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Abe Friedtanzer
Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:
Abe Friedtanzer is a film and TV enthusiast who has been predicting the Oscars, Emmys, Golden Globes, and SAG Awards since he was allowed to stay up late enough to watch them. He is currently the Awards Editor at Awards Buzz and a contributor for several other outlets. He has attended numerous film festivals including Sundance, TIFF, and SXSW, and travels frequently around the US with his wife and his daughter.
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Sharp Corner (2024) |
Like passing by a car crash, it’s hard to look away even if this protagonist seems intent on running towards – and very often helping to cause or at least hoping for – danger. - Cinema Daily US
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| Posted Sep 17, 2024
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Bird (2024) |
Arnold has done it again, delivering a masterful, beautiful film about growing up too fast. - Cinema Daily US
Read More
| Posted Sep 15, 2024
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The Shrouds (2024) |
The Shrouds engages with many ideas and packs them into a head-spinning slow-burn thriller that manages to remain unpredictable and thoroughly involving throughout. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 15, 2024
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Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight (2024) |
Davidtz has a clear directorial vision that comes through in how she hones in on the complexities of these characters and the chaos of the era. It’s a strong debut indicative of great potential for her next feature. - The Film Experience
Read More
| Posted Sep 15, 2024
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Nightbitch (2024) |
This film is, above all, a vehicle for Adams, who turns in a bare and unfiltered performance. It’s very much unlike so many of the characters she’s played before. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 15, 2024
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Bring Them Down (2024) |
Like its main characters, this film can be bleak and uninviting. But it does manage to remain focused and should serve to keep the attention of audiences. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 15, 2024
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The Return (2024) |
This is a worthwhile story about fatherhood, family, and community, but this adaptation doesn’t dig too deep to reveal anything new about an ancient and widely-read tale. - Cinema Daily US
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| Posted Sep 15, 2024
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Riff Raff (2024) |
Riff Raff is good fun about bad people almost getting what they deserve, a perfectly enjoyable if relatively forgettable use of time. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 14, 2024
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On Swift Horses (2024) |
On Swift Horses is all about dreams and reality, and it offers a compelling version of both thanks to its visuals and talented ensemble. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2024
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The Barbarians (2024) |
Thanks to its unserious approach, this film is able to navigate more serious themes and extract meaning from outreach and collaboration. It reaches unexpected dramatic heights while still keeping things light and funny. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2024
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Addition (2024) |
This film is light and entertaining, with just enough drama mixed in to make sure it feels emphatic and not just like fluff. - The Film Experience
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2024
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A Missing Part (2024) |
This drama is an affirming and occasionally uplifting look at a fleeting chance at something that feels impossible with a magnetic lead character to anchor its poignant story. - Cinema Daily US
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2024
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Shell (2024) |
Though it’s not always pleasant to watch, this film isn’t quite as gross or difficult to stomach as it initially seems, and it’s a fun if not entirely sophisticated ride. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2024
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Millers in Marriage (2024) |
The ensemble enhances an enjoyable film that has its signature dramatic moments too, an engaging picture of life past the point many continue to wonder where happiness might still come someday. - Cinema Daily US
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2024
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Saturday Night (2024) |
Those entirely unfamiliar with all the people portrayed – an unlikely event – should still find it sufficiently entertaining due to the nonstop antics; they just won’t have the added benefit of particular references. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2024
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Emilia Perez (2024) |
There’s plenty going on beneath the surface but just as much happening in the main storyline... it’s a bold and considerable undertaking that reaches far and achieves a great deal. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2024
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Queer (2024) |
The visuals and music choices in Queer are undeniably deliberate and effective, but its structure and pacing leave much to be desired. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2024
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Babygirl (2024) |
It doesn’t hold back on its content but also doesn’t feel any more gratuitous than the behavior in which its characters are engaging for their own pleasure. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2024
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Unstoppable (2024) |
This sports drama works fine but does little to enhance an already worthwhile premise. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2024
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The Piano Lesson (2024) |
This story has many layers to it, and it’s fascinating to watch the characters interact as tensions rise in a confined setting. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2024
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Without Blood (2024) |
There’s nothing inherently bad about what this film does showcase, but it could very easily have been much tighter and more worthwhile as a thirty-minute short. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2024
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Happy Holidays (2024) |
Copti is back with another film that feels very much like his first, probing the complexities of multicultural society in a country that’s very often in the news but not always portrayed in such an authentic and vivid manner. - The Film Experience
Read More
| Posted Sep 13, 2024
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Conclave (2024) |
Conclave takes many big swings and manages to land them all, delivering what will surely be one of the most memorable and satisfying cinematic experiences of the year. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 11, 2024
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Eden (2024) |
Not everything works in Eden, an immersive experience populated by such despicable people that seem so motivated by self-sabotage that it’s difficult to connect with their journey. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 11, 2024
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The Wild Robot (2024) |
The Wild Robot tells a sweet tale that should prove winning with any audience, adapting the popular books by Peter Brown and using beautiful animation to make it a soaring cinematic experience. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 11, 2024
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We Live in Time (2024) |
Pugh and Garfield possess the necessary star power to elevate this film to the next level, a worthwhile if not necessary meditation on relationships and time. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 10, 2024
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Quisling - The Final Days (2024) |
A standard drama that offers an unexpectedly layered and insightful look into a figure who history most definitely does not remember well. - The Film Experience
Read More
| Posted Sep 10, 2024
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Can I Get a Witness? (2024) |
Fleming’s film is a thoughtful meditation on what we do while we live and why we do it, asking questions by showing how people react in given situations. - Cinema Daily US
Read More
| Posted Sep 10, 2024
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Ka Whawhai Tonu (2024) |
Ka Whawhai Tonu is an immersive film that transports audiences back in time, conveying the stakes of this standoff and the way in which it mirrors so many other situations of colonialism where invading forces are so sure of their superiority. - The Film Experience
Read More
| Posted Sep 10, 2024
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Relay (2024) |
Its beat is superb, and it rarely lets up for the entirety of its run. There’s a great deal of suspense and the film always stays at least one step ahead of its viewer, ready to provide a new enticing twist or development to ensure full engagement. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 10, 2024
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The Cut (2024) |
The Cut is not an easy watch, but it does demand attention, hurtling towards a questionable finish that only underlines its core message as a cautionary tale. - Cinema Daily US
Read More
| Posted Sep 09, 2024
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The Assessment (2024) |
This vision of the future is extremely inventive and imaginative, and while there’s plenty of comedy to be found in the ways these absurd tests are administered, this film proves truly resounding in its dark underbelly that isn’t easy to shake. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 09, 2024
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The Fire Inside (2024) |
Morrison, Oscar-nominated for her cinematography work on Mudbound, has a clear directorial vision that speaks to her many years behind the camera. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 09, 2024
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The Life of Chuck (2024) |
There’s creativity layered all throughout it to make it an experience that should linger long after act one concludes and audiences remain invited to decipher the many puzzle pieces it offers. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 09, 2024
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William Tell (2024) |
This action film – which it is more than anything, complete with hand-to-hand combat, skilled archery, and bloody battle amputations – boasts a top-tier cast of English and European talent. - The Film Experience
Read More
| Posted Sep 09, 2024
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Oh Canada (2024) |
There’s much to be unpacked from this combination of conflicting stories, and Schrader leaves a good deal of that work to audiences after the credits roll. - Cinema Daily US
Read More
| Posted Sep 09, 2024
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All of You (2024) |
Goldstein and Poots are well-matched and have extraordinary chemistry...There’s plenty to like about these characters and just as much to give viewers caution. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 08, 2024
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Kill the Jockey (2024) |
A film with a superb beat that feels like a long dream, demonstrating a terrific cinematic quality that makes an otherwise familiar story entirely distinct and memorable. - The Film Experience
Read More
| Posted Sep 07, 2024
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The Luckiest Man in America (2024) |
Hauser is the perfect choice to play this role, with just enough charm to make Larson feel believable and not too over-the-top while simultaneously offering clues that he’s not saying everything about who he really is. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 07, 2024
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The Last Showgirl (2024) |
This is, above all else, a chance for Anderson to rebrand herself with the role of a lifetime. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 07, 2024
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Hard Truths (2024) |
This film is a laugh riot. Jean-Baptiste is firing on all cylinders, lobbing insult after insult at anyone who crosses her path. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 07, 2024
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The Mountain (2024) |
This feels like exactly the kind of film that House would make given the comedy work she typically does, though it is perfectly family-friendly... it has heart and a delightful larger-than-life nature. - The Film Experience
Read More
| Posted Sep 07, 2024
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Hemda (2024) |
These roles feel lived in in the best way, and this film adds just the right infusion of humor to make its depiction of life’s less messier moments endearing. - The Film Experience
Read More
| Posted Sep 07, 2024
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The Brutalist (2024) |
The technical elements of this daunting undertaking are all excellent, painting a picture of life for these immigrants in a place that isn’t home. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 07, 2024
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Nutcrackers (2024) |
This film provides solid entertainment even if it doesn’t take any risks or add anything cinematically inventive. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 06, 2024
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Matt and Mara (2024) |
This film is short but emphatic and inviting, a fascinating slice of life that lingers long after the credits roll. - Cinema Daily US
Read More
| Posted Sep 06, 2024
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The Substance (2024) |
Fargeat’s second feature is a haunting meditation on beauty standards and the lengths people will go to in order to look young and stay relevant, executed in a manner that couldn’t be any further from meditation. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 06, 2024
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And Mrs (2024) |
An enjoyable experience that packs a surprising emotional punch, depicting a make-the-best-of-it situation that audiences will surely hope never to live for themselves but will likely very much enjoy watching. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Sep 02, 2024
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Greedy People (2024) |
The degrees of complexity involved feel appropriate for the length of the film, allowing for just enough intrigue and resolution without making it all overstuffed. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Aug 21, 2024
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Close to You (2023) |
Close to You offers an enduring and productive window into a terrifying return back to a place from the past that may be dangerous. - Awards Buzz
Read More
| Posted Aug 19, 2024
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