Tag Archives: Real-life story

Blinded by the Light (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): When he discovers Bruce Springsteen

“Blinded by the Light” is a familiar but enjoyable feel-good movie driven by a number of songs from Bruce Springsteen. I must confess that I do not know much about the music of Springsteen besides his haunting Oscar-winning song for … Continue reading

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Dolemite Is My Name (2019) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Eddie Murphy back in his element

“Dolemite Is My Name”, which was released on Netflix on last Friday, is a lively and cheerful biographical comedy film which delighted and entertained me a lot. As a sort of cross between Tim Burton’s “Ed Wood” (1994) and Mario … Continue reading

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The Kill Team (2019) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): A conflicted young solider facing war crime

“The Kill Team” is a passable war drama film which does not show or tell me anything particularly new about what has been committed during War on Terror. Partially based on a shocking real-life case of war crime in 2010, … Continue reading

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The Laundromat (2019) ☆☆(2/4): How they laundered money

Steven Soderbergh’s new film “The Laundromat”, which was released on Netflix on last Friday, does not inform me much beyond what I learned a bit from a number of newspaper articles on the Panama Papers, a massive amount of leaked … Continue reading

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Maiden (2018) ☆☆☆1/2(3.5/4): Sailing Away

Documentary film “Maiden” presents a fascinating real-life story about a group of brave and strong women who attempted to show the world that girls can do anything. Although they naturally faced many troubles and obstacles including sexism from the very … Continue reading

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Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): Morrison on her life and career

I must confess that the works of Toni Morrison, a great African American female author who sadly passed away two months ago, have been a glaring blind spot in my reading list. Although I came to know a bit about … Continue reading

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The Traitor (2019) ☆☆1/2(2.5/4): An Honorable Traitor

“The Traitor”, which was recently selected as the Italian entry for Best International Feature Film Oscar, is a sprawling crime drama film which is not wholly successful in its ambitious but flawed narrative. While occasionally fascinating us with its compelling … Continue reading

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Memory: The Origins of Alien (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): The untold origin story behind “Alien”

Documentary film “Memory: The Origins of Alien” gives us a close look into how “Alien” (1979) was conceived and then produced step by step. If you are already quite familiar with the long production history behind this great science fiction … Continue reading

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Jawline (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): A young social media star chasing after his dream

Hulu documentary film “Jawline” observes the quick ascent of an adolescent social media star who, as far as shown from the documentary, is a simple decent lad who just wants to chase after his dream. While it is often fascinating … Continue reading

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American Factory (2019) ☆☆☆(3/4): One new factory in post-industrial Ohio

Netflix documentary “American Factory”, which received the Documentary Directing Award when it was shown at the Sundance Film Festival early in this year, is initially amusing but then becomes more pointed than expected. As closely looking into one particular industrial … Continue reading

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