Steve Prokopy
Interview: Documentary Duo Julie Cohen and Betsy West on Meeting Gabby Giffords, What She Keeps in her Freezer, and Going Over Budget on Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down
Documentary filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy West are on a roll, a roll that began four years ago with their Oscar-nominated work RBG, a profile of the now-late Supreme Court […]
Review: Netflix’s The Sea Beast Anchors a Family Friendly Story in Eye-Catching Animation and Exciting Action
In a time when the new Minions movie is dominating the box office with Top Gun-like astronomical numbers, Netflix gives us an animated adventure film that is creatively rich, with […]
Review: True Crime Documentary Girl in the Picture Expertly Unravels a Life of Mystery, Abuse and Tragedy
In a few short years, director Skye Borgman has quickly become one of the finest documentary filmmakers, specializing in true-crime cases that are so strange, twisty and complicated (Abducted in […]
Review: In Thor: Love and Thunder, a Hero’s Promising Journey Gets Lost in a Filmmaker’s Muddled Vision
I won’t waste your time comparing Thor: Ragnarok to the latest tale of the God of Thunder, Thor: Love and Thunder, because to do so would be to imply that […]
Review: A Farce Lacking Humor, 18 1/2 is a Missed Opportunity for a Tense, Gripping Political Thriller
Sometimes a really great idea for a film can be hampered severely or even undone completely in its execution. The new indie feature 18 1/2 is hardly the first film […]
Review: The Plot (and Point) of The Forgiven Gets Lost in Gross Class and Culture Clashes
A slightly gross treatise on white privilege, writer/director John Michael McDonagh’s (War on Everyone; Calvary) The Forgiven takes place over a long weekend in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, […]
Review: A Sharp Satire of the Film Industry, Official Competition Features Three Stand-Out Performances
Perhaps the best Pedro Almodóvar film that Pedro Almodóvar didn’t actually write or direct, Official Competition in fact comes from co-directors Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn and skewers the filmmaking […]
Review: As Origin Stories Go, Minions: The Rise of Gru Doesn’t Offer Any New Insights…or Even Much Entertainment
Admittedly, I’ve given up on keeping track of not only the stories of the Despicable Me/Minions movies, but also how may of them there even are. I believe the latest, […]
Review: Heartfelt and Heartbreaking in Equal Measure, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On Creates an Adorable, Inspiring Little World
There are times when the world doesn’t make a lick of sense. And then there are times when it all comes together with the help of a one-inch-tall shell with […]
Review: The Long Night Is Standard-Issue Direct-to-Streaming Horror Fare
Marking the first feature from composer and music video director Rich Ragsdale, The Long Night concerns a young New York couple on the verge of taking big steps in their […]
Interview: Filmmaker Cooper Raiff on Acting in His Own Films, Casting Dakota Johnson and Being a Good Party Starter
When writer/director/actor Cooper Raiff began making films, he tended to borrow not just from events in his life, but also the mental place he was in his life at that […]
Review: The Black Phone Is an Impressive Original Horror Story with Strong Child Actors at its Core
From the mind of Stephen King’s offspring, son Joe Hill, The Black Phone (based on Hill’s short story) concerns a pair of siblings navigating their difficult lives circa 1978. Thirteen-year-old […]