21 November
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THE FABELMANS Director: Steven SpielbergStarring: Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Judd Hirsch, Seth Rogen, Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord, David Lynch Steven Spielberg has frequently used his family and childhood as themes in his films like E.T. The Extra Terrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Now, he faces his past head on in The Fabelmans. This is the fourth film between Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner after Munich, Lincoln, and West Side Story. Together they’ve written The Fabelmans as a meditation and collective healing over some Spielberg’s personal childhood traumas stemming from being Jewish and having divorced parents. In the movie, he’s named SammyRead More →

13 September
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THE FABELMANS Director: Steven SpielbergStarring: Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen, Judd Hirsch, Julia Butters, Oakes Fegley, Gabriel Bateman, Robin Bartlett One of the most highly anticipated movies of the fall is The Fabelmans from master director Steven Spielberg. It just had its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and received rave reviews. Spielberg looks to have one of his most personal and emotional films to date as he’s drawing on his own childhood, family, and love of cinema for this memory piece. From the press release, “The film stars Gabriel LaBelle (The Predator, American Gigolo series) as 16-year-old aspiring filmmaker Sammy Fabelman; four-time Academy Award® nomineeRead More →

28 February
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THE BATMAN Director: Matt ReevesStarring: Robert Pattinson, Paul Dano, Zoë Kravitz, Colin Farrell, Andy Serkis, Jeffrey Wright, Peter Sarsgaard, John Turturro, Max Carver, Charlie Carver, Barry Keoghan Within the last fifteen years, we’ve seen Christian Bale and Ben Affleck down the cape and cowl as the Caped Crusader. Now we’re getting a new adaptation with Robert Pattinson joining their ranks in The Batman, and it’s unlike any Batman movie that’s come before. Director Matt Reeves quickly lays out the grisly tone by introducing the audiences to The Riddler who’s killed the mayor on Halloween night. Paul Dano inhabits the Riddler modeling him after serial killersRead More →

16 October
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THE BATMAN Director: Matt ReevesStarring: Robert Pattinson, Colin Farrell, Zoe Kravitz, Paul Dano, Peter Sarsgaard, Andy Serkis, Jeffrey Wright Today is #DCFanDome where DC unveils all sorts of fun footage, concept art, trailers, and more for many of their anticipated releases. During last year’s event, we got the first teaser of director Matt Reeves (The Planet of the Apes trilogy) take on Batman. Robert Pattinson steps into the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, as Reeves take a noir approach to telling Batman’s early days. He’s drawing inspiration from the graphic novel Batman: Year One We’re now getting the first full trailer and it looks fantastic. MattRead More →

30 December
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In Special Series

2015: A YEAR IN REVIEW It’s that time of the year again when critics post their best and worst of the year lists. The beginning of 2015 was a big doozy to the point where I thought it was going to be a bad year at the movies. It was one lousy movie after another (Get Hard, Chappie). The summer hit and the year seemed to be turning around especially after long running franchises were brought back to life to thunderous applause (Jurassic World, Mad Max Fury Road). The year ended with some wonderful smaller films packing a punch (Spotlight, Carol) and big studio filmsRead More →

12 June
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LOVE & MERCY Director: Bill Pohlad Starring: Paul Dano, John Cusack, Elizabeth Banks, Paul Giamatti, Jake Abel, Kenny Wormald, Bill Camp If you love movies that delve into your favorite singers or musical groups, you’ll want to check out Love & Mercy starring Paul Dano and John Cusack who both play Brian Wilson, the lead singer of The Beach Boys. The movie goes back and forth between two different time periods in his life. Dano plays Wilson in the 1960s as he was coming off a successful tour with the group. After suffering a panic attack, he wanted to take time off to work onRead More →

07 November
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12 YEARS A SLAVE Director: Steve McQueen Starring: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Alfre Woodard, Lupita Nyong’o, Paul Dano, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Giamatti, Brad Pitt Not since Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List has a film so vividly captured a horrifying chapter in history. Steve McQueen’s (Shame, Hunger) latest film is an adaptation of the memoir of the same name by Solomon Northup. In 1841, Solomon (Ejiofor) was a free black man with a wife and two children. Being an accomplished violinist, he is targeted by two men (Scoot McNairy and Taran Killam) posing as artists offering him a chance to be a part of a touring musicRead More →

25 September
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PRISONERSDirector: Denis VilleneuveStarring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Terrence Howard, Viola Davis, Maria Bello, Paul Dano, Melissa Leo This twisty ethical child abduction mystery thriller will have people pretty divided. I can tell you that I was engrossed from the very first frame and did not check the watch in the entire two and a half hour run-time. No, this is not even my Jake Gyllenhaal bias showing through. Thanksgiving should be this joyful day spent with family and friends stuffing your face and having a peaceful time. For the Dover and Birch families, it will go down as the Thanksgiving they will never forget. AfterRead More →

12 October
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LOOPER Director: Rian Johnson Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Jeff Daniels, Piper Perabo, Paul Dano What is a looper? That may be the question on everyone’s mind as they step in to see the latest film by Rian Johnson, the creative mind behind Brick and The Brothers Bloom. A looper is a trained assassin whose sole job is to kill a person sent back in time from the future. In 2074, time travel will be invented and outlawed. The city is overrun by crime and corruption and humans have trackers in them. For these crime bosses, it has become nearly impossible to disposeRead More →