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‘Four Samosas’ Review: Comic Caper in LA’s Little India Goes Heavy on the Twee
The cultural specificity of its Artesia setting notwithstanding, this self-aware indie never delivers on either characters or comedy
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‘Poker Face’ Review: Russell Crowe Bluffs His Way Through Screenwriting Debut
The writer-director-star falls short in characterization, tension, drama, action — even cards
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‘I’m Totally Fine’ Review: Indie Sci-Fi Comedy’s Actually a Stealth Tearjerker
Natalie Morales brilliantly portrays an alien inhabiting the body and memories of Jillian Bell’s recently-deceased best friend
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‘Please Baby Please’ Review: Queer Musical Seems Subversive, but Only on the Surface
Andrea Riseborough gives her all to a character whose desires remain maddeningly vague
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‘Wendell & Wild’ Review: Jordan Peele x Henry Selick Collaboration Suffers from Jumbled Tones
Selick (“Coraline”) would seem to be a perfect pair for Peele, but the (creepy, gorgeous) pieces of their joint effort don’t fit together
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‘Sirens’ Review: Arab Women Rockers Come of Age Under Fire
Members of all-female metal band Slave to Sirens adapt to everything from hostile audiences to coming out to political upheaval
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‘Free Chol Soo Lee’ Film Review: Doc Illustrates Systemic Racism That Persists 50 Years Later
What this story of a wrongfully-accused Korean immigrant and his fight for justice lacks in form it more than makes up for in urgency
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‘Orphan: First Kill’ Film Review: Lurid Horror Prequel Cranks Up the Camp Value to 11
Isabelle Fuhrman returns for a sequel that leans in gloriously to the franchise’s inherent absurdity
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‘Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down’ Film Review: Doc Champions Politician Who Lost Her Speech But Not Her Voice
The story of Giffords’ recovery from being shot hits harder than her subsequent political life – but overall, this is a powerful tale well told
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‘Persuasion’ Film Review: Dakota Johnson Pulls Off a Very ‘Fleabag’ Jane Austen Adaptation
Fourth-wall-breaking and other anachronisms might sink this version were it not for the talented players
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‘The Princess’ Film Review: Joey King Girlbosses Her Way to the Throne in This Ridiculous Action Thriller
This vapid fantasy falls short on character and personality
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Here’s to ‘Yellowjackets’ and Other Shows That Let Teenage Girls Be Real, Complex People
Some of the best shows, including “The Wilds” and “Cruel Summer,” use flashbacks as keys to flesh out the characters
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‘Montana Story’ Film Review: Sweeping Vistas Balance Intimate Family Drama
Haley Lu Richardson and Owen Teague play estranged siblings in an actor’s showcase that’s not always up to the level of the performances
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‘Hatching’ Film Review: Finnish Horror Unleashes a Teenage Girl’s Rebelliously Monstrous Side
Hanna Bergholm’s terrifying feature debut suggests a dark reckoning for parents who care more about perfection than their children’s happiness
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‘We’re All Going to the World’s Fair’ Film Review: Debut Feature Dips Into the Web’s Creepy Side
Director Jane Schoenbrun explores the darker aspects of the internet via a fascinating female protagonist who leaves the film all too soon
