Romance

Materialists

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Materialists
  • IMDb: link

I had some trepidation walking into writer/director Celine Song‘s Materialists. On one hand, Song provided my favorite film of 2023. On the other hand, the set up of a beautiful matchmaker, starring my least-favorite mainstream actress, who just can’t seem to find her own Mr. Right, sounded like the kind of bargain-basement romcom that would normally make me want to run quickly in the opposite direction. Thankfully, that’s not what Materialists turns out to be. However, what we do get is only somewhat more successful.

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Jane Austen Wrecked My Life

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Jane Austen Wrecked My Life
  • IMDb: link

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life isn’t what you might expect. It’s more of a throwback art house character-driven story than trashy Hollywood romcom. And, despite the title, Jane Austen‘s writing is celebrated throughout. The film introduces us to Agathe Robinson (Camille Rutherford), a lonely middle-aged bookseller obsessed with Austen who works in a local shop with her best friend (Pablo Pauly). Without her knowledge, Félix submits her writing in a contest winning a two-week writers retreat at the Jane Austen Residency. However, the road to the retreat is fraught with anxiety, kissing Félix on a whim, a broken-down car, and insulting Austen’s descendant Oliver (Charlie Anson) who Agathe immediately dislikes. 

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Novocaine

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Novocaine
  • IMDb: link

Novocaine is an odd film that starts out as an awkward romantic comedy, turns sharply into a Heat-esque serious hardcore heist film, and then for the remainder becomes an adrenaline-fueled action film which could only be compared to something like Crank. It’s one of those films where the wild antics don’t so much take over the story but, for the majority of the film, simply are the story. At times, it’s a bit much for my tastes and could have taken more opportunity to pull back and let its actors (who are doing a good job) breathe.

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The Great Films – The Third Man

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Third Man
  • IMDb: link

Set in post-WWII Europe, director Carol Reed‘s cinematic masterpiece begins with the arrival of American pulp writer Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) in occupied Austria only to learn the friend he had come to visit on his last dime, Harry Lime (Orson Welles), is dead. Despite everyone he meets telling him he should return home, Holly sticks around the city playing amateur detective hoping to learn more about how and why Harry died.

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La Dolce Villa

/ / Home Video
  • Title: La Dolce Villa
  • IMDb: link

In what could easily been released on the Hallmark Channel, La Dolce Villa is a perfectly fine example of a made for home video tale involving overprotective single dad Eric (Scott Foley) traveling to Italy to try and prevent his unfocused daughter Olivia (Maia Reficco) from buying a rundown villa in a small village with plans to restore it. While there, he falls for the town’s mayor Francesca (Violante Placido) beginning his first real romantic relationship with a woman since the death of his wife.

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