The long-awaited Summer gateway movie is inventive and charming, if a bit hollow. Here it is, just shy of one year since its original June 2020 premiere date, the musical movie event to launch you into Hot Girl Summer 2021. … Continue reading Review: In the Heights is a slightly watery Summer treat
It’s a big dick world, Wonder Woman’s just living in it. There is so much penis imagery in the DC Cinematic Universe it’s practically a house style at this point. Whether it’s the suspiciously folded contours of the Kryptonian escape … Continue reading Review: Wonder Woman 1984 Fights a Big Dick Enemy
David Fincher’s homage to golden-age cinema paints a bland portrait of the notorious screenwriter. “You can’t capture a man’s whole life in 2 hours, all you can hope is to leave an impression of one.” So what impression are we … Continue reading Review: Mank Draws a Blank
This magical and immersive dance party is a prescription for the 2020 blues. Lovers Rock is the second in a five-film anthology from director Steve McQueen. Read my review of the first film, Mangrove, here. God, remember parties? Remember the … Continue reading Review: Lovers Rock is 100% Good Vibes
Amy Adams and Glenn Close try to emote their way out of this toothless piece of poverty tourism. I didn’t hate Hillbilly Elegy, but then it’s difficult to hate a movie that so thoroughly lacks a point of view. J.D. … Continue reading Review: Hillbilly Elegy
Director Steve McQueen applies his distinctive visual style to a story of resistance within a vibrant London community. Long before it was the setting of Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant’s romantic hijinks, London’s Notting Hill neighborhood was home to a … Continue reading Review: Small Axe: Mangrove
The more heavily-scripted sequel contains flashes of brilliance but ultimately fails to offer anything new. Forgive the blinding obviousness of this statement, but a lot has changed in America since 2006, and I don’t just mean our downward spiral into … Continue reading Review: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
⚠️ This post contains spoilers. I tried for three days to write a cohesive review of Aaron Sorkin’s latest film The Trial of the Chicago 7, but it’s a film that is stubbornly difficult to distill in a way that … Continue reading Random Notes on The Trial of the Chicago 7
Scuttled by bad press on its release, Waterworld is a lot better than you remember A post-apocalyptic dystopia where survivors live off of the detritus of Earth’s former civilization while bands of petroleum-obsessed marauders terrorize the weak. A small outpost … Continue reading Wet Mad Max: Waterworld at 25
On the film’s 25th anniversary, Apollo 13 shows how much has changed in the way America responds to a crisis. Ask anyone who’s watched it to name a scene from the 1995 film Apollo 13 and odds are they’ll recall … Continue reading Apollo 13 and the Nostalgia of American Competence
⚠️ This article contains spoilers for the 1991 film Cape Fear 💥 Content Warning: sexual assault, child abuse I’ve found myself drawn to trash cinema in recent weeks (ask me about the shameful pleasures of the Underworld franchise). The deep … Continue reading In Cape Fear, Scorsese Drags Us Into the Muck
DC’s latest superhero team-up adds much-needed sparkle to an ultimately flawed formula. This is a spoiler-free review. To discuss spoilers, head over to the Birds of Prey Spoil Sports. Birds of Prey is funny. It’s colorful and stylish. Its violence … Continue reading Review: Birds of Prey
Richard Stanley returns with a clunky, campy Lovecraft adaptation. This is a spoiler-free review. In 1990 South African director Richard Stanley made a name for himself with the cyberpunk slasher Hardware, a delightfully trashy yet frequently beautiful woman-vs-murderbot flick. Several … Continue reading Review: Color Out of Space
Adam Sandler hustles his way through a sustained cinematic anxiety attack. This is a spoiler-free review. There’s a moment early on in Uncut Gems when sleazy jewelry dealer Howard Ratner, played by Adam Sandler, has a choice to make. He’s … Continue reading Review: Uncut Gems
Scorsese’s most epic gangster picture is also his funniest and most thoughtful. This is a spoiler-free review. To discuss spoilers, head over to The Irishman Spoil Sports. In the opening shot of The Irishman, the camera advances from the shadows … Continue reading Review: The Irishman
A near-perfect comedy whodunnit destined to become a classic. This is a spoiler-free review. To discuss spoilers, head over to the Knives Out Spoil Sports. I didn’t think the big studios made movies like this anymore. A tightly scripted, lovingly-shot … Continue reading Review: Knives Out
An innovative anti-biopic with an enduring message for a weary world. This is a spoiler-free review. To discuss spoilers, head over to the A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood Spoil Sports. Let’s be honest, you don’t need me to sell … Continue reading Review: A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
A dynamic but flawed Nazi satire that invokes Moonrise Kingdom by way of Mel Brooks. This is a spoiler-free review. Nazism is pretty ridiculous if you think about it. A fanatical campaign to create a super race led by a … Continue reading Review: Jojo Rabbit
An immersive and haunting folktale anchored by two exceptional lead performances. This is a spoiler-free review. How did this film get made? How did a weird, surreal art film with a microscopic cast get funding, let alone national distribution? No … Continue reading Review: The Lighthouse
James Gray’s anemic space drama is devoid of human life. This is a spoiler-free review. To discuss spoilers, head over to Ad Astra spoil sports. The world hasn’t changed much in James Gray’s cerebral new sci-fi film Ad Astra. We … Continue reading Review: Ad Astra
Quentin Tarantino attempts to suspend a dying Hollywood era in time. With Disney’s ever-tightening stranglehold on the film industry, there is a changing of the guard currently underway in Hollywood. The age of the franchise film is quickly pushing out … Continue reading Review: Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood
