Now in Theaters Archives - Critic Speak

Movie Review: “The Whale”

Danny Baldwin — Fri, 30 Dec 2022 02:49:52 +0000

“Why are you fucking with me like this?” Sadie Sink cries out to Brendan Fraser late in “The Whale,” in an exchange that can be read as the film’s climax or its resolution, depending on your outlook. As I watched the emotionally charged, dramatically over-the-top scene unfold, I wanted to be able to pose the […]

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Movie Review: “The Banshees of Inisherin”

James Frazier — Thu, 15 Dec 2022 19:20:22 +0000

You may have been cut loose by a friend at one time or another. I have, and I’ve been the one swinging the axe, though it’s the former perspective that interests me the most. What does it say about us when someone we like, even love, decides that our absence is the addition their life […]

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Review: “Nomadland”

Danny Baldwin — Sun, 21 Feb 2021 23:32:10 +0000

Critics who write with their politics first have all too conveniently positioned “Nomadland,” the Oscar frontrunner of the case-sensitive Moment, as an indictment of individualism. But that’s frankly too easily; to position Frances McDormand’s Fern as a squeaky cog in the dirty machine of American capitalism is, frankly, to deny the real nuance of the […]

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Review: “Chappaquiddick”

James Frazier — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 13:40:22 +0000

The first time we really see Ted Kennedy in John Curran’s “Chappaquiddick” is during a party at one of his family’s Martha’s Vineyard properties. Face ruddy with Scotch, he convenes his carefully curated crowd of babes and stooges, and gives them a lecture on the importance of family. Notably absent: His actual family, including his […]

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Review: “Tag”

James Frazier — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 19:34:19 +0000

“Tag” is a comedy with a lot on its mind. That is to say, the movie tries to cram in so many subplots and themes that it bursts at the seams, left with only affable performances and some slick direction to patch the holes. Proudly touting a plot “based on a true story,” “Tag” follows […]

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Review: “Avengers: Infinity War”

James Frazier — Fri, 18 May 2018 19:29:32 +0000

“Avengers: Infinity War” is more a piece of connective tissue than a movie. Featuring an expansive collection of cinematic superheroes united in opposition to an intergalactic, genocidal environmentalist, there are enough characters here for ten movies, and enough plot for half of one. A decade in the making, the film features dozens of superheroes, precious […]

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Review: “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”

James Frazier — Thu, 01 Mar 2018 18:30:02 +0000

Say what you will about J.J. Abrams’ vision of the “Star Wars” universe, it was nothing if not lovingly nostalgic. Even if that nostalgia meant the story was somewhat recycled, this was done with care, making it an apt celebration of the past as well as a look to the future of a galaxy far far […]

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Danny Baldwin’s Top 10 Films of 2017

Danny Baldwin — Sat, 06 Jan 2018 05:29:10 +0000

This is the sixteenth year I’ve written an annual Top 10 list, which means I’ve been compiling them for over half my life. While the exercise in some way feels more arbitrary than ever, in that I’m now able to look back on those initial lists from more than a decade ago and recognize how […]

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Review: “The Disaster Artist”

James Frazier — Wed, 20 Dec 2017 05:57:30 +0000

“The Disaster Artist” is a missed opportunity. It takes the most bizarre, fascinating true story of cult cinema and reduces it down to an oddball, feel-good joke. There’s a story worth telling here, but it feels like director James Franco is giving us Cliff’s Notes of Cliff’s Notes. At its core, the film tells the […]

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Review: “Justice League”

James Frazier — Sat, 09 Dec 2017 03:03:12 +0000

“Justice League” is a milestone in American cinema: the flop with a $94 million opening weekend. That’s a lot of money for a flop to earn over a few days, but “Justice League” came with a high price tag ($300 million and change) and even higher expectations. It’s the DC Cinematic Universe’s answer to Disney’s […]

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