-com rulebook, it nevertheless wanders just enough off the beaten path to forge its own way. It's quirky, a little unpredictable, and never feels like warmed-over leftovers.
Posted Dec 01, 2025
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3/4
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Hamnet
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Shakespeare scholars will likely find details to quibble over, but strict historical accuracy was never the film’s mission. Instead, Hamnet plays like a 1990s-style arthouse drama—one made for viewers with a general knowledge of Shakespeare...
Posted Nov 24, 2025
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3/4
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Sisu: Road to Revenge
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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The experience isn’t as fresh as the original, but no one involved is phoning it in. The actors are committed, and Helander has staged some deliciously outlandish sequences that have to be seen to be believed.
Posted Nov 24, 2025
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2.5/4
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Wicked: For Good
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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...those who love the play will sit enraptured through Wicked for Good and not think it’s a minute too long. Those without the same depth of connection may leave wishing Chu had hired a less generous editor and made better use of his pruning shears.
Posted Nov 19, 2025
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3/4
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Nouvelle Vague
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Although I didn’t find the film particularly noteworthy, I enjoyed visiting Paris in the late 1950s and appreciated the behind-the-scenes tour.
Posted Nov 17, 2025
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1.5/4
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Now You See Me: Now You Don't
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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The word “dumb” doesn’t begin to cover how moronic this would-be caper is. From its incessant, excessive exposition to its cringe-worthy dialogue to its saccharine and ineffective dramatic beats, almost nothing works.
Posted Nov 14, 2025
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2.5/4
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The Running Man
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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There really isn't much that feels new, and the film's themes about societal rot resulting from obsessive media consumption now seem almost dated because that's simply our reality.
Posted Nov 14, 2025
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3/4
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Frankenstein
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Del Toro's filmmaking instincts are solid and he makes this an engaging 150-minute journey, but when it was over, I never felt I had truly explored something fresh, and that was a mild disappointment.
Posted Nov 10, 2025
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3/4
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Christy
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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It’s messy, painful, and deeply human, which makes it far more compelling than the average true-life sports drama.
Posted Nov 07, 2025
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3/4
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Die My Love
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Die My Love isn’t a movie one “enjoys.” It’s grueling, uneven, and occasionally pretentious—but it’s also riveting in its commitment. Ramsay’s commitment to discomfort is admirable, even if it borders on self-indulgence.
Posted Nov 07, 2025
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3/4
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Predator: Badlands
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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The decision to partially reinvent what a Predator movie can be is what makes Badlands work. While it leans on familiar sci-fi tropes and doesn’t exactly revolutionize the genre, it feels fresher than the other sequels...
Posted Nov 05, 2025
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2.5/4
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Bugonia
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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As a cat-and-mouse game between captor and victim, the movie has its occasional high points but badly muffs the ending, careening into self-parody during a final 15 minutes awash in masturbatory nihilism.
Posted Oct 31, 2025
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2.5/4
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Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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The downbeat narrative is choppy, and the relentless need to overexplain grows tiresome.
Posted Oct 27, 2025
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3.5/4
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A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Taut, relentless, and uncompromising, A House of Dynamite’s greatest strength is its sense of plausibility.
Posted Oct 23, 2025
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1/4
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Good Fortune
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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In truth, this feels more like a half-baked comedy sketch stretched far beyond its breaking point—until even the last traces of humor have leaked out like the gooey innards of a Stretch Armstrong toy that’s been tortured by a sadistic kid.
Posted Oct 17, 2025
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3/4
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Black Phone 2
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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The Black Phone 2 stands as a strong companion piece to the original—firmly rooted in horror, maintaining continuity, yet not shackled by the tropes its predecessor embraced.
Posted Oct 17, 2025
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2/4
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The Woman in Cabin 10
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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There’s enough suspense to keep an itchy trigger finger from changing the channel but viewers hoping for more won’t find it here.
Posted Oct 13, 2025
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2/4
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Roofman
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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The movie makes a variety of changes to Jeffrey’s story to make it more cinematic, but without the kind of narrative reworking needed to streamline the material, the result feels unfocused and shapeless.
Posted Oct 13, 2025
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2.5/4
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TRON: Ares
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Despite its relentless nostalgia-mining, Ares moves further away from the original’s spirit without evolving enough to stand on its own. The result is a two-hour kaleidoscope of color and sound — dazzling to look at, but empty at its core.
Posted Oct 13, 2025
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2/4
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Anemone
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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It’s rich material, but despite having one of the greatest actors of his generation at his disposal, Ronan manages to fumble it—delivering a film that functions more as a sleep aid than a drama.
Posted Oct 04, 2025
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2.5/4
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The Smashing Machine
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Unfortunately, while the two-hour running time offers a sketch of Kerr’s life, the details needed to fully flesh out both his character and the scope of his circumstances remain frustratingly elusive.
Posted Oct 03, 2025
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3.5/4
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One Battle After Another
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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This is arguably Anderson's best film since Magnolia...The thriller elements—most notably an incredibly tense, climactic twenty-minute sequence—kept me on the edge of my seat.
Posted Sep 26, 2025
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2.5/4
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A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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he whimsical magic evident early on grows stale. The movie’s tone is herky-jerky and never settles. And the ending feels undercooked and unearned.
Posted Sep 22, 2025
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.5/4
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HIM
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Him is an exercise in excess, a relentless collage of overwrought imagery – like a magician waving both hands frantically so you won’t notice there’s nothing up his sleeve: no story, no characters, just noise.
Posted Sep 19, 2025
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3/4
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The Long Walk
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Despite a number of narrative holes, The Long Walk succeeds largely on the strength of its performances.
Posted Sep 15, 2025
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2/4
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Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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While the film does deliver a few solid laughs (though none that truly hit an 11), it ultimately falls flat, feeling less like a theatrical mockumentary and more like an overlong streaming special.
Posted Sep 13, 2025
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2.5/4
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Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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There is no conceivable reason why anyone unfamiliar with Downton Abbey would choose to see this film—and if they did, they would likely drift into sleep from a mix of confusion and boredom.
Posted Sep 11, 2025
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2.5/4
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The Conjuring: Last Rites
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Like James Wan before him, Chaves drenches the story in darkness and dread. The difference is that Wan heightened the terror enough to keep audiences on edge, whereas Chaves’ ponderous approach drags the pace and drains the scares.
Posted Sep 05, 2025
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3/4
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Caught Stealing
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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Caught Stealing gives [Darren Aronofsky] the right canvas, and he delivers with enough style to lift the film above the B-movie neo-noir roots of its screenplay.
Posted Sep 02, 2025
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2.5/4
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The Roses
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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There are moments when The Roses works (mostly in the second half), but it lingers too long in setup and concludes with an ending that proves unsatisfying on several levels. Ultimately, The Roses needs fewer flowers and more combat.
Posted Aug 28, 2025
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2.5/4
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Eden
(2024)
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James Berardinelli
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...the fictional flourishes dilute some of the story’s lingering mystery. Yet for all its flaws, there remains something hypnotic in this descent into madness...
Posted Aug 25, 2025
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3/4
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Honey Don't!
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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The film is a cheesy, delicious mess that succeeds on multiple levels—from its shocking deaths and over-the-top performances to its unabashed mix of sex and female nudity, a rarity in 2020s cinema. It’s playful, prurient, and refreshingly unpretentious.
Posted Aug 22, 2025
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2.5/4
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Nobody 2
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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It’s an okay movie if all you want is an everyman dad doing superhero-ish things while getting beaten up along the way, but it’s neither as wildly entertaining nor as exhilarating as its predecessor.
Posted Aug 18, 2025
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3.5/4
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Dog Day Afternoon
(1975)
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James Berardinelli
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Dog Day Afternoon is a powder keg of roiling tension, with violence threatening to erupt at any moment.
Posted Aug 14, 2025
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2/4
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Freakier Friday
(2025)
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James Berardinelli
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The movie is neither sufficiently funny nor charming to warrant attention. It doesn't have much of a story to tell, and many of the things that worked (to one degree or another) in Freaky Friday fall flat here.
Posted Aug 11, 2025
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