History

‘The Favourite’ critiques timeless governmental power plays, but isn’t as sharp or funny as it could be (Movie review)

A lot has been made about how horror (“Get Out” last year) and superhero (“Black Panther” this year) films are making inroads with the Oscars,

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Cuaron’s ‘Roma’ a partly exhilarating, mostly exhausting, very eye-opening walk in the shoes of a 1970s Mexican maid (Movie review)

With the Oscars coming up, the guilt of constantly scrolling past “Roma” (2018) on Netflix en route to “Daredevil” episodes finally got to me, and I

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Malek, music are the stars of too-formulaic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ (Movie review)

Prior to seeing “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2018), I was hardly a Queen fan. The band’s popularity had faded before I was old enough to appreciate it, and

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‘First Man’ is one small step for space-program cinema, one giant leap for insight into Neil Armstrong (Movie review)

After his love letters to jazz — “Whiplash” (2014) and “La La Land” (2016) — a film fan wouldn’t be surprised if director Damien Chazelle’s

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‘Dragon Teeth’ (2017) unearths early Crichton adventure

In 2017, HarperCollins published a Michael Crichton novel with a dinosaur skull on the cover. The bad news is it’s not the unearthing of the

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Nick Hornby’s ‘Funny Girl’ (2014) zeroes in on 1960s British TV

Having recently had my Nick Hornby interest piqued by the film adaptation of “Juliet, Naked” (based on his 2009 novel), I finally read his 2014

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‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’ and 9 other movies John wouldn’t mind seeing in Summer 2018

The idea of “summer movies” is already past its time, as “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Infinity War” prove that “summer” is now year-round in the

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‘Phantom Thread’ review

“Phantom Thread” – Auteur Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest effort is every bit as pretty as it is pretty empty. Daniel Day Lewis does his level best

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‘Darkest Hour’ review

“Darkest Hour” – Gary Oldman is the best part of Joe Wright’s stridently ordinary  biopic about Winston Churchill. The film is a paint-by-numbers affair that shows

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‘The Post’ reviews

John’s “The Post” review, Jan. 21, 2018 Michael’s “The Post” review, Top 20 films of 2017, Jan. 21, 2018

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