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Jan 13, 2025 | 
jamesweggreview.org | S. James Wegg
Yana-WaraTito Catacora, Oscar Catacora2024, 104 mins.
Till death do me part
Some films are hard to watch (much of this is, especially the results of an abortion). Nonetheless, most of them say what needs to be said and, the best of the lot, lets the viewer decide just what is just or not.
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Jan 5, 2025 | 
jamesweggreview.org | S. James Wegg
Timely for the season, this is a Rom-sort-of-Com that, using the structure of major holidays over a year from Valentine’s to Valentine’s, tries to bake up a narrative for all of those who love, loath or laugh at “regulated” celebrations who are bound to find at least a couple of scenes that match their views—either pro or con festivities.
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Jan 5, 2025 | 
jamesweggreview.org | S. James Wegg
From Ground ZeroCreator: Rashid Masharawi2024, 152 mins.
Directed by:
Aws Al-Banna,
Ahmed Al-Danf,
Basil Al-Maqousi,
Mustafa Al-Nabih,
Muhammad Alshareef,
Ala Ayob,
Bashar Al Balbisi,
Alaa Damo,
Awad Hana,
Ahmad Hassunah,
Mustafa Kallab,
Satoum Kareem,
Mahdi Karera,
Rabab Khamees,
Khamees Masharawi,
Wissam Moussa,
Tamer Najm,
Abu Hasna Nidaa,
Damo Nidal,
Mahmoud Reema,
Etimad Weshah,
Islam Al Zrieai,
What is heavier more than oppression?
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Dec 10, 2024 | 
filmthreat.com | S. James Wegg
Road movies have been a staple of filmmaking for decades—the journey is the glue; the twists and turns en route are the draw. At the center, What We Find in the Road is just-turned-18-year-old TJ (Finn Haney shows a remarkable talent for emotional expression, ranging from joie to vivre in the Grand Canyon to understandable outrage in Vallejo, California).
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Dec 6, 2024 | 
jamesweggreview.org | S. James Wegg
I Am: Céline DionIrene Taylor2024, 103 mins.
Warrior of Song
Canada’s most famous chanteuse courageously steps up to the lens to both celebrate her extraordinary art and boldly reveal the ravages of SPS (Stiff Person Syndrome). With the odds of contracting this debilitating disease (1-2 per million), it’s an extraordinary example of how incredible talent can be thwarted by nature’s challenges.
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Dec 6, 2024 | 
jamesweggreview.org | S. James Wegg
Road movies have been a staple of filmmaking for decades—the journey is the glue; the twists and turns en route are the draw.
At the center of it all is just-turned-18-year-old TJ (Finn Haney shows remarkable talent of emotional expression, ranging from joie to vivre in the Grand Canyon to understandable outrage in Vallejo, California).
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Dec 3, 2024 | 
jamesweggreview.org | S. James Wegg
An early “drip, drip, drip” from an elementary school sink is the ideal metaphor for this curious tale of two six-year-old school chums (Armand and Jon) who get into a sexual altercation where the former—apparently, my on-purpose metaphor—bullies, bruises, scratches and threatens penetration on the primary school’s boys’ bathroom floor.
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Dec 3, 2024 | 
jamesweggreview.org | S. James Wegg
Fidil Ghorm (Blue Fiddle)Anne McCabe2024, 86 mins. The magic of music
From Ireland, here is one of the cheesiest, heart-on-sleeve films I have seen in decades. After the first five minutes, there is no doubt whatsoever what will happen before the final curtain falls. Still, for anyone who has lost a close friend or family member (isn’t that all of us?), there are many moments that will resonate and, perhaps, bring a tear.
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Nov 23, 2024 | 
jamesweggreview.org | S. James Wegg
DaaaaaalíQuentin Dupieux2023, 68 mins. Ego on a brush
For anyone unfamiliar with one of the greatest surreal artists of all time, I expect they’ll be hitting the reject button no more than 15 minutes in. For the rest of us, it’s well worth the wait of an interminable dream, fake art, failed careers and an interview that may or may not come to any screen no matter how big or small.
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Nov 23, 2024 | 
jamesweggreview.org | S. James Wegg
76 Days AdriftQuentin Dupieux2024, 105 mins. The young man and the sea
Imagine setting sail on a record-breaking cross-Atlantic solo trip in 1982, only to have your boat (Napoleon Solo, no less) soon scuppered then have to hang on for dear life in a 4x4 life raft with hopes of, somehow, riding the North Atlantic currents and, hopefully, reaching terra firma somewhere in the Caribbean.
