PTA Filmography Series Part 1: Hard Eight

Hard Eight sometimes feels like one of those creative exercises where you're given a prompt - just the start of a story - and then you have to fill in the rest. It feels borrowed. Like a dozen popular 90's movies all rolled into one. And yet it doesn't feel too full. It feels kind of incomplete, actually. Like we only got part of a story. And yet I still liked it. I l...
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Micro Review – Vice

I've gone back and forth on this movie so many times, between a 3.5 and a 4. It's more like a 3.75. I liked it, but it wasn't always a pleasant experience. Maybe that's just because Christian Bale does SUCH a good job portraying Dick Cheney. And Dick Cheney isn't exactly an exciting or pleasant person to watch for 2 hours and 12 minutes. But it was a unique take on the bio...
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Review – Mission Impossible: Fallout

I've seen a lot buzz about this installment of M:I. Some say it's the franchise's best. I've even seen people say it's one of the best action movies of all time. But let's pump the brakes a bit. Yes, this is a kickass action movie. The set pieces are incredible, the action scenes fluid and clever. It's fun to watch Tom Cruise do crazy things and know that he did his own...
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Review – Black Mirror: Bandersnatch

The interactive stuff was kind of fun to play around with. But the story itself is just not as satisfying as it could have been. It's tough dealing with a gimmick like this, because the story is always what suffers. But overall, it was still pretty enjoyable. There was some fun meta stuff going on. I played around with different narrative choices and different endings,...
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Micro Review – Hereditary

Hereditary is a disturbing horror film with expertly crafted suspense. It’s uncomfortable to watch at times, and yet at others you can’t help but feel an immense sadness for these characters. For most of the movie, we’re more focused on the intense guilt and grief that this family is going through, which helps give it a bit more depth than is normally present in the genre....
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Micro Review – Support the Girls

Regina Hall stands out in this low-fi workplace dramady. And there are good contributions from Haley Lu Richardson and Junglepussy too (yes, that's the name she goes by - her real name is Shayna McHale). It's a decent movie, funny at times, and it has an intriguing underlying commentary on gender roles and workplace politics. It's got something to say about a very American...
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Micro Review – Tully

I don't know if I've seen a movie that so accurately captures the insanity of parenthood like Tully does. I found myself laughing at non-funny moments in this film, purely because of the realism (and ridiculousness) of it all. Charlize Theron and Mackenzie Davis are both great. If I wasn't a parent, I'd probably think they overdid things a bit. It's pretty harrowing at tim...
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Micro Review – Unsane

It’s difficult to express my thoughts on Unsane without spoiling it...But I'll take a shot. Soderbergh is a master filmmaker, capable of making whatever type of movie he wants. And he’s at the point now in his career where he’s just doing what stimulates him creatively. As you’re watching Unsane, it’s easy to forget that this movie was shot completely on iPhones. That was ...
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Micro Review – Outlaw King

  I don't think this movie wants to be an appendage to Braveheart. But that's what it is. It picks up where Braveheart left off, following Robert the Bruce in his morally questionable journey to unite Scotland and free it from British rule (the goal is not morally questionable, but the actions he takes to achieve this goal certainly are). I keep going back and forth...
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Review – American Made

  There’s been this new drama/action thriller genre over the past couple decards. I’ve come to think of these movies as Icarus Movies. They’re “Based on a True Story” movies, where an American risk-taker gets sucked into an international criminal enterprise, gets caught up in the lavish lifestyle, flies too close to the sun, and then ultimately gets caught. Sometime...
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