Movie Reviews
'Better Man' Movie Review
‘Better Man’ Tells the Story of Pop Singer Robbie Williams in Unique Fashion. Michael Gracey’s film charts Williams’ early life and rise to fame –– at least in the UK –– by having its subject portrayed by a CG ape. Opening in theaters on December 25th, ‘Better Man’ is a distinctly...
'Babygirl' Movie Review
Nicole Kidman blows up her safe space in erotic, provocative ‘Babygirl’. Nicole Kidman’s fearless performance in ‘Babygirl’ turns what could be a conventional thriller into a meditation on female empowerment and control. Back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, directors like Paul Verhoeven and Adrian...
'Sonic the Hedgehog 3' Movie Review
‘Sonic the Hedgehog 3’ Provides Familiar, Frenetic Family Fun and Double the Jim Carrey. The new movie about the swift blue creature is once again directed by Jeff Fowler and features Ben Schwartz voicing the title character. The ‘Sonic’ movies by this point are certainly a known quantity....
'The Six Triple Eight' Movie Review
‘The Six Triple Eight’ Delivers a Compelling True Story in Sometimes Cliched Fashion. The new film from director Tyler Perry follows the historic work of the Black Women’s Army Corp, who were tasked with a seemingly impossible mission. Arriving on Netflix on December 20th, ‘The Six Triple...
'Nickel Boys' Movie Review
‘Nickel Boys’ Tells a Searing Story in a New, Not Always Successful Way. Formally experimental, ‘Nickel Boys’ strives and sometimes succeeds at being immersive, but can also feel removed from its powerful subject matter. Opening in theaters in limited release on December 20th is ‘Nickel...
'The Brutalist' Movie Review
‘The Brutalist’ Finds Director Brady Corbet in Epic Yet Overlong Mode. The young director’s latest film stars Adrien Brody as an architect who flees post-war persecution and takes on a mysterious, wealthy new client. Opening in limited theatrical release on December 20th, ‘The Brutalist’...
'Mufasa: The Lion King' Movie Review
‘Mufasa: The Lion King Suffers a Serious Case of Prequelitis as it Turns Back the Clock. The prequel to Jon Favreau’s 2019 CG redo of the animated classic is directed by Barry Jenkins who brings some impressive visual style and a little soul –– but not enough. Opening in theaters on December...
'Carry-On' Movie Review
‘Carry-On’ Sees a Harried Taron Egerton Blackmailed by Criminals at an Airport. The latest action thriller from Jaume Collet-Serra also stars Jason Bateman and Sofia Carson in the story of a TSA agent who is coerced into letting a dangerous bag pass security. Landing on Netflix on December 13th,...
'The Order' Movie Review
‘The Order’ is a Compelling True Story of Domestic Terrorism and Law Enforcement. Justin Kurzel directs the based-on-truth tale of a white supremacist group that began robbing banks to finance a campaign of race-hatred violence. Opening in theaters on December 6th, ‘The Order’ finds Jude Law...
'Nightbitch' Movie Review
Amy Adams’ heartfelt star turn only partially elevates ‘Nightbitch’. An excellent Amy Adams begins to transform from a mom into a canine in ‘Nightbitch,’ an uneven horror-comedy that never fully commits to its premise. Movies where characters have no names, and only referred to as “Mother”...
'September 5' Movie Review
Riveting ‘September 5’ Captures a Harrowing Moment in History. The utterly gripping docudrama ‘September 5’ recreates how ABC Sports covered a heinous, world-changing act of terrorism at the 1972 Summer Olympics. We take the idea of “breaking news” almost for granted now; the slogan is...
'That Christmas' Movie Review
‘That Christmas’ Finds ‘Love Actually’s Richard Curtis in Gently Amusing if Bland Festive Spirit. Directed by Simon Otto, the film adapts Curtis’ children’s book and sees multiple families dealing with Christmas mayhem in a small English town. Landing on Netflix on December 4th, ‘That...
'Kraven the Hunter' Movie Review
Awful ‘Kraven The Hunter’ Ends Sony’s Marvel-Based Film Cycle at Last. The soulless, insipid ‘Kraven The Hunter’ wastes a decent Aaron Taylor-Johnson performance in another pointless, poorly made villain origin story. Are we finally done with of the Sony Universe of Spider-Man Movies Not...
'A Complete Unknown' Movie Review
Timothée Chalamet Captures the Mystic of Bob Dylan in 'A Complete Unknown'. Director James Mangold delivers an exciting musical biopic, but it is Chalamet's transformative performance that makes it a must see for any Dylan fan. Opening in theaters on December 25th is the new biopic ‘A Complete...
'The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim' Movie Review
‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim’ Mixes Anime With Tolkien to Mostly Successful Results. Directed by animation veteran Kenji Kamiyama, it adapts a story from one of J.R.R. Tolkien’s appendices in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ novel. Arriving in theaters on December 13th, ‘The...
'Queer' Movie Review
A Poignant Daniel Craig Can’t Help ‘Queer’ From Wandering Off Course. ‘Queer’ stars Daniel Craig in a long, uneven meditation on longing and loneliness that turns into the bizarre love child of Ken Russell and David Cronenberg. Opening in theaters November 27th is ‘Queer,’ directed by...
'Moana 2' Movie Review
‘Moana 2’ Is A Fun Sequel But Doesn’t Replicate the Magic of the Original. Auli’i Cravalho and Dwyane Johnson are back as Moana and Maui, respectively, and team up once again to take on a powerful adversary in the new sequel. Directed by Jason Hand, Dana Ledeoux Miller, and David Derrick...
'Flow' Movie Review
‘Flow’ is a Beautiful, Meaningful Animated Adventure Featuring a Brave Feline. Co-written and directed by Gints Zilbalodis, ‘Flow’ reveals itself to be one of the most satisfying and lovely movies of the year. Arriving on limited release in theaters on November 22nd, ‘Flow’ is that rare cinematic...
'Wicked' Movie Review
‘Wicked’ Defies Gravity to Bring the Stage Musical to Screens With Resounding Success The first part of the adaptation of the wildly successful theatre production is itself a welcome translation to movie format and features stirring lead performances.Opening in theaters on November 22nd,...
'Gladiator II' Movie Review
‘Gladiator II’: Ridley Scott Returns to Rome with a Stirring, Machiavellian Epic While the sequel to the 2000 original doesn’t quite reach the same level, it will certainly leave you entertained, especially when Denzel Washington’s on screen.Opening in theaters on November 22nd,...
'Heretic' Movie Review
Hugh Grant is devilishly good in cerebral horror flick ‘Heretic’. The creepy ‘Heretic’ pits a jovial, sinister Hugh Grant against a pair of religious missionaries in a battle of wits that begins to fray toward the finish.Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, the co-writers of the original ‘A Quiet Place’...
'Red One' Movie Review
‘Red One’ Delivers a Lump of Coal in Your Holiday Movie Stocking. Dwayne Johnson and director Jake Kasdan labor hard to make ‘Red One’ an instant Christmas classic, but it feels like the present nobody really wanted.Not to be confused with Netflix’s ‘Red Notice,’ another algorithm-induced...
'Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl' Movie Review
‘Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl’ is a Delightful Return for the Stop-Motion Duo. Aardman Animation –– and particular the characters’ creator Nick Park –– have lovingly crafted another funny, clever and emotional tale for the inventor and his dog.The new movie featuring Wallace and...
'We Live in Time' Movie Review
‘We Live in Time’ Charts the Course of a Relationship in Quiet if Predictable Style. Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh star as a couple who fall for each other and start a family as cancer rears its treacherous, tragic head.Opening in limited theaters on October 11th (with a wide release on October...
'A Real Pain' Movie Review
Funny and Moving, ‘A Real Pain’ Explores Grief, Family, and History Jesse Eisenberg’s confident direction steers the poignant, acerbic ‘A Real Pain,’ with Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin in top form as dysfunctional cousins.Jesse Eisenberg has long been an acquired taste as an actor,...
'Juror #2' Movie Review
Clint Eastwood’s ‘Juror #2’ Is An Absorbing If Flawed Courtroom Thriller. Nicholas Hoult is ‘Juror #2,’ who may have a deeper connection to the trial he’s assigned to than anyone knows, in Clint Eastwood’s 40th film as director.If ‘Juror #2,’ the 40th film directed by Clint Eastwood,...
'Here' Movie Review
Bland and Irritating, ‘Here’ Will Make You Wish You Were Anywhere But. The time-bending ‘Here’ is director Robert Zemeckis’ latest experiment in filmmaking, but again he sacrifices compelling story and characters for gimmicks.Robert Zemeckis has made some genuinely great films, including the...
'Your Monster' Movie Review
‘Your Monster’ Has a Shy Actress Finding Her Voice in a Funny, Dark Rom-Com. Melissa Barrera and Tommy Dewey shine as the mismatched pair in this story of self-confidence, relationships and musical theatre.Opening in theaters on October 25th, ‘Your Monster’ is that age-old story of girl-meets-monster,...
'Conclave' Movie Review
‘Conclave’ Makes Electing a New Pope as Suspenseful as Any Spy Thriller. Ralph Fiennes is superb as the cardinal who must oversee the election of a new Pope, an event that fills the Vatican with intrigue, deceit, and betrayal.If Eon Productions can somehow lure Edward Berger – the German director...
'Venom: The Last Dance' Movie Review
‘Venom: The Last Dance’ is Sillier Than Ever – But Slightly More Fun. With each movie in the ‘Venom’ trilogy getting progressively dumber than the last, the threequel goes all-in and ends up being the best of the bunch.Let’s be clear about one thing: when we say that ‘Venom: The Last Dance’...
'Anora' Movie Review
‘Anora’ is manic, gritty, sexy, and emotionally resonant all at once. Mikey Madison gives a star-making performance as a sex worker in ‘Anora,’ a romantic comedy-drama that’s as soulful as it is relentlessly chaotic.‘Anora’ is perhaps the biggest movie yet from independent filmmaker Sean...
'Smile 2' Movie Review
‘Smile 2’ Changes Things Up But Also Keeps to a Similar Pattern of Terrifying Tricks. The horror sequel from writer/director Parker Finn continues the curse storyline from the first movie, albeit with new characters –– to mixed results.Opening in theaters on October 18th, ‘Smile 2’ looks...
'The Silent Hour' Movie Review
‘The Silent Hour’ is a Mostly Generic Cop Thriller With One Interesting Gimmick. Joel Kinnaman stars as a police detective with hearing loss trying to protect a deaf witness in the new movie, which offers mostly predictable action.‘The Silent Hour’s characters are serviceable at best, and perfunctory...
'The Apprentice' Movie Review
‘The Apprentice’ Looks to Chart The Roots of Donald Trump’s Business and Beliefs. The new movie from director Ali Abbasi features excellent performances from Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong, though it does have some issues with how its treats Trump.Opening in theaters on October 11th, ‘The Apprentice’...
'Saturday Night' Movie Review
'Saturday Night' is a Fun Look at the Making of the Popular TV Series. Director Jason Reitman takes some dramatic license yet creates an entertaining account of the 90 minutes leading up to the premiere of 'Saturday Night Live'.‘Saturday Night’, director Jason Reitman’s loving tribute to the 50-year...
'A Different Man' Movie Review
‘A Different Man’ Tackles Issues of Identity with Compassion and Humor. Sebastian Stan stars in the new film from writer/director Aaron Schimberg, which sees a man undergoing facial surgery and a crisis in confidence.Opening in theaters on September 20th, ‘A Different Man’ is the latest movie...
'Hold Your Breath' Movie Review
‘Hold Your Breath is a Bleak, Slow-Burn Horror Thriller About Motherhood and Paranoia. Sarah Paulson anchors the new thriller as Margaret, a woman trying to survive in the 1930’s dust bowl who suspects that the atmosphere is carrying an evil presence.Premiering on Hulu from October 3rd, ‘Hold Your...
'Joker: Folie à Deux' Movie Review
‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ is a well-shot but ultimately soulless musical courtroom drama. Todd Phillips’ follow-up to his 2018 effort smacks of self-indulgence, and largely wastes the talents of Lady Gaga with a role that lets her sing but little else.Opening in theaters on October 4th, ‘Joker:...
'Lee' Movie Review
Kate Winslet is great, but ‘Lee’ follows a stock biopic formula. ‘Lee’ tells the story of a very unconventional woman in the most conventional terms possible, stopping Kate Winslet from every truly bringing her to life.Lee Miller is considered one of the greatest and most important war photographers...
'The Wild Robot' Movie Review
‘The Wild Robot’ is a sweet, slight story of a robot bonding with nature. Lupita Nyong’o is the main voice here, in the story of Roz, the ‘bot who ends up accidentally arriving on an island teeming with life, and who helps raise a gosling.Opening in theaters on September 27th, ‘The Wild Robot’...
Movie and TV Reviews
