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Review: If

No, not the one about a genocidal clown who enjoys a good balloon with a side of child murder (It). Also not that one where a group of kids find that odd fantasy creature and go on an adventure (Five Children and It). And it’s definitely not If…, as in the late 60s film starring Malcolm McDowell, whose performance as a rebellious public-school student convinced Stanley Kubrick to cast the actor in A Clockwork Orange. No, I’m talking about If, the 2024 film directed by and starring John Krasinski, where a young girl struggles with grief and starts to see imaginary friends whose humans have grown up and forgotten about them. Yes, THAT film. Funny how a punctuation mark or a minor letter change can cause confusion about what film you’re talking about, eh?

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Review: Civil War

It’s difficult to separate some actors from their signature roles. Yes, Nick Offerman has knocked the ball out of the park in The Last of Us and numerous other TV shows, but it’s hard to picture him as anyone else apart from the laconic Ron Swanson. When Offerman’s acting as the maniacal POTUS in Civil War, it’s difficult not to imagine him dictating the Pyramid of Greatness to a class of school children. Likewise, it’s challenging to picture Jesse Plemons as anyone other than resident psychopath Todd from Breaking Bad (not to worry with this one, though, as he plays a similarly unhinged douchebag in this rodeo too). It’s not too much of the problem, though, as neither actor gets a huge amount of screen time in Alex Garland’s latest feature.

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