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Lance Li

Lance Li is a garlic pepper addict, an occasional photographer and writer of political prose, and an Economics student at University of Wisconsin–Madison. He can be searched on Letterboxd under “RedMoonRising,” and he’s written a few pieces on films for FrameRated.co.uk, The Daily Cardinal, and Madison Journal of Literary Criticism.

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Lance's Latest Articles

Simple rectangular image collage of four film stills. At the top left, teenager Willa (Chase Infiniti) practices shooting an assault rifle in an open field in "One Battle After Another." At the top right, thirtysomething parent J.B. Mooney (Josh O'Connor) scopes out the Framingham Art Museum before he plans a robbery in "The Mastermind." At the bottom left, teenager Kyle (Jackson Sluiter) skates through the suburbs of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. At the bottom right, frazzled mother Linda (Rose Byrne) stops for a moment at her motel after visiting the convenience store in "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You."
One movie meditation after another: toiling through 2025
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Film
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January 21, 2026

Nine writers processed these trying times through cinema, at the theaters and at home.

In a spacious and opulent house, two sisters stand at a medium shot in a sunlit room and look out to the right (through an unseen window). Both women have dark brown hair that is pulled back. They also both wear comfortable, long-sleeve clothing.
Evaluating tenderness and depth of family dynamics in “Sentimental Value”
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Film
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December 10, 2025

Grant Phipps and Lance Li argue in favor of and against the artistic framework of Joachim Trier's latest psychological family drama.

A cropped still from the film "One Battle After Another" shows a disheveled middle-aged man standing on an open desert road. He wears a plaid-patterned bathrobe over a plain grey shirt and black pants. He holds a rifle up with his right arm and holds out a small black device in his left. The man peers into the distance with a concerned expression. A sports car that he's driven is parked in the middle of the road with the driver's side door open.
“One Battle After Another” reclaims hope in its cluttered, unpretentious, momentous rhythms
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Film
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October 9, 2025

Paul Thomas Anderson's latest epic satire is currently screening at all theaters in the Madison area.