**editor’s note: This is one of those instances where we will discuss portions of the movie’s climax. It is impossible to talk about the biggest place “Halloween Kills” goes wrong without a discussion of the climax because that is where… Read More ›
reviews
Movie Review: “Son of Monarchs”
At one point in Alexis Gambis’s new film, “Son of Monarchs,” the lead character, Mendel, ghosts his girlfriend. Eventually he reconnects with her and instantly acts very badly over a dinner. Seemingly without explanation, this issue evaporates and the two… Read More ›
Movie Review: “No Time to Die”
One of the most interesting aspects of Daniel Craig’s time as James Bond is the push-and-pull it has offered between the traditional and iconoclastic versions of the character. The delicate balancing act has not always been a successful one for… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Titane”
It is the rare film that can make one both cringe in horror and cry in sympathy while still being utterly, off-the-wall, bonkers. This year’s Palme d’Or winter, “Titane,” is just such a film. Written and directed by Julia Ducournau,… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Mayday” (2021)
More and more, people complain about hearing movie “spoilers.” The complaint that has gone hand-in-hand with the seemingly ever-increasing presence of massive event movies. Interestingly, audiences are lied to on a regular basis for these movies, with things like trailers… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Dear Evan Hansen”
The success of “Dear Evan Hansen” on Broadway makes it exceptionally clear that there is something in the story and the songs and the production (and everything else) that speaks to an audience. It is inarguable. Never having seen the… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Best Sellers”
I don’t know very much about the book publishing world. I cannot attempt to tell you, in any sort of detail (or even broadly), how a book goes from manuscript form to sitting on the shelf at a bookstore and… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Nightbooks”
There are kids who look a good scare as much as some adults, and it is for that crowd that the new Netflix film, “Nightbooks,” is clearly intended. Starring Krysten Ritter as an evil witch and Winslow Fegley and Lidya… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Yakuza Princess”
One, usually, does not approach a jigsaw puzzle from a single spot. That is, as you go around building the entire border, separating all the edge pieces no matter if they match the ones you already have or not. After… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Together” (2021)
We are going to get a whole lot of movies about Covid. It is inevitable. They are going to discuss the disease and the response, the effects on the world at large and specific people in particular. These movies are… Read More ›
Movie Review: “The Protégé”
“Understated” is unquestionably the wrong word to use when describing Martin Campbell’s latest film, “The Protégé.” No, this is a movie with blood and violence and foul language. It is not understated. And yet, the most interesting thing about the… Read More ›
Movie Review: “The Magnificent Meyersons”
There is a brilliant moment in writer-director Evan Oppenheimer’s “The Magnificent Meyersons” in which Dr. Terri Meyerson (Kate Mulgrew) is talking to her mother, Celeste (Barbara Barrie), and suggests that we are all the sum of our experiences, whether we… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Risen” (2021)
I think that 2016’s “Arrival” and 2018’s “Annihilation” are two of the best “thinking” sci-fi/alien movies that we’ve gotten in a long while. These are movies that make you question what you’re seeing; they’re movies that make you instantly want… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Last Call: The Shutdown of NYC Bars”
It is one thing to be angry and quite another to see that anger manifest itself in a sensible—and potentially productive—way. The same is true for any emotion. Of course, try as we might, we can’t always control the ways… Read More ›
Movie Review: “The Suicide Squad”
It would be wrong to think that James Gunn has taken, wholesale, his work on the two “Guardians of the Galaxy” Marvel movies and simply moved the concepts over to DC for their “Suicide Squad” sequel, “The Suicide Squad” (yes,… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Naked Singularity”
Movies don’t always have to make complete sense. The question is whether or not as we watch them we understand enough of what’s going on to enjoy them; whether there’s enough there to make us want to watch the entire… Read More ›
Movie Review: “The Green Knight”
What is it to face your destiny? What is it to know for an extended period that an upcoming moment is the moment and more than that, but to know exactly when it is going to take place? These are… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Never Gonna Snow Again”
Some movies require a certain amount of deciphering, of figuring out what is going on. Sometimes this is due to the fact that the narrative is cryptic, sometimes it’s due to the fact that the visuals are cryptic, and sometimes… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Old”
Some movies are clever, subtle, little things. They deftly offer up a notion, throwing it into the back of your mind before moving on to something else (“Inception”-style, if you will). But the idea sits there, lingering, growing in your… Read More ›
Movie Review: “Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins”
When the end credits for interestingly titled, “Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins” begin, they are markedly different from the rest of the film. Before the full-on scrolling starts, the credits are loud and colorful and a little off the wall… Read More ›
