Film Reviews: Recent Episodes
KCRW
The Pulitzer Prize-winning critic of The Wall Street Journal, Joe Morgenstern reviews films weekly in the paper and on KCRW.
The latest film releases are Megalopolis, Wolfs, The Wild Robot, and Saturday Night. Weighing in are Christy Lemire, film critic for RogerEbert.com and co-host of the YouTube channel Breakfast All Day, and Tim Grierson, senior U.S. critic for Screen International and the author of This Is How You Make a Movie.
The latest movie releases include The Substance, A Different Man, In the Summers, and The Falling Star. Weighing in are Alonso Duralde and Dave White, film critics and co-hosts of the movie podcast Linoleum Knife.
The latest film releases include Speak No Evil, My Old Ass, The Killer's Game, and Look Into My Eyes. Weighing in are Amy Nicholson, host of the podcast Unspooled and film reviewer for The New York Times, and Shawn Edwards, a film critic at Fox 4 News and co-founder of the African American Film Critics Association.
The latest film releases include Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, The Front Room, The Thicket, His Three Daughters, and Seeking Mavis Beacon. Weighing in are Katie Walsh, film reviewer for the Tribune News Service and The Los Angeles Times, and William Bibbiani, film critic for the Wrap and co-host of the Critically Acclaimed Network.
The latest film releases include 1992, Reagan, You Gotta Believe and The Deliverance. Weighing in are Witney Seibold, senior writer at SlashFilm and co-host of the Critically Acclaimed podcast, and Monica Castillo, freelance film critic who’s written for RogerEbert.com, The New York Times, and The Village Voice.
The latest film releases include The Crow, Blink Twice, and Between the Temples. Weighing in are Shawn Edwards, a film critic at Fox 4 News and co-founder of the African American Film Critics Association; and Alison Willmore, a film critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.
The latest film releases include Borderlands, Cuckoo, Good One and It Ends with Us. Weighing in are Tim Grierson, senior U.S. critic for Screen International and the author of This Is How You Make a Movie, and Katie Walsh, film reviewer for the Tribune News Service and the Los Angeles Times.
The latest film releases are Harold and the Purple Crayon, The Instigators, Kneecap, and Doctor Jekyll. Weighing in are Amy Nicholson, host of the podcast Unspooled and film reviewer for The New York Times, and William Bibbiani, film critic for The Wrap and co-host of The Critically Acclaimed Network.
The latest film releases include Deadpool & Wolverine, Didi, The Fabulous Four, and Made In England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger. Weighing in are Shawn Edwards, film critic for FOX4 News in Kansas City and co-founder of the African American Film Critics Association, and Katie Walsh, film reviewer for The Tribune News Service and The Los Angeles Times.
The latest film releases are Twisters, Oddity, Crossing, and Skywalkers: A Love Story. Weighing in are Monica Castillo, freelance film critic and senior film programmer at the Jacob Burns Film Center, and Tim Grierson, senior U.S. critic for Screen International and author of This Is How You Make a Movie.
The latest film releases are Fly Me to the Moon, Longlegs, Sing Sing, and Sorry/Not Sorry. Weighing in are Alison Willmore, film critic for New York Magazine and Vulture, as well as Witney Seibold, senior staff writer at SlashFilm and co-host of the podcast Critically Acclaimed.
The latest film releases include Despicable Me 4, MaXXXine, Space Cadet, and Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F. Weighing in are Christy Lemire, film critic for RogerEbert.com and co-host of the YouTube channel Breakfast All Day, and Alonso Duralde, film critic and co-host of movie podcast Linoleum Knife.
The latest film releases include Inside Out 2, Treasure, Ghostlight, and Tuesday. Hear from freelance film critic Monica Castillo, who writes for The New York Times, Village Voice, and RogerEbert.com, as well as Shawn Edwards, film critic for FOX-TV in Kansas City and co-founder of the African American Film Critics Association.
The latest film releases include Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Robot Dreams, Handling the Undead, and The Watchers. Weighing in are Witney Seibold, contributor to SlashFilm and co-host of the podcast Critically Acclaimed, and Amy Nicholson, host of the podcast Unspooled and film reviewer for The New York Times.
The latest film releases are Young Woman and the Sea, Jim Henson Idea Man, In A Violent Nature, and The Young Wife. Weighing in are Alison Willmore, film critic for New York Magazine and Vulture, and William Bibbiani, film critic and co-host of the Critically Acclaimed Network of podcasts.
The latest film releases are Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Taking Venice, Hit Man, and Queen of the Deuce. Weighing in are Alonso Duralde and Dave White, film critics and co-hosts of movie podcast Linoleum Knife. Duralde is also the author of Hollywood Pride: A Celebration of LGBTQ+ Representation and Perseverance in Film, released May 14.
The latest film releases include Back to Black, IF, Gasoline Rainbow, and Babes. Weighing in are Shawn Edwards, a film critic at Fox 4 News in Kansas City and co-founder of the African American Film Critics Association, and Katie Walsh, film reviewer for the Tribune News Service and the Los Angeles Times.
Critics review the latest film releases: “The Poolman,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” “Last Stop in Yuma County,” and “Power.”
The latest film releases include The Fall Guy, I Saw the TV Glow, Evil Does Not Exist, and Mars Express. Weighing in are William Bibbiani, film critic for the Wrap and co-host of the Critically Acclaimed Network, and Monica Castillo, freelance film critic and senior film programmer at the Jacob Burns Film Center.
The latest film releases are Challengers, Uncropped, Egoist, and Alien (re-release). Weighing in are Alsondo Duralde and Dave White, film critics and co-hosts of movie podcast Linoleum Knife.
The latest film releases include Abigail, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, We Grown Now, and The People's Joker. Weighing in are Christy Lemire, film critic for RogerEbert.com and co-host of the YouTube channel Breakfast All Day, and Shawn Edwards, film critic for FOX-TV in Kansas City and co-founder of the African American Film Critics Association.
The latest film releases include Civil War, In Flames, Sting, and Sasquatch Sunset. Weighing in are Alison Willmore, a film critic for New York Magazine and Vulture, and Witney Seibold, contributor to SlashFilm and co-host of the podcast Critically Acclaimed.
The latest film releases are La Bête, Monkey Man, Girls State, and Música. Weighing in are Amy Nicholson, host of the podcast Unspooled and film reviewer for the New York Times, and Tim Grierson, senior U.S. critic for Screen International and the author of This Is How You Make a Movie.
The latest film releases are Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, La Chimera, The Shadowless Tower, and Wicked Little Letters. Weighing in are Alonso Duralde and Dave White, film critics and co-hosts of the podcast Linoleum Knife.
The latest film releases are Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Shirley, The American Society of Magical Negroes, and Carol Doda Topless at the Condor. Weighing in are Shawn Edwards, film critic for FOX 4 News in Kansas City, and Monica Castillo, freelance film critic and senior film programmer at the Jacob Burns Film Center.
The latest film releases include Arthur the King, One Life, The Animal Kingdom, and Little Wing. Weighing in are William Bibbiani, film critic and co-host of the podcasts Canceled Too Soon and Critically Acclaimed, and Katie Walsh, film reviewer for the Tribune News Service and the Los Angeles Times.
The latest film releases include Kung Fu Panda 4, Love Lies Bleeding, and American Dreamer. Weighing in are Christy Lemire, film critic for RogerEbert.com and co-host of the YouTube channel Breakfast All Day, and Witney Seibold, contributor to SlashFilm and co-host of the podcast Critically Acclaimed. They also predict who will take home Oscars for Best Picture and Best Actress.
The latest film releases are Dune: Part 2, Spaceman, Shayda, and Problemista. Weighing in are Alison Willmore, film critic for NY Magazine and Vulture, and Tim Grierson, Senior U.S. Critic for Screen International and the author of This Is How You Make a Movie.
The latest film releases include Drive-Away Dolls, About Dry Grasses, Perfect Days, and Io Capitano. Weighing in are Alonso Duralde and Dave White, film critics and co-hosts of the movie podcast Linoleum Knife.
The latest film releases are Bob Marley: One Love, Madame Web, Drift, and This is Me … Now. Weighing in are Shawn Edwards, film critic at Fox 4 News and co-founder of the African American Film Critics Association, and Katie Walsh, film reviewer for the Tribune News Service and the Los Angeles Times.
The latest film releases include The Taste of Things, Lisa Frankenstein, Skeletons in the Closet, and Suncoast. Weighing in are William Bibbiani, film critic and co-host of the podcast Canceled Too Soon and The Critically Acclaimed Network, and Monica Castillo, freelance film critic and senior film programmer at the Jacob Burns Film Center.
Critics review the latest film releases: “Argylle,” “How to Have Sex,” “Scrambled,” and “Orion and The Dark.”
The latest film releases include Miller's Girl, Tótem, The Breaking Ice, and The Sweet East. Weighing in are Christy Lemire and Alonso Duralde, co-hosts of the YouTube channel Breakfast All Day.
The latest film releases are I.S.S., The End We Start From, The Kitchen, and Founder’s Day. Weighing in are Katie Walsh, film reviewer for the Tribune News Service, the Los Angeles Times, and The Wrap; and William Bibbiani, film critic and co-host of the podcast Canceled Too Soon and The Critically Acclaimed Network.
The latest film releases are Mean Girls, The Beekeeper, The Settlers, and The Book of Clarence. Weighing in are Shawn Edwards, film critic at Fox 4 News and co-founder of the African American Film Critics Association, and Alison Willmore, film critic for New York Magazine and Vulture.
The latest film releases include Night Swim, Occupied City, All of Us Strangers, and Good Grief. Weighing in are Witney Seibold, contributor to SlashFilm and co-host of the podcast Critically Acclaimed, and Amy Nicholson, host of the podcast Unspooled and film reviewer for the New York Times.
The latest film releases are Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, The Iron Claw, Ferrari, and The Color Purple. Weighing in are William Bibbiani, film critic and co-host of the Critically Acclaimed Network, and Shawn Edwards, a journalist for FOX 4 News in Kansas City.
The latest film releases are The Zone of Interest, American Fiction, Wonka, and Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. Weighing in are Tim Grierson, senior U.S. critic for Screen International and the author of This Is How You Make a Movie, and Alison Willmore, film critic for NY Magazine and Vulture.
The latest film releases are Poor Things, The Boy and the Heron, Origin, and Waitress. Weighing in are Christy Lemire, film critic for RogerEbert.com and co-host of the YouTube channel “Breakfast All Day,” and Alonso Duralde, co-host of “Breakfast All Day.”
The newest film releases include Godzilla Minus One, Eileen, Silent Night, and Candy Cane Lane. Weighing in are Katie Walsh, film reviewer for the Tribune News Service and the Los Angeles Times, and Witney Seibold, contributor to SlashFilm and co-host of the podcast Critically Acclaimed.
The latest film releases include Napoleon, Wish, Maestro, American Symphony, and Good Burger 2. Weighing in are William Bibbiani, film critic and co-host of the Critically Acclaimed Network, and Shawn Edwards, journalist for FOX 4 News in Kansas City, Missouri.
The latest film releases include The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Next Goal Wins, Fallen Leaves, May December, and Saltburn. Weighing in are Tim Grierson, senior U.S. critic for Screen International and the author of This Is How You Make a Movie, and Amy Nicholson, host of the podcast Unspooled and film reviewer for The New York Times.
Critics review the latest film releases: “The Marvels,” “Dream Scenario,” “It’s a Wonderful Knife,” “A Still Small Voice.”
The latest film releases include Priscilla, The Killer, What Happens Later, and Rustin. Weighing in are Christy Lemire, film critic for RogerEbert.com and co-host of the YouTube channel “Breakfast All Day,” and Alonso Duralde, film critic and co-host of movie podcast Linoleum Knife.
The latest film releases are Five Nights at Freddy's, Pain Hustlers, The Holdovers, and Fingernails. Weighing in are Amy Nicholson, host of the podcast Unspooled and film reviewer for the New York Times, and Shawn Edwards, film critic at Fox 4 News and co-founder of the African American Film Critics Association.
The latest film releases are Killers of the Flower Moon, The Persian Version, More Than Ever, and Divinity. Weighing in are Witney Seibold, contributor to SlashFilm and co-host of the podcast “Critically Acclaimed,” and Carlos Aguilar, film reviewer for the Los Angeles Times and AV Club.
The latest film releases include Anatomy of a Fall, My Love Affair with Marriage, Silver Dollar Road, and The Mission. Weighing in are Katie Walsh, film reviewer for the Tribune News Service and the Los Angeles Times, and Shawn Edwards, film critic for FOX-TV in Kansas City.
The latest film releases include The Exorcist: Believer, Cat Person, The Royal Hotel, and Dicks: The Musical. Weighing in are Tim Grierson, senior U.S. critic for Screen Daily, and Allison Willmore, film critic at New York Magazine and Vulture.
The latest film releases include The Creator, Saw X, Fair Play, and Dumb Money. Weighing in are Christy Lemire, film critic for RogerEbert.com and co-host of the YouTube channel “Breakfast All Day, and Amy Nicholson, host of the podcast Unspooled and film reviewer for The New York Times.
The latest film releases include “Flora and Son,” “Invisible Beauty,” and “The Origin of Evil.” Plus, “Stop Making Sense” is re-released in 4K IMAX. Hear reviews from Alonso Duralde and Dave White, film critics and co-hosts of movie podcast Linoleum Knife.
The latest film releases include “A Haunting In Venice,” “Cassandro,” “Rotting In The Sun,” and “A Million Miles Away.” Hear from Katie Walsh, film reviewer for the Tribune News Service and the Los Angeles Times; and Witney Seibold, contributor to SlashFilm and co-host of the podcast “Critically Acclaimed.”
The latest film releases are “Scrapper,” “El Conde,” “The Nun II,” and “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.” Weighing in are Christy Lemire, film critic for RogerEbert.com and co-host of the YouTube channel “Breakfast All Day,” and William Bibbiani, film critic for the Wrap and co-host of the Critically Acclaimed Network.
The latest film releases include “The Equalizer 3,” “Goldfish,” “The Good Mother,” “Nandor Fodor and the Talking Mongoose.” Weighing in are Katie Walsh, film reviewer for the Tribune News Service, the Los Angeles Times, and The Wrap; and Shawn Edwards, film critic for FOX-TV in Kansas City.
This week’s film releases include “Gran Turismo,” “Retribution,” “Golda,” and “Bottoms.” KCRW gets reviews from Amy Nicholson, host of the podcast Unspooled and film reviewer for The New York Times; and William Bibbiani, film critic for The Wrap and co-host of the Critically Acclaimed Network of podcasts.
The latest film releases include “Blue Beetle” and “Strays.” KCRW gets reviews from Alison Willmore, film critic for New York Magazine and Vulture; and Witney Seibold, contributor to SlashFilm and co-host of the podcast “Critically Acclaimed.”
The latest film releases include “Jules,” “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” “Medusa Deluxe,” “Men of Deeds,” and “Red, White, & Royal Blue.” KCRW gets reviews from Christy Lemire, film critic for RogerEbert.com and co-host of the YouTube channel “Breakfast All Day;” and Carlos Aguilar, film reviewer for the Los Angeles Times and The A.V. Club.
The first time I did a film commentary for KCRW was so many years ago that listeners must have been listening on crystal sets. That long and wonderful run ends today, but not my connection with this special and essential station. I'd like to think you haven't heard the last of me here.
The hero of Robert Eggers's "The Northman," a Viking warrior in 9th century Iceland, thinks of nothing but avenging the death of his father, whose death may recall the plot of "Hamlet." Rivers of blood are spilled along the way in a dark saga that also casts a light on our time.
The lovers in "Paris 13th District," a romantic comedy by the French director Jacques Audiard, don't necessarily want to live the erratic lives they're living. They'd rather be solidly grounded, with good jobs and a stable network of friends. Or would they?
A new Netflix documentary, "Return To Space," may come on like a promotional piece for SpaceX, and why not? Elon Musk's aerospace venture has achieved remarkable things since it was founded two decades ago. The film is more than that, though. It charts the beginning of a new era in space exploration, and also serves as a testament to the power of failing upward. Way upward.
Watching the Oscarcast in all its astonishing amateurism and then watching "The Contractor" for review is an unwelcome reminder of the state of the movie medium.
Previous years of ratings declines don't bode well for the popularity of this year's Oscars show. Have the Oscars, and the movies, lost their place of preeminence in the entertainment universe?
By now it's no spoiler to say that the teenage heroine of Pixar's "Turning Red" turns into a panda whenever her emotions get out of control. It's a shame most people will see the film only on Disney+, but it's worth seeing anywhere for its buoyant spirit and brilliant animation.
A new Batman movie is upon us, with Robert Pattinson in the title role. "The Batman" isn't one more origin story, and yay for that--here's to storytelling in the present tense--or a conventional action thriller. It's the Dark Knight seized by deeply dark thoughts about what he's doing with his life, and what difference it makes in a world of overwhelming evil.
A new "Cyrano" with Peter Dinklage has much to recommend it, but the film is diminished by a dreary score and banal songs.
"Blacklight," starring Liam Neeson, is competing this week against "Death On the Nile." The latter isn't very good, but it's a professional entertainment. I've chosen to talk about the former because it's barely a movie at all. Rather, it's a rusty recycling bin that threatens, in its modest way, to contribute to the death of the movie medium.
Roland Emmerich's "Moonfall" contends that the moon is hollow, and sends it tumbling from orbit. Is the movie itself hollow or solid? A question for the ages that will nonetheless be answered here.
Two people thrown together by chance in a tiny compartment on a Russian train traveling from Moscow to Murmansk, in the arctic north. That may not sound like a combustible formula for a plot, but "Compartment No. 6," from the Finnish filmmaker Juho Kuosmanen, is greatly rewarding and improbably beautiful.
"Lunana: A Yak In the Classroom" is Bhutan's international-feature entry for the Oscars. It was shot at extremely high altitude with extremely modest resources, yet the result is affecting and thoroughly delightful.
In "Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America," the documentary filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler conjure with surprising concepts--including the weight of cotton--to show how and why racism is, in their words, "our shared history."
Almost no one in Asghar Farhadi's "A Hero" can tell the unvarnished truth, a fact that makes the film great fun and a fascinating comment on human nature.
"Spider-Man: No Way Home" does whatever it pleases in bringing back golden-oldie characters from whatever universes they've been inhabiting. And the film is all over the place in more ways than one. But it really pleases, by bringing up feelings we may not have known we still had.
Steven Spielberg's "West Side Story" starts with three annunciatory notes of the greatest score ever written for a Broadway musical comedy. What follows is partly a rethinking of the basic material, and a redressing of wrongs represented by the casting of previous productions, which was never representative at all. Mostly, though, it's an exultant new version of an American classic.
Paolo Sorrentino's "The Hand of God" is much less serious than it sounds, though far from frivolous. It's a fond and funny piece of autobiography about his coming of age in 1980s Naples.
"Cmon C'mon" is all over the place, like the 9-year-old at the center of Mike Mills's unusual road movie, but it's a special pleasure that manages to be simultaneously serious and marvelously funny.
In "Belfast," Kenneth Branagh's semi-autobiographical evocation of his childhood in Northern Ireland, the filmmaker, stage actor and writer is a bright-faced 9-year-old struggling to understand the sectarian violence raging around him and his tight-knit family.
Five years ago the Chilean director Pablo Larraín gave us "Jackie," a fictionalized portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy during and immediately after her husband's assassination. Now he's done a fictionalized--and mostly grim--account of a Christmas weekend the Princess of Wales spent in 1991 at Queen Elizabeth's Sandringham Estate.
Joanna Hogg's semi-autobiographical 2019 feature "The Souvenir" was rightly hailed as something perilously close to a masterpiece. Now she's done a sequel, "The Souvenir: II," which picks up where the first film left off. Sequels are risky, but there was no need to worry about this one.
"The Electrical Life Of Louis Wain" stars Benedict Cumberbatch as the Victorian-era illustrator who celebrated cats and believed he could feel electricity in the space around him. Claire Foy is Emily Richardson, the woman he loves, and the two stars in conjunction are a grand spectacle.
A filmmaking couple in Mia Hansen-Løve's wonderful "Bergman Island" spend a summer residency on the island off the coast of Sweden where Ingmar Bergman lived and made some of his most cherished films.
It's not your ordinary lamb, but then "Lamb" isn't your ordinary Icelandic indie film. It's a debut feature, by Valdimar Jóhannsson, that's extraordinarily well made, seriously strange and stars the superb Noomi Rapace, who was the fierce Goth hacker Lisbeth Salandar in the original Swedish version of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."
It's been 15 years since we first saw him, and were startled by him, as James Bond in "Casino Royale" (which turned out to be one of the best Bonds ever.) Now Daniel Craig is playing Bond for the last time in "No Time To Die," which is very long, very uneven and, from time to time, greatly affecting.
What if the man who says "I'm Your Man" isn't a man? Maria Schrader's German-language sci-fi romance explores the shifting ground between hormones and silicon.
The 48th annual Telluride Film Festival took place actually, rather than virtually, at its accustomed site almost 10,000 feet up in the Colorado Rockies. Last year the festival went dark during the pandemic. This year it was an exuberant reminder, as always, that the movie medium is alive and, against heavy odds, well.
In the movie world the word "sequel" is usually a synonym for letdown. Not so with the new "Candyman," which calls itself a "spiritual sequel" to the 1992 slasher classic. The director, Nia DaCosta, and her colleagues--she wrote the screenplay with Jordan Peele and Win Rosenfeld--have transformed the material by rethinking what it said about race in America in the first place.
"Reminiscence," a futurist debut feature by Lisa Joy, the co-creator of "Westworld," may be best remembered for its stunning images of Miami at a time of catastrophic climate change, when rising sea levels have engulfed much of the city. The immensely complicated plot, on the other hand, is mostly mind-numbing.
Matt Damon is an Oklahoma oil-patch worker who travels to France to help his daughter, imprisoned in Marseille for a murder she claims she didn't commit. The film is a fictional reworking of the case of Amanda Knox, an American woman acquitted in 2015 of the charge of having killed her flatmate. The director and co-writer was Tom McCarthy, who did the investigative procedural "Spotlight."
What's a movie lover to do? No new openings because theaters are shutting down for the duration. But new releases are coming. It will just take a week or so before they find their way to video on demand. Meanwhile, a few ideas for streaming in the...
Eliza Hittman's "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" is provocative--some might consider it explosive, since it follows a pregnant 17-year-old from rural Pennsylvania to New York City in search of a safe abortion she can't get at home. But it's also one...
Kelly Reichardt has endeared herself to fans of independent film with a string of heartfelt features shot on a modest scale. None of them has been as endearing, or as funny and wise, as her new one, "First Cow"
Almost 90 years ago "The Invisible Man" thrilled audiences with special effects they'd never seen. In the latest version of the story, the focus is on a visible and all-too-vulnerable woman who's either being chased by a vengeful ex she can't see or...
A new screen version of "The Call of the Wild" is calling to us; it's the Jack London story of a California dog named buck who goes native in the Yukon of the Gold Rush days. This time the dog is digital, which lends the film at least one distinction.
"Beanpole" is a new Russian drama directed by the prodigiously gifted Kantemir Balogov. The setting is Leningrad during the first autumn after World War II, and it's a profound--and profoundly beautiful--tale of two women who've been traumatized by...
The Harley Quinn of "Suicide Squad" is back in "Birds of Prey," though with a difference, even though she's still played, with skill and zest, by Margot Robbie. In the earlier film, a torture chamber for actors and audiences alike, Harley was a...
Kitty Green's "The Assistant" is audacious in a deadpan way, a #MeToo drama that comes on like an HR video illustrating the responsibilities of an entry-level job. The heroine, Jane (Julia Garner), is a junior assistant to the chairman of the...
Guy Ritchie is back, mostly for the better, in crime-caper mode with "The Gentlemen," a tale of criminal toughs and toffs in London trying to take down Matthew McConaughey's Mickey Pearson, an ex-pat American who's made a king's ransom growing...
“Dolittle” is the latest in a long, undistinguished line of movies about the veterinarian who can talk to animals. It doesn’t speak well for the film that one of its only affecting moments involves a stick insect that doesn't seem to listen...
Log line. The Star Wars party is over, or at least a significant part of it. Forty-two years after George Lucas put the saga in motion, the Skywalker trilogy has come to an end with "The Rise of Skywalker."
Energy flows from anxiety in "Uncut Gems." You may be exhausted but you'll never be bored by Adam Sandler's astonishing performance.
"The Aeronauts" is in the Jules Verne vein of "Around the World In 80 Days," but on a slightly more modest scale. It's around and above London during a few hours with an intrepid pilot played by Felicity Jones and her scientist companion, who's...
It's tempting to say that "Knives Out" is the sort of movie they don't make any more, but they didn't make all that many way back when, because it's really hard to pull off a production of such startling quality. If there's a false note in it I must...
Tom Hanks is Fred Rogers, the children's TV host in "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood." The movie was made for grownups, of course, so sticky sweetness threatens at every turn. But the movie bets on goodness, and wins.
Movies about car racing sound like operas scored entirely for bassos. "Ford v Ferrari" fills that bill, but it also has significant things to say on a variety of worthy subjects. It's a great spectacle with a resonant soul to go with its smarts.
Every divorce story is a marriage story, but every movie about divorce is not on the level of Noah Baumbach's "Marriage Story." Marvelous performances, steel-trap writing that also manages to be heartfelt--it's a deeply affecting classic.
Here's an all-points bulletin about Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman." It's a huge movie, made to be seen on big screens, but it's a Netflix production that will be playing in theaters, and not all that many of them, only for three weeks. See it if...
Words, words, words. "Synonyms," an Israeli film set in Paris, is all about them. For once, though, wordiness in a movie is a good thing, even a delightful thing.
Three years ago Robert Eggers made his dark mark with a remarkable debut feature called "The Witch." Now he's back with "The Lighthouse," a horror fantasy in a dramatic and aesthetic class by itself.
Think about "Parasite" as a home-invasion story unlike any other. This funny, smart and genuinely profound social satire from Korea was directed by Bong Joon Ho, and it's one of the most original films in memory.
If you’re feeling insufficiently anxious in your life, “Joker” could be just the ticket. If not, look elsewhere to be entertained.
Renée Zellwegger plays Judy Garland with heart-stopping brilliance in "Judy." It's a performance that no one could have predicted, not even on the basis of her bedazzling portrayal of Roxie Hart in "Chicago." She sets the film on fire every time...
In the past few years there's been a very real invasion from Mexico--by remarkably gifted filmmakers. Now a woman named Issa López joins their ranks with an interesting horror film called "Tigers Are Not Afraid."
A remarkable documentary called "Aquarela" is about water--really and truly about water and its effect on the planet. The film makes the stuff almost palpable, as no motion picture I've ever seen before.