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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool
@thespool.bsky.social
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · 2d
@ungajje.bsky.social is a sucker for a Shane Black film and still thinks PLAY DIRTY could be dirtier and more playful.
Play Dirty could stand to be a bit filthier, friskier
Writer-Director Shane Black, The Predator notwithstanding, is always a must-check-out. From establishing the brand of top-dollar screenwriters to writing-directing delights like Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · 4d
ROOFMAN frustrated @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social with its inability to use its plethora of tools to deliver a strong film.
Roofman teeters between entertaining and frustrating
Derek Cianfrance’s directorial career has centered on the grimmest personal stories imaginable. From Blue Valentine to The Place Beyond the Pines to his HBO miniseries I Know This Much Is True,…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · 10d
ARE WE GOOD? looks beyond Marc Maron's showbiz highs and lows to deliver an incredible film about life, grief, and how to balance the two, enthuses @sgorr.bsky.social.
Are We Good? is a meditation on loss, grief, and life itself
“You’re gonna destroy me with this stupid movie that I let you do, that I’m resisting because you’re annoying,” says Marc Maron in the opening minutes of Are We Good? Even if you don’t know Maron’s…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · 16d
@sgorr.bsky.social has ebullient praise IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU, a film bold enough to make a movie about motherhood about a hard-to-like mother, not her relationships, and still convinces the audience to understand her.
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You is a tale of motherhood with serious teeth
In 2025, an unlikeable mother still feels a little risky. Certain types of female selfishness and honesty can be hard for audiences to stomach. Just take a look at the deeply polarized reactions to…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · 16d
@lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social praises every aspect of Paul Thomas Anderson's newest, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER. Check out her review now.
PTA wins countless creative wars in One Battle After Another
Writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s movies have never shied away from exposing that distinctly American decay. Anderson’s stories directly rebuke distinctly American visions of immaculate…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · 18d
THE LOST BUS left @ungajje.bsky.social with white knuckles, but its intense action can't hide paper-thin characters.
The Lost Bus tensely careens with ciphers in the seats
Disaster, personified, proves The Lost Bus's best character. In a tick-tock of one harrowing aspect of California’s 2018 Camp Fire, Director Paul Greengrass and cinematographer Pål Ulvik Rokseth cast…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · 22d
Too often HIM defaults to bland cliché when the film is begging to let its freak flag fly, reports @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social.
Shockingly hollow HIM fumbles
In July 2009, a philosopher by the name of Adam Young waxed poetic in the song “Fireflies” about the instability of reality. Specifically, he pontificated \“I’d like to make myself believe/That…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · 23d
A BIG BOLD BEAUTIFUL JOURNEY's self-consciousness repeatedly undermines its stars, attempts at romantic fantasy, says @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social.
Snark interferes with taking A Big Bold Beautiful Journey
After helming a pair of quiet indies (Columbus and After Yang) focused on meditative conversations and complicated connections between people, director Kogonada leaps into the major studio cinema…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Sep 12
Lisa Laman recommends the "unexpectedly exceptional THE LONG WALK, in theatres today.
The Long Walk is a grueling tour de force
“Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin’ up an’ down again! There’s no discharge in the war!” Raymond Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) thinks he’s ready to go. A citizen in a (more) dystopian United States, Garraty,…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Sep 9
@sgorr.bsky.social hopes audiences find Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor enough of a draw to check out the celebration of American folk music that is THE HISTORY OF SOUND because it is frequently rich and heartwrenching.
The History of Sound artfully celebrates the romance and heart of American music
The History of Music’s package more than its premise sells itself without much difficulty. Gay historical romance with Paul Mescal and Josh O’Connor? The two celebs whose heads fans most want to…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Sep 2
@ungajje.bsky.social is happy to enjoy HIGHEST 2 LOWEST as a victory lap for Spike Lee and Denzel Washington, even if the film never seems clear on its viewpoints on art, wealth, and more.
Lee and Washington take a victory lap in Highest 2 Lowest
For most of his career, Denzel Washington has been an actor of tremendous intensity and control. Lately, he’s been a bit looser. Take, for instance, his turn earlier this year as Macrinus in…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Aug 22
HONEY DON'T! left lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social cold.
Honey Don’t! check out the new Ethan Coen misfire
Lesbians and cinema. It’s a combination as potent as Joni Mitchell and singing or Mr. Burns and loafers made from former gophers. Considering the very first kiss in cinema history was between two…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Aug 20
@lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social declares NE ZHA 2 such an improvement over the original, it puts the film in the company of such superior sequels as EVIL DEAD 2.
Ne Zha 2 is a legendarily towering triumph of animated spectacle
Comparing Ne Zha 2 (returning to North American theaters in a new English-language dub) to its predecessor is akin to comparing Pong to The Last of Us or an episode of Mr. Ed to Andor’s series…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Aug 15
NOBODY 2 has its charms, but it is no NOBODY. It too often buries its action charms under poor emotional beats and overly complicated webs of antagonistics, writes @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social.
Nobody can beat Nobody, especially Nobody 2
In 2007, country singer/Cars franchise veteran Brad Paisley unleashed manmade horrors beyond anyone’s comprehension with the album 5th Gear’s first single, “Ticks”. A hideous creation about some dude…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Aug 1
@lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social praised SHE RIDES SHOTGUN for its early 70s Pacino movie vibes and powerful lead performances.
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Aug 1
TOGETHER derails itself some in a third-act attempt to explain itself, but @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social still found it a gross and nuanced take on a struggling relationship.
Nuance and and gross spectacle for every body in Together
Tim (Dave Franco) and Millie (Alison Brie) are having relationship problems as writer/director Michael Shanks' Together begins. What couple doesn't have woes, though, right? Still, these two seem…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Jul 31
@lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social praises #TheNakedGun for its commitment to craftmanship as it delivers a delightfully wacky legacy sequel.
The Naked Gun fires no blanks in its barrage of hysterical jokes
One of the many impressive qualities about those two Spider-Verse movies is their opening studio logos. They flicker on-screen like Spider-Verse characters stuck in the wrong dimension for too long,…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Jul 23
OH, HI! may verge on the ridiculous in some moments, the didactic in others. However, as @sgorr.bsky.social argues, it gets things about modern dating so right — and so funny — that it is easy to overlook the film's shortcomings.
In Oh, Hi! modern dating’s greatest horror is being misunderstood
It’s a tale as old as time. Boy meets girl. Girl and boy fall for each other. Boy takes girl on a romantic weekend away. Girl swoons over how breezy their first trip as a couple is. Boy hears the…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Jul 18
@lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social has no love for EDDINGTON, declaring it a limp slog that plays like cold leftovers. Check out her review now.
The West Doesn’t Bring Out Ari Aster’s Best In Eddington
Attending his first American Symbolism 101 course at community college. Binging a Turner Classic Movies marathon of Westerns. Getting his favorite table at Golden Corral snatched by somebody wearing…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Jul 18
SORRY, BABY is a film of profound, quiet wisdom that still knows how to tell a joke, says @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social.
Sorry, Baby a triumph about existence after the unthinkable
CW: discussions of sexual assault and trauma below Everything seemed normal that faintly Autumn evening. If you gazed out a window, you’d see leaves falling off trees, townsfolk strolling home, maybe…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Jul 17
@sgorr.bsky.social takes a bumpy journey to EDDINGTON, one bruising enough she's not sure others will want to follow suit. Read her review now.
Eddington is hard to watch, harder to parse out
Beau Is Afraid proved that Ari Aster isn’t afraid to tear himself open, laying out his darkest and most intimate fears for public consumption. But in Eddington, he turns the lens on us and our…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Jul 10
SUPERMAN can't stop explaining its themes and character motivation, points out @ungajje.bsky.social. Still, what it gets right, it gets very right.
Superman flies, not quite soars
There’s a dichotomy at the heart of Superman, the James Gunn-written and directed latest effort to live up to the Man of Steel’s name and reputation. No, it isn’t the divide between Clark Kent and...
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Jul 10
@ungajje.bsky.social pulls the lever for HEADS OF STATE, a movie he praises for good action, a gooey heart, and being dumb without being stupid.
These Heads of State might be a bit empty but they sure are a good time
You may have heard that the United Kingdom and the United States have a special relationship. In Heads of State, Prime Minister Sam Clarke (Idris Elba) and President Will Derringer (John Cena) share…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Jul 4
It isn't the dinos scaring @lisalamanfilmfan.bsky.social away from JURASSIC WORLD REBIRTH. It's the morose humans and the bland retreads.
Jurassic World Rebirth suggests cinematic extinction ain’t so bad
In 1914, Gertie the Dinosaur redefined the possibilities of filmmaking. This groundbreaking animated short chronicled the antics of its titular prehistoric creature in a single black-and-white static…
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thespool.bsky.social
The Spool @thespool.bsky.social · Jun 27
Taron Egerton is having so much fun in SMOKE that he makes the series an absolute kick to watch, says @ungajje.bsky.social in his new review.
Where’s there’s Smoke, there’s an entertaining TV show
Taron Egerton is often a strong performer in works ranging from great to mediocre to fairly poor. He’s been in the best thing in an ill-conceived tale of a video game (Tetris), a compelling scumbag…
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