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To what extent has the narrative surrounding the Black Panthers been developed by government and law enforcement agencies whose impartiality has been, to put it mildly, suspect? Although it’s beyond question that the Panthers weren’t compr...

Juno may well be 2007's "Little Film That Could." You know the category - there's one every year. Last year's entry was Little Miss Sunshine. Word-of-mouth for Juno has been building since its World Premiere at the Telluride Film Festival in ear...

The smart romantic comedy occurs so infrequently that it has obtained an almost mythical status, sort of like Santa Claus or the Tooth Fairy. In the subgenre of gay and lesbian romantic comedies, intelligence is even rarer. Since the ratio of goo...

For writer/director Brian Helgeland (Payback), Legend represents a visit to Scorsese territory; sadly, the result falls far short of the visceral experiences we typically are accorded by the legendary Oscar winner. Granted, it’s a tall order to...

Men, Women & Children seeks to explore issues of communication in the digital era. The wide-ranging net ensnares a variety of subjects: the implications of ubiquitous pornography, the chasm separating the world views of children and parents, and th...

Spoilers... I guess. Those who care, however, will have already read the book and therefore can't be spoiled. When it comes to movies based on YA novels, there are two flavors: those designed exclusively for fans of the books (Twilight, for ex...

Considering how ubiquitous social media has become in the early 21st century, it’s surprising how few films have used this cultural element as the foundation for a movie plot (rather than just window dressing). Nerve seeks to rectify this overs...

No Hard Feelings is an odd movie in that films of this sort have fallen out of vogue in the 21st century and are rarely accorded any sort of theatrical release. (The box office results will determine whether the decision to reject a direct-to-stre...

To find Nomadland, all one has to do is locate the place where the documentary intersects with the feature film. Based on the non-fiction book by Jessica Bruder, writer/director/editor Chloe Zhao has added form and texture by presenting this j...

Sometimes, it's all about execution. There are times when a movie can boast a compelling premise, yet translating that idea into reality defeats the filmmakers. Maybe the screenplay sucks, the actors aren’t up to snuff, or the tone is all over t...