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This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection
If faith can give meaning to one’s life, conversely, losing the meaning of life can make one lose faith. We may look at the heroine of This is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection, Mantoa, an old widow who first suffers from bereavement and then eviction with all her neighbors. In this plight, what does…
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A Hidden Life
Have you ever watched a movie that hit you so squarely it left you without words? I don’t remember the last time I felt that way about a movie. I’ve watched some great films, but discussion seemed so natural and readily available almost before the credits began rolling. I have not hidden my personal sentiments…
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Just Mercy
Reproductive justice. Climate justice. Food justice. Social justice. Append the word “justice” to any other word and you’ve got a ready-made brand platform for niche activism. As cultural forces shape the meaning of words over time, they risk losing their specificity and sharpness. The word “justice” risks dissipating into a partisan nebula. Depending which side…
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Parasite
As protests spring up worldwide and economic populism becomes the defining politic of the moment, it was only a matter of time before a film tapped into the zeitgeist. That film is Parasite. The movie, directed by Bong Joon-Ho, nabbed the Palm d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, opened in wide release across the…
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Ad Astra
I entered the film Ad Astra (or “to the stars”) not really knowing what to expect other than it was another Brad Pitt vehicle. Almost coincident to his star turn with great reviews in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, Pitt is also featured in this film. Would it be a cheap knock-off science…
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I lost my body (J’ai perdu mon corps)
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Joker
No film in recent memory has been as polarizing as Joker. A scroll through Rotten Tomatoes reveals a spectrum of reactions ranging from the highest praise of the year to anger that the movie was even made. One thing’s for sure though: everyone has seen it. Joker is officially the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time…
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Booksmart
Booksmart has been on our radar since its release in May. With a 97% Rotten Tomatoes score, it’s one of the best-reviewed films of the year. But now, it’s our turn. Does the movie live up to the hype? Booksmart is the directorial debut of actress Olivia Wilde. Whatever faults Wilde brings to her first…
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The Last Black Man in San Francisco
At the end of the day, we’re all just looking for a place to call home. Movies have long wrestled with this sentiment and not just in a physical sense. Hitchcock’s characters don’t trust the people closest to them, and are often punished when they do. Kubrick finds humanity and depravity in the cosmos just…
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Once Upon a Time In Hollywood
The ninth film from Quentin Tarantino is now playing, and it’s filled to the brim with everything you love or hate about his movies. When Once Upon a Time In Hollywood was first announced, we admittedly feared the worst. A Tarantino film about the Manson murders? Gulp. But the end result is guaranteed to surprise…
