The Rider

In a certain renowned short story, Annie Proulx wrote “The huge sadness of the northern plains rolled down on him.”  It was an instant, all-timer passage, and one also describing the best American film released to-date this year. The Rider—an examination of the myth…

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I Feel Pretty

What if we could all be at peak confidence 24/7? Would we finally manifest the lives we so often make excuses not to attain? If we see ourselves differently, will everyone else? We can now forgive Amy Schumer for the lowbrow hijinks of 2016’s…

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Lean on Pete

Lean on Pete works on the strength of a terrific performance from young star Charlie Plummer as a down-on-his luck teen who befriends a past-his-prime racehorse. The pair teams up for a leisurely trek across the West in a modest movie that has a…

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A Quiet Place

The central visual motif in A Quiet Place, John Krasinski’s heartland horror story of a distant future where marauding creatures lurk, is the “shhh” of an index finger covering the lips. The actors barely make a sound, and neither does the audience for a…

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