World War II drama a poignant reminder of how far goodness can extend
The cinematic image of children boarding trains in World War II is typically a traumatic one. But in “One Life,” directed by James Hawes, it is a wildly, blindly hopeful...
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Fourth time is not the charm for Dreamworks’ animated martial arts franchise
The “Kung Fu Panda” movies have always been a reliable name when it comes to animated franchises. A distinctive style, star-studded voice cast and the winning Jack Black voicing Po,...
‘Drive-Away Dolls’ trashy fun, but also exceedingly disposable
It’s fascinating that Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke, longtime filmmaking collaborators and spouses, and the creative team behind the queer exploitation flick “Drive-Away Dolls,” have repeatedly — and lovingly —...
Movie review: The flavors of love: ‘The Taste of Things’ a delectable blend of food, romance
It starts humbly, a gnarled turnip emerging from the soil in the early morning light; carrots and lettuces collected and assembled alongside fish and poultry and cream in a large...
‘The Promised Land’ a sweeping Nordic Western epic
Nikolaj Arcel’s “The Promised Land” is aptly titled. Adapted from the novel “The Captain and Ann Barbara” by Ida Jessen, the land itself — the untamed heath of Jutland, the...
‘Blue Beetle’ takes DC in refreshing new direction
For Jaime Reyes — the Blue Beetle — being a superhero is a family affair. While most superheroes shield their identities from loved ones, in “Blue Beetle,” the first DC...
‘Every Body,’ a radical text on the fight for rights and moving beyond pink and blue
In 2023, more than 560 anti-trans bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country. Some have failed, many have succeeded, and more than 350 are currently active, as...
Jennifer Lawrence and ‘No Hard Feelings’ deliver a just right summer sex comedy
In 2018, Jennifer Lawrence was 28 and one of the biggest movie stars in the world: an Academy Award-winning actor , a veteran of the “Hunger Games” franchise, alternating between...
The story may be basic, but the visually dazzling ‘Elemental’ has romance to burn
It’s rare that beloved animation studio Pixar makes a straightforward romantic movie — the films it produces frequently focus on family love and friendship. It's not often we see a...
Horror-comedy ‘The Blackening’ drives a stake into the heart of a racist trope
Horror-comedy “The Blackening” started as a way to skewer a tired trope: the frequency with which Black characters are killed first in horror movies. Though this cliché has been called...
‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ marks a franchise in free fall
The “Transformers” film franchise, spawned in 2007 with Michael Bay’s “Transformers,” was one of the first straight-faced blockbusters based on a toy (and an ‘80s cartoon series). It is now,...
No sophomore slump for spectacular ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’
It’s an overused and hyperbolic phrase online, but in retrospect, it seems that 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” was a true cultural reset, especially when it comes to comic book...
‘Sanctuary’ comes up empty playing the humiliation game
Rebecca (Margaret Qualley) is very good at her job. Excellent, in fact. So good that Hal (Christopher Abbott), a wealthy hotel heir, regularly pays Rebecca top dollar to come to...
Gerard Butler makes the unwieldy ‘Kandahar’ worthwhile
Our macho action movie auteurs are starting to reckon with the tragic situation in Afghanistan, which fell to the Taliban after the withdrawal of the United States in 2021. On...
Louis Leterrier and Jason Momoa add thrills to ‘Fast X,’ but series may be out of gas
In the last exciting installment of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, 2021’s “Fast 9,” the gang drove a car into space, tangled with a long-lost brother and pushed the physical...
A frenetic take on the crash-and-burn trajectory of the iconic ‘BlackBerry’
For a certain generation (mostly Gen X and older millennials), the BlackBerry wasn’t just a phone with email — it was a world- and life-altering shift, a status symbol that...
If you could take a movie to the beach, ‘Book Club: The Next Chapter’ might be it
It seems like everyone’s going to Italy these days. Thanks to a strong dollar and pandemic-induced wanderlust, it’s not just influencers, old friends and exes filling up their Instagram feeds...
The ridiculous ‘Hypnotic’ allows Robert Rodriguez to play in his cinematic sandbox
There’s something strange about “Hypnotic,” the new action thriller from writer-director Robert Rodriguez. There’s a sheen of inauthenticity to the trailer for this film, which stars Ben Affleck as a...
‘Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret’ is as lovely and amazing as the Judy Blume novel
What a wonder that the film adaptation of Judy Blume’s beloved 1970 young adult novel “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” is as lovely, heartfelt and, indeed, deeply radical...
‘Big George Foreman’ saddles the former champ with a squeaky clean, lightweight story
For a certain millennial population, the name “George Foreman” is more likely to conjure up an image of a favorite kitchen appliance before it brings to mind “heavyweight champ.” Indeed,...
A self-help-fueled vampire movie, ‘Renfield’ is goofy, if flimsy, fun
With the horror-action-comedy “Renfield,” the iconic Nicolas Cage finally grants the world his take on Count Dracula and instantly lands in the tier of Best Dracula Performances of All Time,...
‘Wahoo!’ isn’t quite right for mildly amusing, hectic ‘Super Mario Bros. Movie’
Thirty years ago, the very first cinematic adaptation of a video game hit theaters. “Super Mario Bros.,” based on the 1985 Nintendo game created by Shigeru Miyamoto, didn’t exactly bring...
‘A Thousand and One’ offers a gritty New York story of survival
Mothers are often the keepers of secrets, borne from a primal instinct for survival. But secrets fester, grow bigger and inevitably burst with the resonance of truth, as they do...
‘Dungeons & Dragons’ boasts charisma and dexterity but lacks true magic
For at least 20 years, it’s been obvious that the geeks shall inherit the earth, pop culturally speaking. Comic books have crawled out of the cons to dominate mainstream movie...
Finding oneself in a challenging search for ‘The Lost King’
Fact, fiction and feeling collide and combine in Stephen Frears’ “The Lost King,” written by Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, an adaptation of the book “The Lost King: The Search...
Trapped and alone, Willem Dafoe transcends art in psychological thriller ‘Inside’
“Art is for keeps.” This turn of phrase, uttered by Willem Dafoe’s character Nemo in Vasilis Katsoupis’ narrative directorial debut, “Inside,” is a bedeviling little saying of multilayered meaning. It...
‘Shazam! Fury of the Gods’ has an attitude problem
There’s an exasperating trend in superhero movies that has reached the end of its shelf life and needs to be chucked. Back in the 2010s, a light touch seemed fresh...
The inspiring if formulaic ‘Champions’ translates into a winner
The Farrelly brothers reigned supreme over comedies of questionable taste in the 1990s and 2000s (“Dumb and Dumber,” “There’s Something About Mary,” “Shallow Hal,” “Stuck on You”), but while Peter...
‘Scream VI’ hits the spot with big-city frights and moves the franchise forward
“Scream” movies are like pizza — when they’re good, they’re great, and even when they’re not as good, they’re still satisfying. Thankfully, “Scream VI” is a tasty slice. Even though...
Michael B. Jordan is the one to fly now with ‘Creed III’
For “Creed” star Michael B. Jordan, stepping behind the camera for his directorial debut in “Creed III” follows in the very famous footsteps of the original star of the franchise...
Andie MacDowell brings signature charm to the modest but insightful ‘My Happy Ending’
The beguiling Andie MacDowell, a leading lady in films such as “Groundhog Day” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” has taken on more ing roles in recent years, from “Ready...
Fleeced of real drama, faith-based ‘Jesus Revolution’ is a scattered slog
It’s been fascinating to watch the rise and evolution of the faith-based movie and director Jon Erwin has been a part of that. He’s carved out a niche, collaborating with...
‘Of an Age’ nails the beauty of first love and what it means to be seen
In 2022, Macedonian Australian filmmaker Goran Stolevski established himself as a talent to watch with his daring directorial debut, the folk horror film “You Won’t Be Alone,” about a witch...
Tom Brady is no match for the comedic stars of ’80 for Brady’
Tom Brady may have seven Super Bowl rings, but that’s nothing compared to perhaps the winningest group of legends ever assembled. Just take a look at the stats: first up,...
Brandon Cronenberg’s weird and wonderful ‘Infinity Pool’ is a unique ride
Infinity pools are built as optical illusions where water seemingly has no boundary, slipping into nothingness, bleeding into the horizon. There could be no better title for Brandon Cronenberg’s latest...
‘Missing’ turns up more terrors in tech and true crime
In 2018, director Aneesh Chaganty and co-writer Sev Ohanian turned in a nifty little thriller, “Searching,” that comments on the way we live now, which is to say, online. In...
In ‘Plane,’ action star Gerard Butler once again sticks the landing
The villains of the 2022 holiday season were the airlines, so it’s an apt moment for the Gerard Butler action vehicle “Plane” to take flight. The film's inciting incident involves...
‘House Party,’ a blast from the past that should have remained there
Fun fact about Reginald Hudlin’s 1990 classic comedy “House Party” starring comedic duo Kid 'n Play: It was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry housed at the Library...
Killer-doll horror-comedy ‘M3GAN’ is delightfully deranged
Last fall the internet witnessed a rare phenomenon: the meteoric, meme-ified rise of a brand-new star, catapulted into mononymic ubiquity thanks to a single 2½-minute movie trailer. But M3GAN isn’t...
Superstar biopic ‘Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ is decidedly off-key
When ing the iconic life and career of Whitney Houston, there are many defining moments that instantly spring to mind: when she obliterated “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the Super Bowl...
Fast and furrious, ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ demonstrates a lust for life
Twelve years after the “Shrek” spinoff “Puss in Boots,” the sassy Spanish feline voiced by Antonio Banderas has returned for another fairy tale-busting adventure, directed by Joel Crawford and Januel...
Movies may be magic, but Sam Mendes’ ‘Empire of Light’ can’t conjure the illusion
In “Empire of Light,” Sam Mendes casts a nostalgic eye toward the movies. Like several other auteurs this winter season, Mendes has crafted what could be considered a “love letter...
In ‘Spoiler Alert,’ the tears will flow despite the narrative gimmicks
In the summer and fall of 2022, “Fire Island” and “Bros” made inroads as high-profile gay rom-coms, queering the familiar genre. Now, arriving just in time for Christmas, we have...
‘Violent Night,’ wholly night, not so calm, not so bright
Sometimes the holiday season can just be a little too sweet. It’s why stories like “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” endure, or movies like “Bad Santa” find success — not...
‘Devotion’ stirringly tells the story of the Navy’s first Black aviator
JD Dillard’s 2016 breakout feature film, “Sleight,” was a low-budget gem that showcased what this up-and-coming filmmaker could do. Applying an indie sensibility to a gritty, magic-inspired superhero origin story,...
Women’s voices and the facts power no-nonsense journalistic drama ‘She Said’
When allegations of sexual harassment and assault against producer Harvey Weinstein were published in the New York Times and the New Yorker in October 2017, it hit Hollywood like a...
Art is on ‘The Menu’ as biting satire serves up some mean cuisine
An elite, motley crew assembles for a very special dinner in the deliciously dark thriller satire “The Menu,” a philosophical deconstruction of artists and their enablers. Written by "The Onion"...
A herculean human effort plus two cute robots equals triumph for ‘Good Night Oppy’
Great true stories about space exploration don’t come around too often anymore. Our pop cultural representations about NASA’s achievements (or failures) tend to be period pieces and retreads of the...
The dam never breaks in emotionally dry Jennifer Lawrence drama ‘Causeway’
From the silent opening moments of “Causeway,”the feature debut of acclaimed theater director Lila Neugebauer, it’s clear that this spare drama is a return to the stripped-down indie roots of...
The characters in timely pre-Roe abortion drama ‘Call Jane’ never feel like people
“Are you Jane?” It’s a question that Chicago housewife Joy (Elizabeth Banks) repeatedly asks, as she calls a number from a flier, is picked up in a car, blindfolded, driven...
Style and great ing players make ‘Black Adam’ forgettably entertaining
The newest entry in the DC Extended Universe, “Black Adam,” starring Dwayne Johnson, has been hyped as a “new phase” and a “change in the hierarchy” for the embattled comic...
Sweet relief. ‘Halloween Ends.’ For now.
Previously, in the “Halloween” franchise: the residents of Haddonfield, fed up with four decades of fear inflicted by their local mask-wearing serial killer, Michael Myers, descended into a pitchfork-wielding mob,...
‘Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile’ is a croc that doesn’t exactly rock
“Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile” is indeed a strange beast, both the animal — a city-dwelling croc with the voice of an angel — and the movie, which is also a sort...
Is horror movie ‘Smile’ so dumb that it’s actually smart? Who knows!
Writer-director Parker Finn’s feature debut, “Smile,” boasts the thinnest of premises based on a laundry list of horror movie trends and tropes, from the historical to the contemporary. Expanding on...
Lena Dunham high-fives ‘Clueless’ with easy, breezy ‘Catherine Called Birdy’
Lena Dunham’s warm, lively adaptation of Karen Cushman’s 1994 historical novel, “Catherine, Called Birdy,” opens with a needle drop that references another classic teen movie. Misty Miller’s cover of the...
The less you know about ‘Barbarian,’ the more you’ll enjoy one of the year’s best horror movies
Back in 2007, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez tapped an up-and-coming genre filmmaker, Edgar Wright, to make a parody trailer for a fake movie to play between their “Grindhouse” double...
In ‘Three Thousand Years of Longing,’ the existential questions go unanswered
Australian filmmaker George Miller’s latest cinematic exploration of humanity is a far cry from the dusty, diesel-fueled “Mad Max” franchise for which he is known, and it proves a moment...
Who wouldn’t want to be Diane Keaton? But in a better movie than ‘Mack & Rita’
Who doesn’t love Diane Keaton? Or frankly, want to be Diane Keaton? The Oscar-winning star has had a film and television career spanning six decades, she’s a fashion icon, and...
Laure Calamy takes a walk on the wild side in charming ‘My Donkey, My Lover & I’
Laure Calamy shines at the center of Caroline Vignal’s charming French comedy “My Donkey, My Lover & I,” in a performance that earned her a César Award for best actress...
Cutesy and comic ‘DC League of Super-Pets’ spins superhero lore
The DC Extended Universe has mostly taken a dark, gritty approach to blockbuster comic book movies. But perhaps there’s another way to explore the world of the Justice League that’s...
B.J. Novak sends up media and looks for America in smart satire ‘Vengeance’
“Vengeance,” the debut feature of writer-director-star B.J. Novak, opens with a scene of acidic social commentary that sets the tone for the smart satire of contemporary media culture that ensues....
‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ is the latest literary sensation turned ho-hum movie
In 2018, retired zoologist Delia Owens, the author of the best-selling 1984 memoir “Cry of the Kalahari,” published her first novel at the age of 69. “Where the Crawdads Sing”...
‘Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris’ is the perfect escape from a summer of franchise movies
We could all use a little escapism right now, especially when the escapism in question is as exceedingly pleasant as Anthony Fabian’s “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” starring the luminous...
A nightmarish ‘Minions’ prequel is just under 90 minutes of pure chaos
When the aliens finally invade, they will find the vestiges of our Minions-based civilization and wonder just what the hell happened here. Having lived through it, I could not possibly...
‘Neptune Frost’ is a visually and sonically dazzling cry for liberation through technology
“Neptune Frost” — the mesmerizing Afrofuturist musical brainchild of multihyphenate poet-rapper-writer-musician Saul Williams and his wife, Rwandan artist and cinematographer Anisia Uzeyman — opens with a cacophony of color and...
The throwback thriller ‘Watcher’ benefits from director Chloe Okuno’s complex lens
In Chloe Okuno’s stylish debut, “Watcher,” the title refers not just to one person but two: The watched becomes the watcher, the stalker and stalked swapping places throughout the course...
‘The Bob’s Burgers Movie’ makes for a hilariously tasty cinematic offering
The long-running, award-winning Fox animated series “Bob’s Burgers,” created by Loren Bouchard, is an unassuming Hollywood success story. Built in the same mold as “The Simpsons” and “King of the...
Social media and a mommy-blogger mother from hell are the true horrors in ‘Hatching’
In the fantastical Finnish horror fairytale “Hatching,” the directorial debut of Hanna Bergholm, a young girl hatches a murderous bird monster out of an egg she secretly nests in her...
Liam Neeson out for revenge? ‘Memory’ makes you want to forget about it
Back in 2001, Guy Pearce starred in Christopher Nolan’s “Memento,” a film about a man tracking down his wife’s killer while suffering from memory loss, using notes and tattoos on...
Nicolas Cage irably abides ‘The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent’
In “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent,” Nicolas Cage is back — not that he ever went away. That’s one of the oft-repeated observations made about Cage’s acting career in...
A drab, gray dream, ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore’ is best forgotten
What a depressing descent it’s been for the “Fantastic Beasts” movies, the “Harry Potter” prequel franchise intended to expand the magical world of witches, wizards and muggles spun to life...
Platitudes block the path to salvation for Mark Wahlberg’s ‘Father Stu’
Father Stu? He’s not a regular priest, he’s a cool priest. A tough priest. A priest who swears (a lot), a priest with a history of boozing and boxing. That’s...
Wildly compelling ‘You Won’t Be Alone’ reveals the sublime amid life’s terror
“It’s a burning, breaking thing, this world, a biting, wretching thing. And yet … and yet …” This refrain, whispered throughout writer-director Goran Stolevski’s mesmerizing directorial debut, “You Won’t Be...
Chris Pine and ‘The Contractor’ tautly explore the dark world of private security
Chris Pine slips into his best spy-wear for Tarik Saleh’s “The Contractor,” a character study (cloaked as a thriller) of a U.S. Army Ranger who tries his hand in the...
Mark Rylance and gangster drama ‘The Outfit’ are well suited for one another
Leonard (Mark Rylance), the proprietor of the finest bespoke suit shop in 1956 Chicago, wants to make one thing very clear: He’s not a tailor, he’s a cutter. “Anyone with...
Recycled ideas keep time travel flick ‘The Adam Project’ stuck in the past
What if you had a chance, as an adult, to revisit nagging issues with your parents? To reconcile with your younger self? Could it fix the past, or possibly even...
There’s nothing funny or scary about the Dave Grohl horror-comedy ‘Studio 666’
Horror is so hot now that everyone wants a bite. No longer relegated to the midnight movie, the often low-budget, high-profit genre isn’t just flourishing at the box office in...
An uninspired ‘Uncharted’ can’t overcome the video game movie curse
It’s well into the third act of “Uncharted,” during the airborne pirate ship battle, that I began to wonder: Who on Earth are these people? Of course, we know their...
How is Channing Tatum’s directorial debut? Playful, laidback and pretty good
The underdog is a good position for Channing Tatum. Despite being one of the most beloved himbos of Hollywood — thanks to his affable screen presence, up-for-anything attitude and obvious...
A global pop star who’s unlucky in love? Jennifer Lopez finds a match in ‘Marry Me’
In the past, rom-coms starring Jennifer Lopez often saddled her with professions that are just too unbelievable. “Maid in Manhattan”? “The Wedding Planner”? Not our Jenny from the Block. So...
Friendships outlast the pain in sublimely stupid ‘Jackass Forever’
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New ‘Scream’ delivers the same classic self-aware chills as its forerunners
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Lana Wachowski’s ‘The Matrix Resurrections’ is a deeply felt, colorful remix
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Disney’s animated musical ‘Encanto’ delivers an empathetic brand of charm
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Suspend your disbelief – ‘Clifford the Big Red Dog’ is warm, fuzzy and funny
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The grand letdown of Wes Anderson’s boorish ‘The French Dispatch’
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A visual and aural feast, Edgar Wright’s ‘Last Night in Soho’ has a few wobbles
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The dark and dreary horror of ‘Antlers’ is also a downer
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Neither trick nor treat, ‘Halloween Kills’ is just a messy letdown
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Horror haunts the edges of darkly meditative Icelandic folk tale ‘Lamb’
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‘The Addams Family 2’ goes on a road trip but can’t follow the first movie’s clear direction
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Love gets technical in romantic comedy ‘I’m Your Man’
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This ‘Cinderella’ has more hustle than heart
Classic stories and fairy tales continue to make the content rounds, whether that’s because recognizable titles are easier to sell, or perhaps because these old tales still have some life...
Nia DaCosta stakes her claim with the terrifying and artful ‘Candyman’
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Hugh Jackman and the sci-fi noir ‘Reminiscence’ make the most of memory
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‘Free Guy’ tests the limits of Ryan Reynolds’ charm. He doesn’t
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‘The Loneliest Whale’s’ song resonates in the 21st century
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‘Forever Purge’ takes franchise to southern border in a battle for the heart of America
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Based on a Twitter thread, ‘Zola’ is one wild ride
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The ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ setup of ‘False Positive’ is chilling, but ending disappoints
Actress and writer Ilana Glazer is best known for her bubbly, absurdist comedic work, especially on her dearly departed Comedy Central show “Broad City.” But for her first leading film...