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Oldboy (2003)
The 2003 film Oldboy (Oldeuboi), a Korean production directed by Park Chan-wook, is one of those disturbing explorations of humanity that leaves you with something akin to a post-Lynchian (good Lynch) hangover that lingers for several months after viewing (for context I saw the movie in September of 2018 and I am still processing it).…
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If Beale Street Could Talk
Barry Jenkins and Damien Chazelle both directed Oscar-nominated movies this year. The last time that happened was in 2017 when Chazelle’s La La Land was mistakenly announced as the Best Picture winner only to be supplanted by the true Best Picture winner — Jenkins’ Moonlight. The debacle was a distraction from what should have been…
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Mandy
Who is Nicolas Cage? Oscar-winning actor? Charming leading man? The king of rage? The answer of course is all of the above. His nearly four decade career has run the gamut. He’s been acclaimed and panned. He’s made hits and straight-to-DVD misses. But through it all, Cage is still making movies and we’re still talking…
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Klute
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Ghost in the Shell (1995)
In post-war Japan, rebuilding quickly meant embracing new technologies. Every decade brought more advancements and a deeper integration of burgeoning computer power. The high-tech future, always a part of Japanese popular imagination, became a source for hope, international competition, and national pride for a people still under the thumb of Western powers. In the 1980s Japan experience a…
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Netflix and Chill
Several months ago Buzzfeed came out with a “literal video” of sorts, the topic Netflix and Chill — a synonym for fooling around. It is hard to say what the exact relationship is between streaming movies and/or television, relaxing (what else would you be doing?), and coitus (or lesser sexual acts). This sort of behavior…
