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New Release Reviews

New Release: The Batman

The Batman (2022) has received something of a mixed reception from critics and film fans, but I’d like to go on record to say it deserves at least Se7en out of zen. It’s reminiscent of the look and feel and general modus operandi of David Fincher’s 1995 serial killer opus – if not quite Zodiac […]

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Emerging Writers Reviews

Emerging Writers – A Review of Chloe Zhao’s Eternals

The Big Picture is committed to giving young, emerging writers a voice in the world of film criticism. In our new feature, student writers from around the world share their insights on contemporary film and new releases.

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New Release Reviews

New Release: The Green Knight

You may have met a man – quite young – A brisk-eyed youth, and highly strung: One whose desires And inner fires Moved him as wires … -From “So Various,” Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) The role of Gawain in David Lowery’s The Green Knight (2021) offers Dev Patel the opportunity to display a round table smorgasbord of […]

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New Release Reviews

New Release: Cruella

Following the anti-hero trend – from Maleficent (2014) to Joker (2019) – Disney brings back a most unexpected villain story: the animal abuser Cruella from 101 Dalmatians (1961, 1996). What is equally astonishing is how well put together everything is, but this completeness is only possible by examining Cruella (2021) on its own, not as a prequel to 101 Dalmatians. […]

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Feature New Release Reviews

New Release: Wilderness

There’s that inevitable moment during any relationship in which you glimpse the real person underneath the idealized portrait you’ve created. It could be a small thing – a turn of phrase, a glance – which makes you realize they have a past, that you don’t (indeed, can’t) know everything about them. Justin John Doherty’s Wilderness […]

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New Release Reviews

New Release: Clementine

Still recovering from a recent breakup, Karen (Otmara Marrero) drives to her ex’s unoccupied, secluded lake house. She breaks in by hurling a rock through a window and makes herself at home. The next evening, a young woman named Lana (Sydney Sweeney) emerges from the forest, looking for her dog. She asks for a ride, […]

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New Release Reviews

New Release: X

The psychosexual thriller has survived many iterations, from the highbrow (Eyes Wide Shut, 1999), to the gloriously over-the-top (Dressed to Kill, 1980), to the painfully dated (Jade, 1995). Scott J. Ramsey’s X (2019) is something of a Frankenstein’s monster, borrowing a bit from Kubrick’s final masterpiece (masked orgies, recurring mirror imagery) and a lot from […]

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New Release Reviews

New Release: The Souvenir

If there is one film this year that is currently ripping Film Twitter apart at the seams, it’s Joanna Hogg’s wonderfully lush, but problematic The Souvenir (2019). It’s a love-me-or-hate-me -movie due to the subjective experience of watching it. It’s quintessentially British in its relation to class; painfully aware of it but unable to solve […]

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New Release Reviews

New Release: The Dead Don’t Die

Bill Murray, Adam Driver, Chloe Sevigny, Tom Waits… The cast of Jim Jarmusch’s newest film is an impressive list of well-known character actors. These people might also be the only ones who could pull off a Jim Jarmusch film about the zombie apocalypse. And they almost do. The film begins with two policemen entering the […]