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Whalefall

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Whalefall Starring Austin Abrams, Josh Brolin, Elisabeth Shue, John Ortiz Directed by Brian Duffield Anyone who's been to church as a child knows the story of Jonah. A prophet of God sent to Nineveh to preach repentance instead cowers and runs away, only to be swallowed up by a great fish (many misinterpret it as a literal whale) where he spends three days and nights inside it before repenting and God causing the fish to vomit him out. "Whalefall," in many ways, feels like a modern day equivalent of this tale: a wayward son, an overbearing father, and a great fish that causes the son to learn a valuable lesson. Jay Gardiner (Austin Abrams) was never close to his seafaring father Mitt (Josh Brolin), who always seemed to insult Jay and treat him harshly, especially compared to his two daughters. This causes Jay to resent and hate his father, leading him from his home in California to Idaho for school. However, after his father comes down with an incurable disease, instead o...
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Other Mommy

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Other Mommy Starring Jessica Chastain, Jay Duplass, Arabella Olivia Clark, Karen Allen Directed by Rob Savage During "The Odyssey" they played this trailer that I saw for the first time, and it was very unnerving. I wasn't expecting it to be so unhinged after the opening moments and was pleasantly surprised and a movie that immediately became something I was excited to see. While some trailers give away everything, this was merely the opening of the movie - but, sadly, also the best part of the movie. What follows is a thinly written story that doesn't flush out any characters and provides more jump scares and adrenaline-fueled chases, with shoddy CGI, but a capable duel performance by Jessica Chastain and a young child actress that didn't make me want the worst for her, so those are pluses. Seven-year-old Bella Martin (Arabella Olivia Clark) sees "other Mommy" frequently, an entity that takes on the image of her mother Ursula (Jessica Chastain) and love...
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Onslaught

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Onslaught Starring Adria Arjona, Dan Stevens, Reginald VelJohnson, Alex Pereira Directed by Adam Wingard "Onslaught" is one of those unique movies where its mileage depends on your love of classic 80s horror/action movies. If you love them and want to see an updated version, this movie is right up your alley - but if you think those type of movies have outlived their shelf life, then you'll find this more of the same. Personally, I thought it fell somewhere in the middle - a great throwback to the classics, but despite its use of gore and violence, it still felt a bit held back. Still, the third act more than makes up for a sluggish start even if it concludes a bit too conveniently.  Former Nazi scientist Dr. Hans Kammler (Dan Stevens) has bred the perfect soldier: pulling three former military soldiers and turning them into mindless super soldiers led by The Butcher (Alex Pereira) who can feel no pain, no fear, and don't give up until everyone around them is dead. Af...
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By Any Means

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By Any Means Starring Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Mark Wahlberg, Nicole Beharie, Giancarlo Esposito Directed by Elegance Bratton Movie trailers should make you excited to see a movie, but "By Any Means" had the reverse effect on me: it seemed like a total by-the-numbers period piece about racism in the South and how two mismatched men managed to find justice. Although based on a true story, as always, the truth is oftentimes left behind, and what we get is a decently performed movie that ticks off every box on the "racism in the 60s was bad" checklist, with an odd mixture of too serious and over-the-top antics. In Hattiesburg, Mississippi  in 1966, civil rights activist Vernon Dahmer (Giancarlo Esposito) is murdered by Klansmen when he offers to pay for Black people to vote. Special FBI Agent Wayne Strider (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), who just returned home after working in Chicago, takes the case - and as one of the first African American FBI agents, he has his hands full i...
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April X

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April X Starring Connor Storrie, Lilly Krug, Tudor Chirila, Serban Pavlu Directed by Michel K. Parandi Very rare does a movie appear in cinemas that I've never heard of, and "April X" is one such film. Despite the countless times I've been to the movies and seen countless more trailers, I never saw one for this movie. After about ten minutes in, I understood why - no one wanted to waste money advertising a film this epically lackluster. The only reason anyone would watch this movie would be to see "Heated Rivalry" standout Connor Storrie as the leading role, but for his first leading role he's proven that he is indeed just a pretty face and no discernible acting talent. In the future, brother and sister Baxter (Connor Storrie) and April (Lilly Krug) are surviving by doing shady work - Baxter as a black market grifter and April as someone who records her dreams and sells them to a local gangster. When April goes missing, Baxter relies on April's dream...
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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom

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Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom Starring Justin Fletcher, John Sparkes, Nina Sosanya, Kate Harbour Directed by Steve Cox & Matthew Walker I've never seen a "Shaun the Sheep" movie or show, or its parent series "Wallace & Grombit," but I know they've been highly praised for their humor, animation, and stories that touch young and old alike. So when Shaun returned to the big screen in a Halloween-themed movie just in time for the holidays, I decided it was about time to see what the fuss was all about. While the pacing was a bit off, I found myself very much enjoying the movie and its respect to the classic Universal monsters, delivered with the fantastic slapstick comedy Britain is known for. After their hidden pumpkin patch gets accidentally destroyed by the Farmer (John Sparkes), Shaun (Justin Fletcher) the Sheep finds a science book and concocts a creation that'll make new pumpkins instantaneously, while the Farmer struggles with his...
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Verity

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Verity Starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, Josh Hartnett, Ismael Cruz Cordova Directed by Michael Showalter It's very interesting in one week two movies come out: "Verity" and "Digger," where one debuted at number one with an impressive worldwide gross, and the other barely made a dent, all due to preconceived notions. "Digger" was lambasted by critics because they found the satirical work too pretentious, while audiences went in droves to see the new Colleen Hoover-adapted movie "Verity." Personally, they got things mixed up - "Digger" wasn't pretentious, but "Verity" literally bled pretentiousness from the first scene on, culminating in such a convoluted ending it felt like Hoover herself was patting herself on the back for such a unique twist that, indeed, isn't unique at all. Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) is a successful novelist best known for her series where the main character is the villain, giving a ...
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