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Champion 1949
Surprisingly cynical story about an aspiring boxer from the wrong side of the tracks (Kirk Douglas) who eventually becomes a champion. The story is dark because the “hero” is really an anti-hero who cares only about his own success and doesn’t worry about who he hurts along the way. As a result, Champion ends up having the vibe of a classical tragedy, where the drama mainly focuses on the main character’s flaws,
Douglas is very convincing in the main role,…
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Red Dawn 1984
Red Dawn has an A-plus premise—the Soviet Union invades the United States, and a group of small-town teenagers run to the wilderness and band together to survive. This could have been some fun popcorn entertainment—say, The Breakfast Club meets Rambo: First Blood. Alas, the script is terrible, dreary and dull, focusing primarily on the specifics of the larger guerilla warfare efforts, rather than on the dynamic between the teenagers. And the direction is even worse—despite the all-star cast (Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, Lea…
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Nosferatu 2024
Self-important and ponderous remake of Murnau’s Nosferatu (1922), with more nudity and orgasmic flailing but less narrative coherence. The connection between Count Orlok (Bill Skarsgard) and Ellen (Lily-Rose Depp) is underdeveloped and largely unexplained, and the Count is a hugely disappointing villain—all grotesque body makeup and no flair or charm. The rest of the movie is similarly humorless, and I didn’t even think that it looked good (too many shadows obscuring the action). All in all, this was a real slog.
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Anora 2024
Based on the one-sentence logline, I wasn’t especially excited to see Anora, despite all of the buzz. And the first 45 minutes were about what I expected, except with a lot more nudity and lap dancing. But then the story shifts with the introduction of three new characters, including the wonderful Igor (Oscar nominee Yura Borisov), and the movie becomes something else entirely.
I really enjoyed watching this, and it felt honest and true throughout, even though it was sometimes achingly…
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