Review: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Is a Fast-Paced Sequel with Stunning Animation and a Star-Studded Voice Cast
To many, the 2018 animated Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is the finest of all Spider-Man movies (and there are many to choose from), with its frenetic energy, mixed-media animation style, […]
Review: Big Gold Brick Marks a Bizarre Filmmaking Debut, from its Questionable Plot to Odd Casting
The feature debut from writer/director Brian Petsos is not a good movie; let’s just get that out in the open right away. But there are enough bizarre and questionable choices […]
Review: Denis Villeneuve’s Sumptuous Dune Brings an Epic to Life, Both Larger Than Life and an Intellectual Achievement
What little I know about the universe of Dune is limited to one read-through of the first Frank Herbert novel long ago and a couple viewings of David Lynch’s 1984 […]
Review: Oscar Isaac Plays a Complicated, Compelling Game in Paul Schrader’s The Card Counter
William Tell (Oscar Isaac), the central character of writer/director Paul Schrader’s latest work, The Card Counter, may seem more pulled together and in control of his actions than many of […]
Review: A Teacher’s Timeless Influence on Generations of Actors in Creating a Character: The Moni Yakim Legacy
When I first moved to New York City a few years ago, I splurged on a tiny studio apartment in Manhattan, 160 square feet (not counting the bathroom and closet) […]
Review: As It Ends an Era, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Gets Too Nostalgic for Its Own Good
I think I went into this most recent (and supposedly final) Star Wars with the right attitude: I didn’t pin my hopes and dreams on the filmmakers bringing us back […]
Review: Halloween Comes Early in a New, Animated The Addams Family
The first thing I noticed about this new iteration of The Addams Family is that the characters look a lot like the original iteration of the Charles Addams’ cartoon series […]
Review: At Eternity’s Gate Sends Us Into Vincent van Gogh’s Artistic Mind
Biopics about the painter Vincent van Gogh are so plentiful—including last year’s beautifully animated work Loving Vincent—they are almost their own genre, but I’m not sure an actual, established artist […]
Review: Life Itself Lacks Any Signs of Actual Human Life, or Heart
If you’ve been paying any kind of attention to advance reviews on this film, then you know that it’s one of the worst-reviewed movies of 2018—and deservedly so. Writer/director Dan […]
Review: Operation Finale is Part History Lesson, Part Spy Thriller
There are times when telling a story simply and with as few frills as possible results in a film with the greatest dramatic impact. Such is the case with director […]
Review: Captivating Annihilation Sparks Sci-Fi Movie Conversations
Here’s hoping that we have enough Star Wars and superhero movies in our yearly science-fiction regimen to satiate that base-level need, and that there’s room in our movie diets for […]
Film Review: Star Wars: The Last Jedi An Exciting Next Chapter with Remarkable New Potential
There were a few minutes after I finished watching Star Wars: The Last Jedi where I had to keep reminding myself that there is at least one more movie coming […]