From the outset of meeting Laura (Paula Beer), she seems lost and adrift. Peering over the railing of the highway while cars honk in passing, it’s unclear what she is doing here, nor what she plans to do. Mirrors No.…
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Online discourse would rather pluck low-hanging fruit than take seriously exhaustively researched sociological data, which is why wading into the subject of male loneliness is less preferable than riding a bicycle without a seat. Men are, in fact, lonely, for…
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The concept of Jury Duty is predicated on "high risk, high reward." Creators Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky gambled that an ordinary person would take the dramatic twists and deeply funny antics of a jury duty gone wrong at face…
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Academy Award winner Riz Ahmed’s new Prime Video series Bait opens with a scene that's almost painfully recognizable. With Ahmed's character, Shah Latif, standing on a lavish movie set while playing a version of James Bond for an audition, it’s…
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In writer/director Gregory Hatanaka’s One Hour Girlfriend, an isolated man named Richard (Chris Spinelli) contracts with an agency to send a companion to his home for an hour, agreeing to pay $100K for her time. Melina (Sofia Papuashvili) arrives, unaware that…
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The limited series Vladimir is as an unusual hybrid of dark comedy, psychological drama, and academic satire. Adapted from the novel by Julia May Jonas, the eight-episode series follows a middle-aged literature professor whose carefully constructed life begins to fracture…
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As far as adaptations go, I’ve never viewed any source material as sacred, including The Bible. While a faithful adaptation is always welcome, I’m open to a filmmaker leaving their signature on a classic story, especially one that’s been told…
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For a solid decade, starting in the late 2000s with Disney’s charming fairytale comedy “Enchanted” all the way to Denis Villeneuve’s melancholy sci-fi “Arrival,” it was easy to trust Amy Adams, a six-time Academy Award nominee. Then, somewhere around Ron…
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Ever since the Scream franchise helped put him on the map, Mason Gooding has been a great talent to watch. The genre-bending slasher Heart Eyes is still his best non-franchise role yet, but he's also branched outside of horror in…
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Animated fish films have been done. Finding Nemo. Shark Tale. Ponyo. So to hear about another doesn't feel like anything new. However, The Pout-Pout Fish, starring Nick Offerman as a grumpy ocean pout named Mr. Fish, is a little different.…
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Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for The Rookie Season 8, Episode 10.It's crucial for procedurals to come up with a winning formula that entices viewers to tune in every week. But it's just as important for these types of…
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Walking into Scream 7, I wasn’t sure if this entry would be a new reinvention. I know I wanted tension. I know I wanted that uneasy calm before the snap. And most of all, I wanted to see why Sidney…
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