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Karl Delossantos
Tomatometer-approved critic
Even though I've loved film all my life, it wasn't until 2013 when I started the website Smash Cut Reviews that I was able to truly express my adoration. I believe that diversity and inclusion in film and film criticism is essential and I'm thrilled to lend my voice to the community. While I love any kind of film, I have a particular passion for high-concept science fiction and 70s and 80s horror. However, any film that is a powerful empathy machine, as Roger Ebert puts it, is one for me.
Movies reviews only
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Challengers (2024) |
Challengers is a winner. Game, sex, match.
It feels like a movie we haven’t seen before, or at least in recent memory. One that doesn’t feel bogged down by its self-importance nor trying so hard to be shocking or camp (I’m looking at you, Saltburn). - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Apr 24, 2024
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Civil War (2024) |
Civil War feels at war with itself.
When it focuses on the sheer terror and brutality of war it is nothing short of engrossing. But when it deigns to say anything specific about the current state of society in the United States it feels misguided. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Apr 11, 2024
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The First Omen (2024) |
With devilishly delectable imagery as beautiful as it is horrifying, it trades cheap jumpscares for dread-filled slow burn that gets under your skin and delivers a diabolical thrill that lasts after the credits roll. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Apr 05, 2024
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Monkey Man (2024) |
Though its ambitious plot can feel overstuffed at times, Patel’s magnetic screen presence (and abs) and assured vision keep you hooked from beginning to end. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Apr 04, 2024
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Femme (2023) |
Femme is as messy and beautiful and complicated as we are. It’s the kind of queer thriller we deserve. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Mar 21, 2024
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Dune: Part Two (2024) |
Dune: Part Two is a The Empire Strikes Back or The Return of the King-level event. A science fiction classic in the making that’ll inspire the next generation of science fiction and fantasy films. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Feb 21, 2024
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How to Have Sex (2023) |
How to Have Sex subverts the 2000s-era raunchy sex comedy to deliver a sobering holiday drama with a melancholic realistic edge. With Mia McKenna-Bruce‘s heartbreaking performance as its strong beating heart it is much more than another teen movie. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Feb 02, 2024
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Mean Girls (2024) |
In an effort to update a classic, Mean Girls feels dated - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Jan 19, 2024
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RENAISSANCE: A FILM BY BEYONCÉ (2023) |
Beyoncé is so often revered as larger-than-life, and in many ways she is. With this film, she tells us that while she’s able to communicate these concepts epically, they all originate from completely human experiences. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Dec 04, 2023
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Rustin (2023) |
Colman Domingo is nothing short of sensational. A theatrical rendering of a man that in many ways was larger than life living in a world that sought to dull his shine — both from those against him and on his side. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Oct 20, 2023
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May December (2023) |
As the camera closes in on Julianne Moore's face and a dissonant chord strums, she dramatically delivers the line, "I don’t think we’re going to have enough hot dogs." From then on, it's impossible not to be transfixed by the high camp of this melodrama. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Oct 02, 2023
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American Fiction (2023) |
American Fiction is an uplifting family drama, swoony romantic comedy, and uproarious absurd comedy all wrapped up in a hilarious crowd-pleasing satire that'll have you crying from laughter and then asking, “Am I the problem?” - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Sep 17, 2023
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Dream Scenario (2023) |
Dream Scenario is exactly how Nicolas Cage should be spending his career: on bonkers wild swings like a comedic version of A Nightmare on Elm Street where Freddie is a normal average guy and his weapon is doing nothing. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Sep 16, 2023
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Origin (2023) |
As a whole, Origin is a dazzling epic of large ideas and the smallness of those affected by them. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Sep 12, 2023
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Unicorns (2023) |
Unicorns is a gorgeous glittering hidden gem. Full of queer life and spirit. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Sep 09, 2023
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Perfect Days (2023) |
As Nina Simone croons out “Feeling Good” over an unbroken long shot of Hirayama’s face illuminated by the sun a sense of satisfaction creeps over us — like when you reach the final perfect line of a simple poem. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Sep 08, 2023
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Bottoms (2023) |
Emma Seligman’s vision of high school in Bottoms is equal parts satiric and surreal. Like if Luis Buñel directed The Breakfast Club or Andrei Tarkovsky directed Clueless. The pure absurdity is something to marvel at. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Aug 25, 2023
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Red, White & Royal Blue (2023) |
Red, White & Royal Blue is a fairytale. A gay fairytale. Like “first 50 rows at a Lady Gaga concert” gay fairytale. One where a line like “first 50 rows at a Lady Gaga concert kind of gay” is eye-roll-inducing but oddly charming at the same time. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Aug 11, 2023
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Barbie (2023) |
Barbie looks camp right in the eye and turns it into a hot pink-splashed post-modern meta exploration of existentialism, feminism, the patriarchy and masculinity packaged in a satirical surreal musical comedy homage to classic cinema. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Jul 19, 2023
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Past Lives (2023) |
Though Past Lives is an epic in scope spanning decades at its core it’s a sweet intimate drama about how your past colors your present and often clouds your future. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Jun 29, 2023
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The Little Mermaid (2023) |
Halle Bailey's version of “Part of Your World” has bore itself into my psyche — and likely the rest of the audience if judging by the applause break after her final ethereal riff. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted May 22, 2023
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Mafia Mamma (2023) |
Mafia Mamma tries to be Under the Tuscan Sun, Goodfellas and a raunchy 2000s comedy yet fails at all three. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Apr 12, 2023
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Air (2023) |
Air is the epitome of a dad movie. As in, dads will watch it and nod along like they too are an expert in athlete-brand partnerships at a major shoe corporation. Well, call me daddy because I was nodding along with them. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Apr 07, 2023
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How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022) |
How To Blow Up a Pipeline is a non-stop tension-filled eco-thriller that plays more like a sleek heist movie than one about climate activism. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Apr 04, 2023
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Peak Season (2023) |
Peak Season is a thirtysomething dramedy that is as deeply introspective and life-affirming as it is charming and funny. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Mar 17, 2023
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John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) |
John Wick: Chapter 4 is an immense action magnum opus. It is near non-stop wall-to-wall combat, car chases, and shoot-outs on a level not seen since Mad Max: Fury Road. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Mar 14, 2023
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Late Night with the Devil (2023) |
A spine-tingling and inventive found footage that grabs your attention and never lets go. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Mar 10, 2023
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Scream VI (2023) |
Making perfect use of its New York City setting, Scream VI is bigger, bolder, and scarier than any of its predecessors. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Mar 08, 2023
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Passages (2023) |
While Passages could have easily fallen to melodramatics, Sachs keeps each character and interaction grounded. No line of dialogue feels ingenuine, even when they’re loaded guns that rip through each character. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Jan 27, 2023
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Infinity Pool (2023) |
Infinity Pool plays like a campier version of Michael Haneke’s psychological thriller Funny Games crossed with an upper class Spring Breakers all wrapped up in Brandon Cronenberg’s infamous visceral body horror style. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Jan 25, 2023
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Fair Play (2023) |
Fair Play is a corporate barn burner and relationship psychosexual drama that’s thrilling as it is brutally precise in its study of power, sex, attraction, and ambition. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Jan 23, 2023
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Sometimes I Think About Dying (2023) |
Sometimes I Think About Death is a small movie. It deals in the moments between the moments of life. What it explores is what happens when you live a lowercase ‘L’ life instead of a Life. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Jan 23, 2023
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M3GAN (2022) |
The moment M3GAN walks through the door dressed in a satin brown peacoat and enormous "here for drama" sunglasses, the movie runs like a well-oiled robotic machine in a blonde lace front. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Jan 04, 2023
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Babylon (2022) |
Babylon reviews itself when Jean Smart's character says, "it's a confluence of pure magic and bad taste." - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Dec 16, 2022
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Avatar: The Way of Water (2022) |
While other movies might feel empty by relying on their visuals, The Way of Water emotes through them. Did I care for any of the characters (or know their names)? Nope. But it's an entertaining epic visual magnum opus that has to be seen in theaters. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Dec 13, 2022
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Spoiler Alert (2022) |
Spoiler Alert is funny but not forced. Tragic but not overwrought. Romantic but not unrealistic. It hits all the beats in each of its genres while delivering a satisfying albeit devastating tragi-rom-com that says love is worth the pain. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Dec 04, 2022
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The Menu (2022) |
Have you ever watched an episode of Netflix’s Chef’s Table and thought, “gee, I wish this was more like a horror movie.” Well, I present to you weirdos The Menu - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Nov 16, 2022
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Falling for Christmas (2022) |
A little bit Overboard and a little bit It's A Wonderful Life, Falling for Christmas is an easy holiday watch for the girls, gays, and theys. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Nov 10, 2022
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Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) |
Wakanda Forever is a melancholy and moving meditation on loss and grief that is as cathartic for us as it is for the characters. Wright, Gurrira & Bassett are the movie's heart in Boseman's stead. Not by replacing him, but by reminding us of his impact. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Nov 08, 2022
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Halloween Ends (2022) |
Halloween Ends is so absurd and deeply weird that it’s impossible not to at least appreciate its audacity. It feels nothing like the rest of the series—like an interpolation of the story rather than a continuation. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Oct 13, 2022
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Tár (2022) |
I can’t fathom that Tár is a fictional character she feels so real. Like I could open Wikipedia and go on a bender through her early life, personal life (“Tár is openly gay”), and controversies section. It’s what makes TÁR one of the year’s greatest - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Oct 06, 2022
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Hocus Pocus 2 (2022) |
Hocus Pocus 2 is nostalgia done right because it doesn’t rely on our nostalgia to keep it afloat. Instead, it casts its own set of spells to bewitch us in the same way it did 30 years ago. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Sep 29, 2022
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Don't Worry Darling (2022) |
Don't Worry Darling gets by (just barely) on the shoulders of Florence Pugh. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Sep 26, 2022
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The Woman King (2022) |
The Woman King is a quintessential historical action epic. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Sep 16, 2022
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Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe (2022) |
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe feels like a breath of fresh air—or a clear sky full of stars (with no light pollution). - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Sep 13, 2022
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The Inspection (2022) |
The Inspection is an emotionally satisfying story of a man defiant in his queerness as he works to prove that he is not only more than it, but more because of it. Jeremy Pope gives a once-in-a-lifetime performance. Oscars, take note. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Sep 09, 2022
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Barbarian (2022) |
Barbarian is B-movie camp. It feels like it's from the same grotesque weird wicked world that Sam Raimi is operating in. The twists are surprising, scares genuinely frightening, and comedy sharp. See it in a theater with a crowd. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Sep 07, 2022
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Aftersun (2022) |
Charlotte Wells uses Aftersun to show us what it’s like to unlock that box that we all keep away in a hidden dark corner of our minds. What it’s like to admit that our perfect childhood memories are just afterimages of the brightest moments. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Sep 06, 2022
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Orphan: First Kill (2022) |
Orphan: First Kill doubles down on the original's wacky premise to deliver a deliciously campy prequel that will please fans of the first movie and convert a few new ones. A camp cult classic in the making. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Aug 20, 2022
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Beast (2022) |
Beast spares us from the unnecessary details and delivers what we want: Man vs animal. In that way, at its core, it's a perfect B-movie. - Smash Cut Reviews
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| Posted Aug 18, 2022
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