#REVIEW: “MAGAZINE DREAMS”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Writer-Director Elijah Bynum delivers a gripping character study of an amateur bodybuilder who battles both the limits of his physical body and his inner demons to gain recognition. It follows Killian Maddox (Jonathan Majors) who attempts to make it big as a bodybuilder, while caring for his grandfather in small-town America.
It’s clear from the beginning that Majors has put everything into this role. He completely changes his physical body to ...
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#REVIEW: “OPUS”
Review by Nicholas Porteous for Mr. Will Wong
Opus follows Ayo Edebiri as an aspiring Writer summoned to a mysterious promotional retreat for a legendary Pop Artist’s first album in decades. The pop artist in question? Who else but John Malkovich (as Alfred Moretti). Joining Edebiri for the ride: Juliette Lewis, Murray Bartlett, and a small coterie of Music Journalists dying to get a first impression of Moretti‘s new work. Oh, and it’s worth mentioning that during his ...
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#REVIEW: “BLACK BAG”
Review by Nicholas Porteous for Mr. Will Wong
In Steven Soderbergh's Black Bag, Michael Fassbender plays a steely-eyed British spy tasked with uncovering a traitor inside his agency. One big wrinkle--his wife (Cate Blanchett) tops the list of suspects. If Mr. and Mrs. Smith were a couple of decades older and hosted dinner parties with their work frenemies, you'd get this cool and exacting Thriller.
Black Bag wields an impressive ensemble, including Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, ...
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#REVIEW: “NOVOCAINE”
By Mr. Will Wong
Dan Berk and Robert Olsen team-up to co-direct the action-packed NOVOCAINE. This 110 minute thrill ride a mashup of Comedy, Action and bloody gore, led by a charismatic leading man in Jack Quaid.
Meet Nathan Caine (Quaid), an assistant Bank Manager who quietly enjoys gaming and reading. His world changes when he meets Sherry (Amber Midthunder), a Teller at the bank he works and being complete opposites they fall for one another. Nathan has a rare condition called CIP ...
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#REVIEW: “SEVEN VEILS”
By Mr. Will Wong
Visionary Writer/Director Atom Egoyan is ready to unveil SEVEL VEILS after premiering it at TIFF '23 to acclaim. The Drama-Thriller reunites him with Amanda Seyfried, whom he last worked with in 2009 Erotic Thriller CHLOE.
Having directed the Opera SALOME in the past, Egoyan gets meta here in this story centering on Jeanine (Seyfried), a Theatre Director tasked with directing a production of Salome, which prior was directed by a much older clandestine lover who recently ...
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#REVIEW: “MICKEY 17”
By Mr. Will Wong
Academy Award winner Bong Joon Ho's ambitious eighth film MICKEY 17 continues to explore his knack for Dark Comedy and Satire, exploring recurring themes of class and humanity with a splash of violence. While a bit chaotic, he manages to craft something meaningful with the talents of leading man Robert Pattinson who plays multiple iterations of the titular character.
Things are grim on earth with several people in debt. Looking to get off the planet, Mickey Barnes ...
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#REVIEW: “LAST BREATH”
Review by Nicholas Porteous for Mr. Will Wong
During a routine mission at the bottom of the ocean, one diver is left to fend for himself with only a damaged suit, a couple of flares and ten minutes of backup oxygen. His umbilical cord has been severed, and his only hope of rescue is busy getting kicked around like a tin can by a violent storm, topside. Does this sound familiar to you? That's probably because Last Breath is a reenactment of the 2019 Documentary of the same name. Both films were ...
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#REVIEW: “PARTHENOPE”
Review by Amanda Gilmore for Mr. Will Wong
Writer-Director Paolo Sorrentino’s latest is a gorgeous film about our preconceived judgements of those we deem beautiful.
Parthenope (Celeste Dalla Porta) is the embodiment of beauty. Everyone in her seaside Italian town is enamoured by it. Even her brother’s stare lingers long enough to raise eyebrows. The Film opens with her being born in the sea outside her lavish family home. The next time we see her, she’s 18 years old and emerging ...
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#REVIEW: “THE MONKEY”
Review by Nicholas Porteous for Mr. Will Wong
In Osgood Perkins' followup to Longlegs, a haunted toy monkey inexplicably causes the grisly deaths of many, and Theo James (as a set of identical twins) might be the only person(s) who can even begin to understand what's going on. But when you can't disassemble or trash it, how does one stop an evil toy? The Monkey asks 'what if Stephen King wrote a Goosebumps book?' The answer: a hyperviolent, 18A yarn that simultaneously feels like it's designed ...
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#REVIEW: “CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD”
Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong
Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) has fully embraced being the new Captain America and is immediately put to the test when an assassination attempt on the life of the recently inaugurated US President, Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford, taking over for William Hurt), sets off a chain of events that could lead to an international incident between the United States and China.
There is more going on obviously – and some of it may require a little homework ...
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