Category: Travis
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Review: ‘The Peanut Butter Falcon’, A Feel-Good Comedy That Outwrestles Disability Stereotypes
As a wrestling fan it’s been a treat seeing it grow beyond limited cinematic confines set by films such as No Holds Barred and *shudder* Ready to Rumble. Following on the heels of the excellent family drama Fighting With My Family, the sport of pro wrestling now is key to the charming Tom Sawyer-esque adventure,…
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Review: Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Once Upon A Time In Hollywood’, A Breezy And Violent Tinseltown Fairy Tale
I want to live in the idyllic 1969 that Quentin Tarantino glorifies in his stylish and surprisingly personal Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It’s a time of great upheaval in the country, but here, in this place of cinematic gods and goddesses, the glamour, the magic, it’s as captivating as ever. Being there, and…
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Review: ‘Yesterday’, Danny Boyle’s Beatles-Inspired Comedy Sings A Pleasant Tune
If you love the Beatles, chances are you’re going to love Yesterday, Danny Boyle and Richard Curtis’ love letter to the iconic band. Put simply, it revolves around the premise that the Beatles are the greatest band ever, quite literally capable of changing the world. If you buy into that, and accept the heaping helping…
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Review: ‘The Souvenir’, Pain Gives Way To Hope In Joanna Hogg’s Captivating Coming-Of-Age Drama
Joanna Hogg’s The Souvenir feels like someone taking a deep exhalation of confusion, frustration, and anger after a long time of holding it in. There’s reason for that; the veteran British filmmaker of some three decades, yet only on her fourth feature, pulled from a dark episode of her romantic past to authenticate this contemplative…
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Review: ‘Aladdin’, Will Smith Dazzles In Disney’s Surprisingly Magical Remake
Following the mediocre Dumbo and The Nutcracker, it really is a whole new world for Disney with Aladdin. Disney’s riskiest live-action remake yet, the beloved 1994 animated film still holds a place in the heart of millions, with Robin Williams’ performance as the Genie utterly irreplaceable. So it’s a little worrying they decided to go…
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Review: ‘Detective Pikachu’, Pokémon Are The Real Stars Of This Enjoyably Silly Whodunit
Pokémon have existed as a multimedia phenomenon for three decades, spawning loads of video games, anime, and hit animated movies such as 1999’s The Pokémon Movie. That last one was the first real shot at seeing if this could be a franchise that reached an audience outside of the popular games, and while it took…
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Review: Zhang Yimou’s ‘Shadow’ Finds Balance Of Action And Political Intrigue
Sometimes even the great ones make a misstep. Zhang Yimou’s misguided foray into Hollywood filmmaking wasn’t as bad as some others, but it was lousy nonetheless. The Great Wall may have had the primary color scheme of the auteur’s acclaimed Chinese dramas Hero, House of Flying Daggers, and Curse of the Golden Flower, but it lacked…
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Review: ‘The Wind’, Frontier Horror Howls With Unfulfilled Potential
The Western genre leans heavily to the masculine side but in recent years we’ve seen an increased focus on the plight of frontierswomen in movies such as Jane Got a Gun, Sweetwater, and Meek’s Cutoff. The horror-Western is a new twist on this trend, with Emma Tammi’s festival darling The Wind an ominous slow burn with…
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Sundance Review: ‘Fighting With My Family’, A Crowd-Pleasing Piledriver Of A WWE Drama
When WWE superstar Paige had to announce her retirement from professional wrestling due to injury, I was heartbroken. Always one of my favorite women on the roster, Paige brought an independent spirit and anti-authority attitude that was genuine and not like cartoonish (but charismatic) superstars such as Stone Cold Steve Austin and Dwayne “The Rock”…
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Review: ‘Alita: Battle Angel’, James Cameron’s Manga Adaptation Kicks Robo-Butt
Finally, a live-action manga adaptation we can all get excited over. Alita: Battle Angel has been in the works for a long time, once aimed to be James Cameron’s big 3D followup to Avatar. Then Cameron just couldn’t quit Avatar and passed the reins, eventually, to Robert Rodriguez. During that time we’ve seen Hollywood try and fail repeatedly…