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Recent reviews

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  F for Fake 1973

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  Originally meant by François Reichenbach to be a real documentary until its subject turned out to be a fraud, F For Fake was restructured by Orson Welles into a celebration of trickery, a labyrinthian fake meta-documentary about a fake artist, the forger Elmyr de Hory, described by a fake writer, the hoax biographer Clifford Irving, and framed by the self-admitted fake superstar genius. By sharing the intersecting character of Howard Hughes, the blurring boundary of reality and illusion and the…

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  Barbie 2023

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  Not superficial enough for flaws to showcase its self-critique nor complex enough to be above its brand’s limitations, Barbie follows up on Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach’s reputation for nuanced coming-of-age dramas unafraid to linger on their young women’s mess of unresolved emotions with a campy existentialist meta-comedy which struggles to reconcile being both a toy commercial and a meaningful deconstruction of its titular 64-year-old IP, capitalism, gender, identity and self-worth.

  Just as Ken’s origin story mirrors the creation myth…

Popular reviews

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  The Last Duel 2021

  Added

  "We couldn't help ourselves."
  -Jacques Le Gris

  Subverting its Rashomon-inspired structure with a lack of major deviations from the shared truth, The Last Duel emphasizes the unjustly linear perception of women as property, like the capital and land which catalyze the conflict.

  Despite Le Gris’ overriding entitlement, Lady Marguerite is clearly shown to have been raped, even from his perspective.

  Justice for an assaulted woman's life then rests on two men fighting not to stand up for her but for their pride. While Marguerite is spared, the misogyny around her perpetuates itself, co-opting her battle into its framework of glory.

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  The Falcon and the Winter Soldier 2021

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  "Not a perfect soldier, but a good man."
  -Abraham Erskine

  Exploring the moral and legal grey areas of the Blip's bureaucratic fallout, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier celebrates and challenges Steve Rogers's legacy, symbolised by the shield and its different perceptions. As America tries to fill his absence while Karli Morgenthau and Isaiah Bradley expose the pain and history it neglected, flawed characters with differing agendas struggle against each other and the shield.

  Like Erskine in Captain America: The…

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