I'll be honest. I almost gave this a 2.5 strictly because of the ridiculously corny red dude.
3.5 out of 5
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Adagat Blog
Carol, and The Company That Made It
A review of the 2015 film Carol, and the unexpected cultural impact it has on cinema.
They’re right there, emerging from the darkness, before the movie even has a chance to explain itself. Those big three letters: TWC.
I can’t help but notice the big TWC letters at the beginning of many recent films I’ve been catching up on. The (now disgraced) Weinstein Compa...
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Micro Review – The Shape of Water
This shouldn’t work. But it does. It’s a movie about a mute woman who meets an amphibious/man creature. I’m not a huge Del Toro fan, but The Shape of Water is charming, it’s relevant. It’s strange, and magical, and romantic. The musical score is fantastical and lovely. I think part of what makes this movie feel magical – like a messed up fairy tale – is the way it...
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Micro Review – 10 Cloverfield Lane
What if the crazy doomsday prepper who kidnapped you was actually right about the apocalypse? That’s the question Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s character grapples with in this locked-room thriller. This was not really what I was expecting from this movie. I apparently didn’t know anything about it when I started watching it, which is often the best way to watch ...
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Review – Phantom Thread
I think this might be brilliant. After finishing it, all I could do was think back over the course of the entire movie, picking it apart in my mind, trying to remember why something happened, or what something looked like, or how something sounded, what something might have tasted like. I feel like I not only HAVE to see this movie again, but I WANT to see it agai...
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Micro Review – A Ghost Story
I can’t remember a recent movie in which I vacillated so much between despising it and finding it bizarrely endearing. I love the ambition here. But I’m not sure it totally lives up to what the filmmaker was trying to do. There are some wonderful scenes, particularly in the latter half of the film. But the beginning’s long stretches of sustained awkwardness make it diffic...
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Micro Review – The Lost City of Z
I enjoy period pieces, and I enjoy exploration/adventure tales. This film has both of those things. The fact that this is based on a true story makes it all the more compelling. To go along with the Heart of Darkness-style journey through the dangerous Amazonian jungle, there are deep undertones of very relevant concepts from today's social climate (genderism, racism,...
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Micro Review – Baby Driver
File this one under the “incredibly fun to watch” category. If I recall correctly, when this came out there was an attempt to make it seem like something bigger than just an entertainment flick. Or maybe not – maybe I am misremembering, or confusing the attention that it got. Either way, it’s not bigger than an entertainment flick. It’s a fun car chase movie, with some real...
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Micro Review – Blade Runner 2049
What a visually stunning movie. One of the best-looking movies I’ve seen recently. It somehow manages to retain the feel of the original film while also staying cutting edge and gritty. It’s probably a bit too long. And the plot feels convoluted at times, mostly because it’s trying to be abstract. If there’s not another sequel in the works, I’d question some of the story el...
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Review – Call Me By Your Name
This is a film that stimulates the senses. It takes place in Italy, in the summer, in 1983. You can feel the sweat beading on your neck and navel, you can hear the trickle of fountains and the chirping of birds, you can smell the apricots in the trees and the summer breeze skipping across the watering holes. This is a film that transports you into its atmosphere. It’s a fil...
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