84 posts categorized "Romantic Drama"

January 01, 2023

THE FABELMANS

COLE SMITHEY

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

Welcome!

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Thanks a lot acorns!

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ColeSmithey.comNo one does populist pap like Steven Spielberg.

I say that in a good way.

"The Fabelmans" carries such rich generational, emotionally driven, '50s era touchstones to entertain and touch us.

Damn, this is a good movie.

Tearjerker.

This may well be Steven Spielberg's best film.

You couldn't ask for a finer swan song if that turns out to be the case.

ColeSmithey.com

Michelle Williams is remarkable in her role as Mitzi Fabelman, a complex mother, wife, artist, musician, dancer, and free thinker.

ColeSmithey.com

Seth Rogan has matured nicely, as displayed in his commanding performance in a thankless role that Rogan elevates to something important, inspiring, and real.

Cool man. Nice work.

ColeSmithey.com

Which brings us to Gabriel LaBelle, the hotshot rookie actor showing off his stuff with serious feeling, timing, and physicality.

Impressive.ColeSmithey.com

Gabriel LaBelle is the new Dustin Hoffman.

ColeSmithey.com

Gabriel LaBelle is Spielberg's not-so-secret asset to this very satisfying movie about movie-making toward different motivations and skills.

I would be remiss to leave out the always wonderful Paul Dano, handling a difficult role with perfect mastery.

Beautifully understated and profound is Dano's rendering.

ColeSmithey.com

Steven Spielberg and his ensemble had a lot of fun making this exquisite movie, and it shows in every frame.

"The Fabelmans" is a memoir imagined. It is an important artistic achievement that wears its heart on its cotton sleeve.

ColeSmithey.com

At least someone still knows how to tell a story on film.

Cheers to Steven Spielberg for this full-on masterpiece of the seventh art.

Rated PG-13. 151 mins.

5 Stars“ColeSmithey.com“

Cozy Cole

Cole Smithey on Patreon

March 23, 2022

PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

COLE SMITHEY

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon. Thanks a lot pal! Your generosity helps keep the reviews coming!

Cole Smithey on Patreon

ColeSmithey.comPeople ain't no good.

Writer/director Emerald Fennell makes quite a splash with this steely black comedy.

Predatory guys and the people who protect them get the business end from Carey Mulligan's diabolical mistress of revenge.

Red kisses.

Get back cupid.

These arrows kill.

ColeSmithey.com

Cassie (Mulligan) is a martyr through and through.

Fennell's pitch perfect dialogue stings as much as the clever plotting in this indy gem.

ColeSmithey.com

You'll squirm, you'll laugh, and you'll feel messed up at the end.

Frat boy mentality goes straight to hell.

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Ice is the only thing in the world that is what it's cracked up to be.

Romance this.

Rated R. 113 mins. 

5 Stars

COLE SMITHEY

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon. Thanks a lot pal! Every bit helps keep the reviews coming.

Cole Smithey on Patreon

February 26, 2022

CLAUDINE — THE CRITERION COLLECTION

ColeSmithey.com Get your woke head on skrait bitches.

You don't know diversity.

The once exiled John Berry (11th member of the "Hollywood 10" blacklisted directors under the House on Un-American Activities Committee - HUAC) serves up a cold plate of leftist perspective in the form of one of the best fucking American movies ever made.

Hardly any white folk show up on screen.

Thank the fucking God that doesn't exist. 

ColeSmithey.com

Get down and funky with Diahann Carroll and James Earl Jones in East Harlem circa 1973.

Diahann Carroll got a much deserved Oscar nom for her inspired performance here.

Diahann Carroll blows the doors off the movie.

Shew!

ColeSmithey.com

Pure.

Before James Earl Jones became a big time money maker with "Star Wars" three years later, he crafted a character you will never forget for this real-style romantic drama.

Written by husband and wife team Tina and Lester Pine, "Claudine" is a perfect script. Fantastic.

ColeSmithey.com

More social layers than three Ken Loach movies put together.

Richness of humanity has nothing to do with money or politics. 

"No War — No Racism."

Desert island movie, straight up.

Rated PG. 92 mins. 

5 Stars

COLE SMITHEY

Groupthink doesn't live here, critical thought does.

This ad-free website is dedicated to Agnès Varda and to Luis Buñuel.

Get cool rewards when you click on the button to pledge your support through Patreon. Thanks a lot pal!

Cole Smithey on Patreon

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