Articles by Laura Di Girolamo

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  'Halloween' Mines Past Family Trauma for an Updated Slasher Homage

  Directed by David Gordon Green

  PUBLISHED Oct 18, 2018

  Michael Myers is one of the all-time greats when it comes to slasher villains, precisely because he is the simplest — at least, if you disr...

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  'Tigers Are Not Afraid' Brilliantly Blends Horror and Magic Realism

  Directed by Issa López

  PUBLISHED Oct 12, 2018

  Tigers Are Not Afraid seamlessly blends magical realism with the stark brutality of poverty-stricken slums. It's one of those films blessed...

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  'The Hate U Give' Is on the Nose Because It Must Be

  Directed by George Tillman Jr.

  PUBLISHED Oct 4, 2018

  The Hate U Give, a film adaptation of the YA bestseller by Angie Thomas, about the shooting of an unarmed black teenager by a white cop, is...

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  TIFF Review: 'Endzeit (Ever After)' Has an Interesting Eco-Friendly Take on Zombies

  Directed by Carolina Hellsgård

  PUBLISHED Sep 12, 2018

  Despite some problems with pacing and clunky storytelling, Endzeit is a visually lush, philosophical zombie film with a unique aesthetic. R...

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  'The Predator' Has Plenty of Dude-Heavy Action but Lacks Self-Awareness

  Directed by Shane Black

  PUBLISHED Sep 11, 2018

  At this point, it's going to be hard to talk about Shane Black's The Predator reboot without taking into consideration the recent scandal o...

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  TIFF Review: 'Retrospekt' Muddles Its Domestic Abuse Narrative

  Directed by Esther Rots

  PUBLISHED Sep 10, 2018

  Nonlinear narrative dramas have tricky goals to achieve. Aside from making sure all the puzzle pieces fit, it's also critical that the audi...

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  TIFF Review: 'Diamantino' Is a Surreal Political Soccer Satire

  Directed by Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt

  PUBLISHED Sep 9, 2018

  A weirder, queerer, more Europop Zoolander, Diamantino floats in on a cloud of campy 16mm film to tackle hot-button issues like the Europea...

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  'Ahockalypse' Review: 'Goon' Meets 'Walking Dead'

  Directed by Wayne Harry Johnson Jr.

  PUBLISHED Aug 16, 2018

  It's pretty easy to see, from the first blow of the whistle, what Ahockalypse is trying to do. Part Goon, part Wolfcop (trading Canada for...