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REVIEW: Us is scary as hell and mesmerizing in every way

Jordan Peele follows up his unique masterpiece Get Out with this intricate, incredible film. After a young family heads out for a beach vacation, they become terrorized by a group of their own evil doppelgangers. This high-concept thriller follows the events of the night as the different doppelgangers go after their counterparts. But there’s much…
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REVIEW: Hummingbird Project a brilliant Canadian character study

The real strength of a film like The Hummingbird Project is slowly — stealthily — it sneaks up on you. What starts as a low-profile film about the dream of two stock traders to build a cross-country fiber optic network quickly becomes much more. It quickly becomes a financial thriller filled with crime, greed, double-crossing…
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REVIEW: Five Feet Apart strikes an emotional note

This teen romance about two youth who fall in love despite both having advanced forms of auto-immune disorder cystic fibrosis is heart-wrenching. Director Justin Baldoni brings nothing fresh to the table when it comes to the tragedy of romantic love, but his execution is flawless. When Stella and Will meet in the hospital — and…
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REVIEW: Fighting With My Family a rollicking good time

Fighting With My Family — the latest World Wrestling Entertainment feature — is a hilarious, heartfelt wrestling film that’s better than it has any right to be. Directed and written by The Office scribe Stephen Merchant, it follows a rough-and-tumble London family who hit the map when one of the girls is picked to possibly…
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REVIEW: Cold Pursuit a guns-blazing, pitch-black funny Neeson flick

Say what you want about Liam Neeson’s personal life, the man has been kicking ass and taking no prisoners on-screen since 2008’s surprise hit Taken. Neeson continues the trend by releasing this chilly Denver-set actioner for those who like their flicks like they like their coffee: pitch-black. This is a truly hilarious, sick and devilishly…
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REVIEW: Mads Mikkelson a lone wolf in desolate Arctic

Writer/director Joe Penna’s latest feature is a testament to the power and transcendent on-screen energy of a single man. Mads Mikkelson, best known to North American viewers as Hannibal Lecter on TV or Casino Royale’s Bond villain, is one of the most prolific actors working. Here, Penna plops him in a rugged, snowy terrain by…
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REVIEW: Isn’t It Romantic skewers genre tropes it succumbs to itself

Love is reality is not like the movies. He’s not going to pick you in in a horse and carriage, your eyes won’t meet from across the room and ignite each other’s souls, and not every story — not even half of them — has a happy ending. Love sucks, and we, as well as…
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REVIEW: Happy Death Day sequel a beautiful genre mashup

The 2017 horror film Happy Death Day was a surprise hit, and the perfect mash-up of comedy and horror. It made for the chilling, entertaining fare slasher fans woefully needed, and never took itself too seriously. With this sequel, our heroine Tree once again finds herself being killed over and over in a time loop,…
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REVIEW: What Men Want a charming, vivacious remake with a twist

This amusing take on What Women Want, the Mel Gibson rom-com made almost 20 years ago, switches genders and the race of our lead. It absolutely pays off, with powerhouse Taraji P. Henson stealing the movie and showing she’s one of the most versatile actresses working. Henson — known for her fierce turn on FOX…
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REVIEW: Serenity is a beautiful, intricate mess

Revenge thriller Serenity is a sun-soaked, picturesque film that relishes in diving into the seedy underbelly of its characters. No one is as they seem in this well-acted, taut thriller, and trying to figure out where the next bit of intrigue is going to come from is part of the fun. But it’s also part…