The Card Counter (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

The Card Counter (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Paul Schrader

Written by: Paul Schrader

Starring: Oscar Isaac, Tiffany Haddish, Tye Sheridan, Willem Dafoe

Runtime: 109 min

Synopsis: Redemption is the long game. This revenge thriller tells the story of an ex-military interrogator turned gambler haunted by the ghosts of his past decisions.

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King Richard (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

King Richard (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Reinaldo Marcus Green

Written by: Zach Baylin

Starring: Will Smith, Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, Tony Goldwyn, Jon Bernthal

Runtime: 136 min

Synopsis: Armed with a clear vision and a brazen 78-page plan, Richard Williams (Will Smith) is determined to write his daughters, Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena (Demi Singleton), into history. Training on Compton, California's neglected tennis courts - rain or shine - the girls are shaped by their father's unyielding commitment and their mother's balanced perspective and keen intuition, defying the seemingly insurmountable odds and prevailing expectations laid before them.

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The French Dispatch (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

The French Dispatch (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Wes Anderson

Written by: Wes Anderson

Starring: Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Stephen Park, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson

Runtime: 107 min

Synopsis: A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th-century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in "The French Dispatch."

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tick, tick...BOOM! (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

tick, tick...BOOM! (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Lin-Manuel Miranda

Written by: Steven Levenson

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Alexandra Shipp, Robin de Jesús, Joshua Henry, Mj Rodriguez, Bradley Whitford, Tariq Trotter, Judith Light, Vanessa Hudgens

Runtime: 115 min

Synopsis: Jon (Andrew Garfield) is a young theater composer who's waiting tables at a New York City diner in 1990 while writing what he hopes will be the next great American musical. Days before he's due to showcase his work in a make-or-break performance, Jon is feeling the pressure from everywhere: from his girlfriend Susan (Alexandra Shipp), who dreams of an artistic life beyond New York City; from his friend Michael (Robin de Jesús), who has moved on from his dream to a life of financial security; amidst an artistic community being ravaged by the AIDS epidemic. With the clock ticking, Jon is at a crossroads and faces the question everyone must reckon with: What are we meant to do with the time we have?

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Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Walt Becker

Written by: Jay Scherick, David Ronn, Blaise Hemingway

Starring: Jack Whitehall, Darby Camp, Tony Hale, Sienna Guillory, Russell Wong, John Cleese

Runtime: 97 min

Synopsis: When middle-schooler Emily Elizabeth (Darby Camp) meets a magical animal rescuer (John Cleese) who gifts her a little, red puppy, she never anticipated waking up to find a giant ten-foot hound in her small New York City apartment. While her single mom (Sienna Guillory) is away for business, Emily and her fun but impulsive uncle Casey (Jack Whitehall) set out on an adventure that will keep you on the edge-of-your-seat as our heroes take a bite out of the Big Apple. Based on the beloved Scholastic book character, Clifford will teach the world how to love big!

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Antlers (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Antlers (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Scott Cooper

Written by: C. Henry Chaisson, Nick Antosca, Scott Cooper

Starring: Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy T. Thomas, Graham Greene, Scott Haze, Rory Cochrane, Amy Madigan

Runtime: 99 min

Synopsis: In an isolated Oregon town, a middle-school teacher (Keri Russell) and her sheriff brother (Jesse Plemons) become embroiled with her enigmatic student (Jeremy T. Thomas) whose dark secrets lead to terrifying encounters with a legendary ancestral creature who came before them.

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Mini-Reviews - 2021 Edition

Mini-Reviews - 2021 Edition

Usually, I prepare this type of article near the end of each year and upload mini-reviews that I have in store for a few films I didn’t have time to write a full opinion piece on. I’m going to do things differently in 2021 so that I can publish my thoughts on every movie I see this year without missing a single one. Even with much fewer films in 2020, I still found myself struggling with time, so I expect 2021 will go down the same road, sooner or later.

Therefore, this article will contain the same concise opinions you’ve seen in other pieces like this. Small reviews of some movies I can’t afford the time to write 800+ words on due to external situations that might occur in my life. In most cases, these are going to be films that won’t have that much of an impact on my year-end reflection of the best/worst movies I’ve seen in 2021.

This section will be updated each time I add a new entry, as well as its date of publication, so these compact opinions can be seen by everyone at any time.

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Finch (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Finch (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Miguel Sapochnik

Written by: Craig Luck, Ivor Powell

Starring: Tom Hanks, Caleb Landry Jones, Samira Wiley, Laura Harrier, Skeet Ulrich

Runtime: 115 min

Synopsis: Tom Hanks is Finch, a man who embarks on a moving and powerful journey to find a new home for his unlikely family - his beloved dog and a newly created robot - in a dangerous and ravaged world.

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Eternals (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Eternals (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Chloé Zhao

Written by: Chloé Zhao, Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, Kaz Firpo

Starring: Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie

Runtime: 156 min

Synopsis: Eternals follows a group of heroes from beyond the stars who had protected the Earth since the dawn of man. When monstrous creatures called the Deviants, long thought lost to history, mysteriously return, the Eternals are forced to reunite in order to defend humanity once again.

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Last Night in Soho (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Last Night in Soho (2021) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Directed by: Edgar Wright

Written by: Edgar Wright, Krysty Wilson-Cairns

Starring: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Terence Stamp, Diana Rigg

Runtime: 116 min

Synopsis: Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie), an aspiring fashion designer, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer, Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy). But the glamour is not all it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something far darker.

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