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‘Coco’ Review: A Sweet Deadtime Story

Philip Brown — Tue, 21 Nov 2017 20:00:54 +0000

The brightly colored and sweetly sentimental ‘Coco’ trots out the Pixar formula for another round of moving lessons in individualism. It hits so many beats of so many past studio triumphs so rigidly that you can’t help but wonder if it’s all growing stale. Fortunately, that never happens. All the old tricks still work because...

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‘Neruda’ Review: A Chilly Chilean Bio

Philip Brown — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 18:00:57 +0000

Director Pablo Larrain sure was feeling the bio-pic this year. He not only made his English language debut with the Natalie Portman headlined ‘Jackie’, but also delivered a much more personal effort in his native Chile about poet and politician Pablo Neruda. In their own distinct ways, both films make a case for the seasonal...

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TIFF Journal: ‘Salt and Fire’

Philip Brown — Fri, 23 Sep 2016 17:00:31 +0000

Werner Herzog is a brilliant filmmaker when his unique imagination matches up with the right material. Given that the guy tends to make movies even faster and in greater numbers than Woody Allen, that means that his talents syncing up with his subject happens less and less frequently these days. Every now and then we...

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2016 Golden Globe Winners

Josh Zyber — Mon, 11 Jan 2016 16:00:00 +0000

It used to be, in years past, that the big winners at the Golden Globes were often in sync with the Oscars that followed and could be considered a strong predictor. That isn’t necessarily the case anymore. Basically, nobody takes the Globes seriously, least of all master-of-ceremonies Ricky Gervais, who returned for his fourth time...

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TIFF Journal: ‘Desierto’

Philip Brown — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 17:00:44 +0000

Two years ago, Alfonso Cuarón’s son Jonás helped him script the stunning blockbuster ‘Gravity’. Around the same time, Jonás Cuarón was also writing his own movie, ‘Desierto’, which was a similarly stripped-down survivalist tale laced with allegory behind the action. ‘Gravity’ never quite delivered its subtext with the same skill as its immersive elements, but...

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‘Rosewater’ Review: A Satirist Gets Sincere

Philip Brown — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 20:00:36 +0000

‘Rosewater’ is a pretty strong directorial debut, but since it’s the directorial debut of ‘Daily Show’ host Jon Stewart it’s going to face a little extra scrutiny. Fair enough, anyone that big attempting to jump into the directing chair knows what comes with the territory. Still, if you can stop judging ‘Rosewater’ as “that Jon...

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TIFF Journal: ‘Rosewater’

Philip Brown — Mon, 15 Sep 2014 19:00:26 +0000

Last summer, Jon Stewart left ‘The Daily Show’ to direct his first feature film based on a script he wrote. It was a strange, ballsy and unexpected move, one that will inevitably get the film more criticism than would typically happen for a first-time feature. Thankfully, it’s also a pretty good movie, so Stewart needn’t...

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