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Film Reviews Tim Wassberg Film Reviews Tim Wassberg

IR Film Review: THE WOMAN KING [TriStar/Sony]

Viola Davis can rule a screen but it reflects in the range that she is always able to bring. “The Woman King” has her as the head commander of a tribal army led by females. Like the Samurai they take certain rules but unlike those perhaps, there is more of a hidden trauma that fuels these women, though they are hardest on others like them.

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IR Film Review: PEARL [A24]

"Pearl" brims with lead Mia Goth's energy. The character has so many demons but simply the chemistry in her is wrong and Goth gets that right. It is an interesting irony. Pearl wants so hard to please but her instinct tells her all the wrong things to do.

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Film Reviews Tim Wassberg Film Reviews Tim Wassberg

IR Film Review: BARBARIAN [20th Century Studios]

The context of horror depends on expectation and what one thinks of the path going in. With "Barbarian", even with the influx of how the trailers built the film up, it is about the misdirect and perspective of the audience. But the idea revolves in how it plays out. This usually has to do with structure and the intensity of what the reveal is.

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Film Reviews Tim Wassberg Film Reviews Tim Wassberg

IR Film Review: PINOCCHIO [Disney+]

The concept of adapting a classic animated film because it can sometimes is an exercise in understanding what the audience wants to see. But there are always sometimes cultural touchstones that walk the line. "Pinocchio" in theory is an interesting challenge and the person obviously well suited to the task is Robert Zemeckis.

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Film Reviews Tim Wassberg Film Reviews Tim Wassberg

IR Film Review: BURIAL [IFC Midnight]

The aspect of secret missions and the cultural standing within them is normally about how do you inflect genre. What "The Burial" does is turn it on its head and uses folklore in a way to mask some very real human approaches, behavior and setbacks, many of which are lost to time.

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Film Reviews Tim Wassberg Film Reviews Tim Wassberg

IR Film Review: THE INVITATION [Screen Gems/Sony]

The aspect of a vampire story in modern time is an aspect of being able to be aware of the modern sensibility in real time. The use of the have and have nots tends to play a role with "The Invitation" in that it uses it against its heroine in Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel) because she so wants to believe in the dream of being accepted and about the notion of family that it blinds her in many ways...and yet that is exactly what is being offered.

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Film Reviews Tim Wassberg Film Reviews Tim Wassberg

IR Film Review: BODIES BODIES BODIES [A24]

Creating a play on the horror genre with a sense of anticipation depends sometimes on perception of the idea being written but in many ways sometimes who is cast. An interesting play with "Bodies Bodies Bodies" is casting Amandla Stenberg with Maria Bakolova as a couple who enter into a house party right before a hurricane at the film's inset.

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