Category: Historical Nugget
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The Green Knight (***1/2) feels like Chaucer
If you like stories with morals that haven’t been re-written in the last 12 years, The Green Knight should entertain. The result feels more entertaining and less tainted by modernity
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Netflix’ Mank (****) – The wins of the father
If they had found a way to at least make the case for the opposition seem plausible, there might be less of a Smokey and the Bandit feel to it all.
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Criterion: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (***) is unrelenting horror
As it stands, there is no one that can take it’s cult status away. This will forever be a history making cinematic effort, even if it is almost as annoying as it is scary.
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Criterion Ganja & Hess (**) has history on its side
Fair or not, the film that results is worth one time through, and more if you can bear it. I had to stop on my second trip.
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Historical Nugget: The Return of the Living Dead (***) – Be a man, Frank
If you find a way to get into the groove of this film and wend your way through the cheese, it will reward you with some very nice moments.
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Another Look: American Gangster Unrated (****) feels right
If that sounds like too much to cover in a movie, it’s not. The three hours fly by and justice is served.
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Criterion: Further downstream of The Virgin Spring to The Last House on the Left
…it’s remarkable how far a medieval ballad can reach through time, even if what comes out on the other side holds little resemblance to the significance of the tale.
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Another Look: Casino (**1/2) is a stale imitation
It’s one of the fruits of the labor of a great career that he’s been able to keep remaking the same film over and over. This doesn’t make the stale fruit taste any better.
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Adrift (***) is steady as she goes
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by
Overall, the film is a good story. It is inspiring to see people succeed through the gifts God gave them, even when they forgo the giving of thanks.
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 