Natalie Portman

‘Garden State’ (2004) makes melancholy feel so good

Among my rewatches of early Aughts films I count among my all-time favorites, I was most trepidatious about “Garden State” (2004). A friend of mine

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‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ (2022) spectacular, insubstantial

“Thor: Love and Thunder” (2022) is easily digestible as entertainment, but even as I watched it, I knew I was taking in empty calories. Director/co-writer

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‘Everyone Says I Love You’ (1996) celebrates heart’s desires

Most Woody Allen movies are a little cynical about love. As if he’s aiming for his oeuvre to include a film at every point on

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‘V for Vendetta’ (2006) a gorgeous revolution

When I saw “V for Vendetta” in theaters in 2006, having gone in mostly cold, it washed over me like a new, surprising experience. Although

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‘Annihilation’ is Garland’s disappointingly slow and weird follow-up to ‘Ex Machina’ (Movie review)

The 2015 masterpiece “Ex Machina” put Alex Garland on my list of must-see auteurs, and the trailers for “Annihilation” – now available on home video

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‘Thor: The Dark World’ (2013) mixes comedy, grand drama

This blog series chronicles my first viewing of the complete MCU movie saga. I’ll examine each film under various categories that reflect popular discussion points.

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‘Thor’ (2011) makes clunky debut in the MCU

This blog series chronicles my first viewing of the complete MCU movie saga. I’ll examine each film under various categories that reflect popular discussion points.

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‘V for Vendetta’ reviews

John’s “V for Vendetta” flashback review, Nov. 5, 2020 “V for Vendetta” – This adaptation of Alan Moore’s famous comic book takes us to a

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‘Garden State’ review

“Garden State” – It’s a great romance film precisely because it doesn’t seem like a romance. It stars Zach Braff (who also directed and compiled

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What John thought about ‘Revenge of the Sith’ in 2005 (Movie review)

To round out the “Star Wars” film reviews on my blog, I thought it would be fun to look back at my review of “Episode III:

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