Dustin Jansick's Movie Reviews
All movie reviews written by Dustin Jansick
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Blackfish
Somewhat similar to the documentary The Cove, Blackfish makes persuasive arguments against catching and holding animals in captivity, though this documentary is focused on the directing blame solely on one company, SeaWorld. Blackfish catches SeaWorld in several lies through...
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The Bitter Buddha
Unless you are a huge stand-up comedy aficionado you have likely never heard of a comedian named Eddie Pepitone. I certainly had not until this documentary. But he is beloved by many famous comedians that you have heard of...
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Il Futuro
Alicia Scherson’s Il Futuro (The Future) is an adaptation of a Chilean novel by Roberto Bolano about two recently orphaned siblings that must find a way to make it on their own. Their uncertain future is the backbone of...
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Adore
Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival under the name Two Mothers (an arguably more fitting title) has been since changed to Adore, Anne Fontaine’s film about two best friends who end up in relationships with each other’s sons. Due...
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Wasteland
Rowan Athale attempts to breathe some new life into the heist genre by peppering it with dry British humor, stylized visuals, pulsing soundtrack, and characters with realistic motivations, but Wasteland overcomplicates the story with all of its gimmicky deceptions,...
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A Teacher
A Teacher is in many ways a reversal of the story that is normally told; featuring an older female authoritative figure (a teacher) having an affair with a younger male (a student). On top of that, the adolescent is...
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Thérèse
Premiering as the Closing Night film at the Cannes film festival last year was Claude Miller’s final film (before passing away) Thérèse. Adapted from a novel of the same name, Thérèse is a slow-burner period piece about a newlywed...
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Lovelace
Co-directors Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman bring the story of Linda Lovelace, a celebrity in the adult entertainment industry, to the very screen that brought her fame into mainstream culture from her seductive role in Deep Throat. Lovelace was...
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Drinking Buddies
Joe Swanberg is a well-known independent director who is notorious for his no budget, no script approach to filmmaking. The results tend to be very personal (he acts in most of his films) and highly realistic since the actors...
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The End of Love
Mark Webber’s sophomore effort as a director, The End of Love, follows a jobless single-father who is struggling to make ends meet while caring for his son. The film feels incredibly personal to Webber as nearly everyone in the...