The Art of Self-Defense (2019)
After he's attacked on the street at night, timid bookkeeper Casey joins a neighborhood karate studio. Under the watchful eye of a charismatic instructor, Sensei, and hardcore brown belt Anna, Casey gains a newfound sense of confidence for the first time in his life. But when he attends Sensei's mysterious night classes, he discovers a sinister world of fraternity, brutality and hyper-masculinity, presenting a journey that places him squarely in the sights of his enigmatic new mentor.
Genre: Comedy
Country: USA
Directed By: Riley Stearns
Written By: Riley Stearns
Starring: Alessandro Nivola, Jesse Eisenberg, Imogen Poots, Phillip Andre Botello, Steve Terada
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The Art of Self-Defense belongs to 8 collections
1. boobs (public: moderated by Pickpocket - 44 stars)
2. Black Comedy (public: moderated by Dorkovsky - 22 stars)
3. Films available in HD (public: moderated by kubricksucks - 12 stars)
4. Male Frontal Nudity (public: moderated by bobyang - 6 stars)
5. Full Male Frontal Nudity (Yes, Dick!) (public: moderated by iceblox - 3 stars)
6. 30th Stockholm International Film Festival (public: moderated by 5Z5qjRCfM2)
7. NZIFF 2019 (private: adwilson)
8. 2019 watchlist (private: AFlickering)
Browse the full list of collections
| Date | User | Rating | |
| Jan 20 |  |
Shadrik | 73 62% |
| Jan 19 | skydog | 80 53% |
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| Jan 19 |  |
erkam | 65 42% |
| Jan 18 |  |
heapshake | 75 79% |
| Jan 18 |  |
WWallce4prez | 71 48% |
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An ultra-dark comedy that riffs on some of the same machismo concepts that something like Fight Club does, but in a much more absurd way. Several laugh out loud moments are the highlights, while the second half becomes bit predictable in its chaos.
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| Jan 17 | johns32768 | 50 0% |
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| Jan 17 |  |
TychoCelchuu | 76 33% |
| Jan 16 |  |
hemesdtnt | 85 57% |
| Jan 15 |  |
inmate | 79 58% |
| Jan 15 |  |
RavynLoony | 61 61% |
| Jan 15 | jonzuckerman | 15 5% |
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| Jan 14 |  |
barisius | 50 9% |
| Jan 13 |  |
Vokalbum | 73 73% |
| Jan 12 |  |
Paxton | 68 49% |
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Lite Club
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| Jan 12 |  |
warrensm | 67 45% |
| Jan 12 | awesomejohn | 85 54% |
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| Jan 09 |  |
rklenseth | 70 60% |
| Jan 08 |  |
bearmaster | 75 68% |
| Jan 08 | qwertyes | 65 56% |
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| Jan 08 | cakmamcg | 60 58% |
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| Jan 08 | Jlschnei | 75 59% |
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| Jan 08 | austinvdubs | 83 47% |
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| Jan 07 | vesuvius | 70 68% |
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| Jan 06 |  |
nforvendetta | 71 76% |
| Jan 05 | freyr_rabbit | 50 5% |
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| Jan 05 |  |
Enverovic | 36 7% |
| Jan 05 |  |
VeLiKi | 80 46% |
| Jan 04 |  |
Skippey | 55 36% |
| Jan 03 |  |
AFlickering | 75 71% |
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the killing of a sacred dachshund. i totally agree with sellis' criticisms--the third act makes stearns' deficiencies abundantly clear--but i just can't resist all these exquisitely-pitched lanthimosy shenanigans enough to give an objective score.
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| Jan 02 |  |
tinychris | 12 43% |
| Jan 02 |  |
SpaceSpiff | 72 8% |
| Jan 01 | mattornot | 15 59% |
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| Jan 01 | damhar | 70 55% |
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| Jan 01 |  |
HiResDes | 75 59% |
| Dec 31, 2019 |  |
tom20 | 70 45% |
| Dec 31, 2019 | roscoe_1891 | 80 60% |
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| Dec 30, 2019 | Malcym | 4 16% |
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| Dec 30, 2019 |  |
bof | 67 53% |
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Fun satire on masculinity - Fight Club by way of Jeremy Saulnier, though not quite up there with either.
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| Dec 30, 2019 | mmert9008 | 70 40% |
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| Dec 26, 2019 |  |
punpun | 55 24% |
| Dec 24, 2019 | JZ17 | 74 50% |
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| Dec 24, 2019 |  |
Maaxwell | 50 23% |
| Dec 23, 2019 | kissgyozi | 65 31% |
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| Dec 22, 2019 | TheDude774 | 80 41% |
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| Dec 22, 2019 | mzonder | 60 48% |
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| Dec 22, 2019 | nendan22 | 71 28% |
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| Dec 22, 2019 |  |
Darren | 75 62% |
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The style of comedy doesn’t always pay off but Eisenberg really has a knack for this kind of thing
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| Dec 20, 2019 | kappaross123 | 95 70% |
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| Dec 19, 2019 | deluxe1 | 55 25% |
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| Dec 18, 2019 | goodedward | 49 13% |
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| Dec 18, 2019 | Danwo | 85 45% |
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| Dec 18, 2019 | UXX3 | 80 84% |
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| Dec 18, 2019 |  |
EmreZabun3 | 70 40% |
| Dec 16, 2019 |  |
JohnSandwich | 60 41% |
| Dec 15, 2019 |  |
Sakujo | 80 39% |
| Dec 14, 2019 | Jorg | 60 27% |
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| Dec 14, 2019 |  |
meltemcilik | 60 31% |
| Dec 14, 2019 |  |
Bown | 75 41% |
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A funny and thoughtful movie with good things to say about toxic masculinity but that overall doesn’t really leave much of an impact.
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| Dec 13, 2019 |  |
jmarkthespot | 65 64% |
| Dec 12, 2019 | bubib | 70 0% |
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| Dec 11, 2019 |  |
korbenPL | 43 47% |
| Dec 09, 2019 | Contreras | 4 77% |
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| Dec 09, 2019 | lefterisd99 | 70 59% |
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| Dec 09, 2019 |  |
FR6 | 70 48% |
| Dec 08, 2019 |  |
chmul_cr0n | 71 58% |
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Nicely weird. A lot of people seem to think is about toxic masculinity. Which only proves how narrow-mindedly some people watch movies by reducing everything to the most superficial and least complex dimensions (political ones for one). This movie is way too absurd to serve as political commentary or look like that's the intention. It's just a really original, very dead-pan comedy about masculine identity struggles.
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| Dec 08, 2019 |  |
el-ahrairah | 73 62% |
| Dec 08, 2019 | howeyc | 74 44% |
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| Dec 07, 2019 |  |
orcunselvi | 55 43% |
| Dec 04, 2019 | sagikk | 50 18% |
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| Dec 03, 2019 | ethan_hunt1 | 88 76% |
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| Dec 03, 2019 | zomgmouse | 60 16% |
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| Dec 02, 2019 |  |
muratkrks | 70 59% |
| Dec 02, 2019 | ThirdAct | 40 24% |
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| Dec 01, 2019 | kathryn71 | 35 10% |
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| Nov 30, 2019 |  |
buttercup | 6 32% |
| Nov 30, 2019 |  |
dst7175 | 56 42% |
| Nov 29, 2019 |  |
P u l p | 63 51% |
| Nov 28, 2019 |  |
mentosibo | 70 48% |
| Nov 28, 2019 | siweq86 | 70 54% |
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| Nov 26, 2019 |  |
lumen | 6 45% |
| Nov 23, 2019 |  |
Mehmet Mert | 58 16% |
| Nov 23, 2019 |  |
clayj41 | 67 40% |
| Nov 23, 2019 |  |
ZombieBuffet | 65 66% |
| Nov 23, 2019 |  |
Seethruskin | 5 79% |
| Nov 23, 2019 | tr0nllam | 70 58% |
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| Nov 22, 2019 |  |
mert2707 | 63 37% |
| Nov 21, 2019 |  |
periboku | 80 71% |
| Nov 19, 2019 |  |
jakartan | 61 32% |
| Nov 18, 2019 |  |
cankutozturk | 75 49% |
| Nov 17, 2019 | flipperrbm | 4 24% |
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| Nov 17, 2019 | Tigertemprr | 80 83% |
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| Nov 16, 2019 | CrazyDude | 68 48% |
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| Nov 15, 2019 |  |
jeff_v | 63 32% |
| Nov 15, 2019 |  |
bridggedale | 77 63% |
| Nov 13, 2019 | TastelessSod | 81 62% |
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| Nov 13, 2019 |  |
ABUNCHOFCATS | 87 78% |
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Fantastic dark comedy.
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| Nov 13, 2019 | Alucard979 | 80 68% |
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| Nov 10, 2019 |  |
donmezsefa | 60 39% |
| Nov 10, 2019 | yasirb | 52 8% |
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| Nov 09, 2019 | Yeboah | 38 21% |
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| Nov 09, 2019 | f_ranzen | 70 75% |
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| Nov 09, 2019 |  |
Hadzibegovic | 69 39% |
| Nov 08, 2019 | estragon | 70 65% |
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| Nov 07, 2019 |  |
psim | 77 59% |
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A funny satire of toxic masculinity that owes some debts to Fight Club. The audience is kept at some distance from the characters through the deadpan style, but at least this movie probably won't be celebrated by the people that it's making fun of.
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| Nov 06, 2019 | lBWoRV | 85 0% |
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| Nov 06, 2019 | TommyMann | 68 14% |
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| Nov 05, 2019 | Licpa | 50 12% |
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| Nov 04, 2019 |  |
sacmersault | 70 47% |
| Nov 04, 2019 |  |
cgcore | 63 57% |
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:)
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| Nov 04, 2019 |  |
luord | 57 39% |
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Confused politics, that only get more muddled as it goes along, detract from a story that has otherwise at times subtle and on-point metaphors and, at other times, hamfisted comparisons. The cast is pretty good and it is an interesting character study, though.
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| Nov 04, 2019 | cinebad | 85 29% |
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| Nov 04, 2019 | uaedaien | 85 82% |
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| Nov 03, 2019 | bugme | 80 81% |
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| Nov 03, 2019 | EllenMarie79 | 88 44% |
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| Nov 03, 2019 | 1RGsVY | 88 0% |
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| Nov 03, 2019 |  |
roonay3k | 42 16% |
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Nope!!
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| Nov 03, 2019 |  |
hsncomert | 45 36% |
| Nov 02, 2019 |  |
HobbesZ | 84 75% |
| Nov 01, 2019 |  |
halkas | 60 58% |
| Nov 01, 2019 | drewTO | 99 99% |
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| Oct 31, 2019 | Kianoto | 36 2% |
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| Oct 30, 2019 |  |
akjn | 70 53% |
| Oct 30, 2019 | beeblebrox | 85 69% |
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| Oct 30, 2019 |  |
E.C.R. | 40 15% |
| Oct 30, 2019 |  |
7thpein | 20 2% |
| Oct 29, 2019 |  |
feritdgn | 75 53% |
| Oct 28, 2019 | mostafah | 70 64% |
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| Oct 28, 2019 |  |
damper | 40 14% |
| Oct 28, 2019 |  |
Judo Koala | 55 15% |
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Far more insipid than I was expecting, TAOSD takes itself too seriously to be a cartoon, yet is too cartoonish to be taken seriously. Starts off with promise but jumps off the deep end before long and continues to spiral into complete absurdity. Horrifically lazy satirical social commentary on "toxic masculinity." Worst of all was knowing exactly where it was heading by the halfway point. Yuck.
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| Oct 27, 2019 | blucthulhu | 80 79% |
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| Oct 26, 2019 | TMzr | 100 0% |
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| Oct 25, 2019 | howleyt | 70 49% |
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| Oct 25, 2019 | Teacher | 68 64% |
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| Oct 24, 2019 | Prendelo | 74 41% |
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| Oct 24, 2019 |  |
90sCoffee | 80 82% |
| Oct 23, 2019 |  |
baristoker | 30 3% |
| Oct 23, 2019 | cloondog | 82 92% |
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| Oct 22, 2019 |  |
EfrDelKee | 75 50% |
| Oct 22, 2019 | insteadman | 65 48% |
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| Oct 20, 2019 |  |
Licio | 88 89% |
| Oct 20, 2019 |  |
TAYLOR-MANIA | 80 51% |
| Oct 20, 2019 | Quaid | 60 29% |
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| Oct 20, 2019 | Aventinus | 65 59% |
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| Oct 20, 2019 | eattherude | 75 59% |
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| Oct 19, 2019 |  |
beast | 6 55% |
| Oct 19, 2019 |  |
Warren | 80 56% |
| Oct 19, 2019 |  |
Iamdwg | 81 66% |
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While it's difficult to properly explain, the comedy in this movie is subtle, and it seems to take itself incredibly seriously, but the things people are literally saying in these incredibly dramatic-esque scenes are purposefully ridiculous, and the contrast between the two had me busting out laughing.
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| Oct 19, 2019 | itay | 70 55% |
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| Oct 18, 2019 |  |
FreddieQuell | 76 67% |
| Oct 18, 2019 |  |
Oktay | 30 7% |
| Oct 17, 2019 |  |
filay | 70 51% |
| Oct 17, 2019 |  |
julesfmb | 57 27% |
| Oct 17, 2019 |  |
LuxNatalis | 62 61% |
| Oct 17, 2019 | reeses87 | 75 53% |
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| Oct 16, 2019 |  |
Kitano7 | 55 26% |
| Oct 16, 2019 |  |
outTake | 34 5% |
| Oct 16, 2019 |  |
Methouse | 65 19% |
| Oct 16, 2019 |  |
focak248 | 76 54% |
| Oct 15, 2019 | HoneyB | 65 28% |
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| Oct 14, 2019 |  |
onrkrsvglu | 67 36% |
| Oct 14, 2019 |  |
mikelykzit | 90 91% |
| Oct 13, 2019 |  |
M_A | 69 55% |
| Oct 13, 2019 | henrybr | 70 21% |
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| Oct 12, 2019 | hellwig | 10 8% |
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| Oct 12, 2019 |  |
thuja | 70 34% |
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& yücel
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| Oct 12, 2019 |  |
devrimozkan | 61 50% |
| Oct 12, 2019 | conjuroglou | 80 75% |
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| Oct 11, 2019 |  |
Cowman | 70 56% |
| Oct 11, 2019 |  |
luisferreira | 74 75% |
| Oct 11, 2019 | andyglover | 95 58% |
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| Oct 10, 2019 |  |
jacqueskit | 55 41% |
| Oct 10, 2019 |  |
warmur7 | 76 26% |
| Oct 10, 2019 |  |
navid.g | 60 14% |
| Oct 10, 2019 | KingBread | 80 78% |
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| Oct 10, 2019 | Winston4th | 82 69% |
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| Oct 09, 2019 |  |
fat!h | 55 34% |
| Oct 09, 2019 |  |
selingoknar | 62 13% |
| Oct 09, 2019 |  |
avgcrtckr | 52 48% |
| Oct 09, 2019 |  |
filmaffinity | 62 51% |
| Oct 09, 2019 |  |
NhanLa | 75 75% |
| Oct 09, 2019 |  |
brkshn | 65 37% |
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Paradigma | 65 60% |
| Oct 09, 2019 |  |
supergloo | 2 5% |
| Oct 09, 2019 |  |
buddhalou | 80 73% |
| Oct 08, 2019 |  |
Temptershell | 71 43% |
| Oct 08, 2019 | zevel6 | 51 33% |
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| Oct 07, 2019 |  |
KeanuGrieves | 90 73% |
| Oct 07, 2019 |  |
amazedemon | 69 76% |
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Th Art of Self-Defense is a stylised satire of toxic masculinity that is entertaining to watch, though the film buckles its own themes (and sense of morality) in the third act as it embraces the mildly absurd. The style and dialogue is reminiscent of Lanthimos' The Lobster but without the ambiguity. Nivola, Eisenberg and Poots all play their characters well. Enjoyable if not taken too seriously or at any depth.
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| Oct 07, 2019 | izideve | 30 4% |
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| Oct 07, 2019 | fedro | 6 1% |
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| Oct 07, 2019 |  |
Obdurate | 70 38% |
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I really need more characters to dissect this, but simply put, if you follow the rhetoric these days of toxic masculinity then you probably agree with the message here. There's some truth, but it's not nuanced enough to give an accurate depiction. Besides that, just as a film, it's good. Uncomfortable, usually interesting, some brutal moments, some dry comedy, good performances all around, a little unpredictable. Gets compared to Fight Club--it's not nearly that clever, but still entertaining.
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| Oct 06, 2019 | braincaster | 74 53% |
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| Oct 06, 2019 |  |
neurophate | 76 64% |
| Oct 06, 2019 |  |
pirsu | 70 51% |
| Oct 06, 2019 | osmancansert | 73 41% |
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| Oct 06, 2019 |  |
christof | 84 72% |
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bybrt | 65 57% |
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Caymaz | 76 32% |
| Oct 05, 2019 | slanbexx | 55 17% |
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| Oct 04, 2019 |  |
HKi | 62 23% |
| Oct 04, 2019 | Midaso | 6 64% |
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| Oct 04, 2019 |  |
Spunkie | 60 63% |
| Oct 01, 2019 |  |
moonsmilk | 8 57% |
| Sep 28, 2019 |  |
breetz | 85 88% |
| Sep 14, 2019 | wizard81 | 70 52% |
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| Sep 03, 2019 |  |
doddsinator | 6 14% |
| Aug 24, 2019 | bigboymood | 8 71% |
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| Aug 21, 2019 |  |
clouddottir | 74 9% |
| Aug 18, 2019 | czimmerman9 | 89 56% |
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| Aug 12, 2019 | sandman248 | 70 50% |
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| Aug 11, 2019 | adwilson | 80 79% |
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| Aug 04, 2019 | areoharewhy | 8 83% |
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| Aug 04, 2019 |  |
ienjoycinema | 64 29% |
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A quirky deadpan comedy laden with statements about toxic masculinity and feminism. At times these messages feel condescendingly heavy-handed, but it manages to cleverly approach the subject matter. Jesse Eisenberg is just Jesse Eisenberg, but still maintains the charm that has kept him in movies for this long. The foreshadowing tho is too obvious and for all of it's preaching it fails to take a firm stance at the end of Eisenberg's character arc. It had potential to be more, but it's still fun.
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| Aug 03, 2019 | chiphall72 | 60 28% |
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| Aug 02, 2019 |  |
TraverseTown | 90 91% |
| Aug 01, 2019 |  |
EricDSnider2 | 85 67% |
| Aug 01, 2019 | Maxwellj169 | 90 92% |
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| Jul 31, 2019 |  |
rebeccalex | 65 23% |
| Jul 29, 2019 |  |
VengefulKBM | 80 75% |
| Jul 29, 2019 |  |
deaddilly | 65 43% |
| Jul 28, 2019 | emgroetz | 6 13% |
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| Jul 26, 2019 |  |
Derek_ | 30 11% |
| Jul 25, 2019 | dgprim | 50 31% |
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| Jul 25, 2019 |  |
jacobclark12 | 71 57% |
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It might be thematically rich and have an incredibly witty screenplay, but I found the overall rhythm of The Art of Self-Defense fairly predictable. While it does satirize traditional elements of masculinity fairly well, it never fully transitioned into that headspace. Eisenberg's turn from his typical shtick into a "macho man" is quite entertaining, but it's Imogen Poots that has the hardest job and impresses me the most here. I feel like a rewatch might do me some good with this one.
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| Jul 25, 2019 |  |
Stewball | 70 54% |
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I wish I knew what the point was, other than to set up the climax.
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| Jul 25, 2019 | sgBtLt | 70 0% |
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| Jul 24, 2019 | Crusty | 7 30% |
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| Jul 24, 2019 |  |
toxicwind | 8 65% |
| Jul 23, 2019 |  |
Hofschneider | 81 71% |
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A wonderful movie that can't be recommended to anyone. By attacking the coolness of Fight Club, Matrix, Office Space and the late 90ies head on it becomes a deliberately un-cool movie. And therefore a wonderful study on the power of movies and how bros ruing everything. What happens when you don't allow all the idiots to hide behind their "but it also critiques it" BS while imagining they look like Tyler Durden? (That dude they all see very, very critical). The Art of Self-defense happens.
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| Jul 23, 2019 | TheStraub | 70 55% |
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| Jul 23, 2019 |  |
JakeAesthete | 82 82% |
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Basically just Lanthimos + Jody Hill, whats not to like?
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| Jul 22, 2019 |  |
bhajansunlo | 52 32% |
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Limp and obvious satire
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| Jul 21, 2019 | sellis | 67 36% |
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The idea of the movie is better than what is delivered. For a movie so heavily influenced by the works of Lanthimos, it never achieves the status of satirical parable. It opts into being a psychological thriller/comedy. Instead of characters representing differing perspectives of a thematic conversation, they exist as one-dimensional knee jerk reactions. Victims. So much potential, but I don’t believe Stearns was clear on his own intentions. False sense of morality kills it.
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| Jul 20, 2019 | TheMooseman | 45 84% |
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| Jul 20, 2019 |  |
Roz | 70 46% |
| Jul 19, 2019 | Florin92 | 70 68% |
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| Jul 18, 2019 |  |
M_Edelman | 70 12% |
| Jul 14, 2019 |  |
natebarrios | 60 28% |
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at its strongest when it's matter-of-fact-ly satirizing absurd amounts of toxic masculinity. good for some laughs.
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| Jul 13, 2019 | filmcricket | 67 66% |
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| Jul 12, 2019 |  |
exolstice | 75 35% |
| Jul 10, 2019 |  |
MetaCritic2 | 65 57% |
| Average Percentile 47.74% from 241 Ratings |  |
