Category: GENRE
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The Nutcracker And The Four Realms [2018] ★★½
Familiar as though it may be, there’s something charming and irresistible about Disney’s version of “The Nutcracker”. From the beautiful production design to the eye-popping visuals, I was in constant awe. Here’s a movie that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen possible, even if the story borrows a lot from other Disney films…
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Halloween [2018] ★★★
First some background: the original 1978 “Halloween” movie is highly regarded as a classic in the horror genre. So much in fact that it was followed by 7 sequels and a reboot in 2007 (which in turn had a sequel as well). Most of these films were mediocre at best, which brings me to “Halloween…
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Private Life [2018] ★★★
At last a good Netflix film. I know I’ve expressed my dissatisfaction with their recent releases, but as soon as I saw Paul Giamatti’s name in the credits, I knew this movie would be at least decent. And I wasn’t wrong: this is a solid adult drama, very reminiscent of Woody Allen movies and featuring…
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![First Man [2018] ★★★½](https://tlkabtmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/first_man.jpg?w=477)
First Man [2018] ★★★½
You’d think a movie about Neil Armstrong, the first man to step on the moon, would be your typical Hollywood blockbuster. That’s where director Damien Chazelle steps in, by making this trip to the moon a personal journey, fueled with superior performances, beautiful cinematography, and a quietly profound score by Justin Hurwitz. Chazelle and Hurwitz…
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Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween [2018] ★★½
It was never going to top the 2015 original, and if we’re being completely honest, this sequel isn’t as memorable. But it gets the job done, especially if you’re watching it around Halloween season with your family. Jack Black stole the show in the first movie as writer R.L Stine, who wrote so many best-selling…
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Hereditary [2018] ★★★½
I’ve heard the buzz, but nothing could have prepared me for “Hereditary”, a brilliant horror movie that ranks as one of the best films of the year. It’s incredible to think that there’s still room for originality in an already exhausted genre. But first time writer-director Ari Aster had other ideas. His movie gets in your…
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The Wife [2018] ★★★
As if we needed more proof of her talent, Glenn Close delivers a masterful performance as the wife of a renowned author (Jonathan Pryce), who is about to receive the Nobel prize for Literature. Over the course of a couple of days in Stockholm, old wounds are reopened and secrets are revealed, as we begin…
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A Star Is Born [2018] ★★★½
Bradley Cooper has managed to do the impossible: take an old-fashioned Hollywood story that’s been done and redone so many times before (in 1937, 1954 and 1976), hire Lady Gaga to play the lead, and turn it into one of the best films of the year. In many ways, “A Star is Born” pays tribute…
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Venom [2018] ★★
First the good news: “Venom” isn’t as bad as some early reviews led me to believe. The “Catwoman” comparison caught me off guard, but now that I’ve seen it, I can definitely vouch for “Venom”. Unlike Halle Berry, Tom Hardy makes a believable Eddie Brock, the everyday reporter who turns into Venom following a lab…
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Night School [2018] ★★½
It’s not original in any way, but “Night School” has the most important ingredient of them all: Kevin Hart. I wasn’t thrilled with the early reviews, but having seen it myself, I can already categorize it as a “guilty pleasure”, the kind you find yourself coming back to every now and then. Hart plays a…
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The House With A Clock In Its Walls [2018] ★★½
If you’ve seen Jack Black in “Goosebumps”, then you probably know what to expect from “The House With a Clock in its Walls”, a fun-filled family film with a dose of “spooky” to keep the adults just as entertained. Black is in top form once again as good old uncle Jonathan, who takes in his…
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Johnny English Strikes Again [2018] ★★
Since it feels rushed and has no real beginning and no end, I’m going to cut right to the chase: “Johnny English Strikes Again” feels like leftovers from the previous films. You can’t convince me that it took 7 years to come up with…this. To be fair, I did laugh a few times, and it’s…
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![Searching [2018] ★★★½](https://tlkabtmovies.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/searching_ver3.jpg?w=509)
Searching [2018] ★★★½
It took 9 months, but the best thriller of the year is finally here. The gripping, nerve-frying suspense in this movie will pin you to your seat. And yet, movies like “Searching” are so easy to get wrong (hello, “Unfriended”, “Friend request” and other films of the same genre). That it manages to take a…
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Final Score [2018] ★½
It baffles me that movies like “Final Score” still exist in 2018 on the big screen. This type of action movies should go straight to DVD, where no one can hear you utter the following words “Fuck this movie”. “Final Score” pretty much rips off “Die Hard” and stars WWE’s Dave Bautista as an ex-soldier…
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A Simple Favor [2018] ★★
“Weird” doesn’t even begin to describe “A Simple Favor”. When I first saw the trailer over a month ago, I was instantly hooked. I guess you could describe it as a mix between “Gone Girl” and a Hitchcock movie. That was my first reaction at least. But nothing could have prepared me for one of…
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Capharnaüm [2018] ★★★
It took one film back in 2007 to put Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki on the international map permanently. Now she’s back with a new film that’s unlike anything she’s done before. “Capharnaüm” is Labaki’s third feature film as a director, and she shot it in documentary-like fashion, making us believe her “actors” aren’t playing characters…
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The Predator [2018] ★★½
I gotta be honest with you folks: I didn’t expect to have so much fun with this movie. While the original 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is highly regarded as a classic in the action genre, the sequels/spinoffs were pretty terrible (except 2010’s “Predators” which was pretty entertaining). Enter director Shane Black, who, incidentally, has…
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5 Underappreciated Hitchcock Movies
Here’s another post that has been on my mind for a while. Quite often, I hear people mentioning “Vertigo”, “Rear Window” and “Psycho” as soon as we start talking about Alfred Hitchcock. But here’s a man that directed 57 movies over the course of 54 years. Having watched most of these movies, I’ve decided to…
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Peppermint [2018] ★★
I left the theater wondering if this movie should have been a TV series instead. There is enough material here to fill out a 10-episode Netflix show, which makes the movie itself feel oddly unfinished. But at least I can start on a positive note: Jennifer Garner is well-cast as a mother who witnesses the…
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Alpha [2018] ★★½
It’s an age old tale: prehistoric man meets man’s best friend for the very first time, and the rest, as they say, is history. That’s the story at the core of “Alpha”, a familiar but visually stunning film that has to be experienced on the biggest screen possible. Director Albert Hughes knows that his material…
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