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Continue reading →: Review: “Christy” is a tough-as-nails showcase for Sydney SweeneyThe average boxer barely spends a hour tops in the confides of the ring, taking hit after hit. Unfortunately for real-life boxer Christy Martin, her fight was 24 hours daily. Based on the harrowing true story, David Michod (the Australian director behind Animal Kingdom and The Rover) presents us with…
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Continue reading →: Netflix Review Round-Up: “A House of Dynamite”, “Ballad of a Small Player”, and Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein”Film fans are currently in the midst of a busy week of Netflix Original awards contenders, with a truckload more on the way. With so many pumping out at a time that demand coverage, it may be easiest to crunch a few together in discussion for some leaner reviews. Public…
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Continue reading →: Review: “It Was Just An Accident” Walks Brilliant Tight Rope Between Bizarre Amusement and Horrifying RealityThe opening moments of Jafar Panahi’s newest thriller are brilliantly deceptive. We are introduced to Rashid (Ebrahim Azizi) and his family driving home at night. Stray dogs running across the road, barely visible by his car’s headlights. His wife is deep into her pregnancy, his young daughter is in the…
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Continue reading →: Review: “Hedda” lets Tessa Thompson Have Ruthless Fun as the Classic CharacterHenrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, the Danish 1891 play that spawned over twenty official onscreen adaptations, is regarded as a masterpiece of literature. While not as repurposed in mainstream North American pop culture as something like Little Women or the writings of Jane Austen, possibly due to its more tart and…
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Continue reading →: Review: “Hamnet”, While Never A Story of More Woe, Chloe Zhao Finds Profound Healing Through Art From Grief“Where is he?” William Shakespeare asks, having returned home from London, arriving moments after the unexpected death of his son Hamnet. He sees his son’s body and is incapable of processing the loss of the child in front of him. His daughter is also in denial, unconvinced the body is…
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Continue reading →: Oscars 2026 Nomination Predictions (OCTOBER)It is almost time for this year’s film to enter the gladiatorial arena and see what they’re made of when pit against each other. Yes, it is post-festival season, pre-Gothams, pre-NBR, pre-critics awards time where damn near everything has been seen outside of the remaining holiday blockbusters and we have…
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Continue reading →: Review: “Blue Moon”, Ethan Hawke is magnificent in Linklater’s loving, sobering ode to Lorenz Hart“Nobody ever loved me that much”, declares Lorenz Hart, played by Ethan Hawke, as the best line in Casablanca, an opinion equally shared in unison by his bartender Eddie. When Lorenz exits the opening night performance of Oklahoma!, the soon-to-be musical phenomenon by his former writing partner Richard Rodgers (Andrew…
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Continue reading →: Review: “Nuremberg” is mostly compelling, but fizzles into an ordinary courtroom dramaHistory has the ability to be manipulated through persuasion, even despite tangible proof providing the contrary. As Hermann Görring (Russell Crowe) speaks in his own defense, his actions were entirely of his dedication to his country and not with the intent of genocide. Of course, this is not true. Filmed…
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Continue reading →: Review: “The Smashing Machine” is a hard-hitting, but frustrating biopicDwayne Johnson is a good actor and always has been. Underestimated by his wrestling background and a large filmography mostly of duds, Johnson’s respect as a performer has had its peaks and valleys, but recently has settled below the favoritism of other wrestlers-turned-actors Dave Bautista and John Cena. Johnson’s gift…
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Continue reading →: Review: “One Battle After Another” is another instant classic from one of our greatest living filmmakersWhile “the revolution will not be televised”, it’s certainly up there on the big screen. Paul Thomas Anderson, who has for his entire career made decade-defining films from Boogie Nights to Magnolia to There Will Be Blood, has perhaps made his most instantly generationally-potent film to date with One Battle…
FILM AND TELEVISION REVIEWS, AWARDS DISCUSSION, & OTHER GENERAL MUSINGS
EDITOR, SITE WRITER
Jakob Kolness
Minnesota Film Critics Association Member. Graduate of Film Studies, writer, novelist, filmmaker.
CURRENT 2027 OSCAR PREDICTIONS
“All of A Sudden”
“Behemoth!”
“Digger”
“Dune Part III”
“Fjord”
“The Odyssey”
“A Place in Hell”
“Project Hail Mary”
“Untitled Damien Chazelle Film”
“Untitled Jesse Eisenberg Musical”
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