Review: Measure for Measure Skillfully Shifts Shakespeare to a Modern Day Gang War
Modern updates of Shakespeare are always a mixed bag. But for the most part, I’m in favor of them because they open up the Bard’s work to a new generation […]
Review: With a Standout Central Performance, Mulan Gorgeously Reimagines a Centuries-Old (and Disney Classic) Myth
One of the first things I noticed about the new live-action version of Disney’s 1998 animated feature Mulan is that there is a tremendous amount of bloodless death. So much, […]
Review: The Mole Agent Turns Spy Work into Something Heartfelt and Sweet
Though it’s ostensibly a film about an elderly spy going undercover in a retirement home to catch the staff in their neglect and abuse of its residents red-handed, there is […]
Review: Visual Gymnastics, Laid-Back Cool and a Signature Grand Scale in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet
In many ways, writer/director Christopher Nolan’s latest blend of action, science fiction and all things massively scaled, Tenet, is a greatest hits package for the filmmaker, in all the good […]
Review: Charlie Kaufman’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things Twists Timelines, Stretches Believability and Demands Repeat Viewings
As he seems to excel at doing in one screenplay after another (Being John Malkovich, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Adaptation., Confessions of a Dangerous Mind), as well as […]
Review: Documentary Duo Shift to Episodic Format for Riveting, Drama-Packed Love Fraud
The documentary-making duo Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady have consistently delivered some of the most intriguing and thought-provoking films on American life, politics and culture. From 2006’s Jesus Camp, about children […]
Review: A Raucous, Silly Adventure, Get Duked! Surprises with Genuine Laughs and Confident Filmmaking
At some point since its premiere at 2019’s SXSW Film Festival, Get Duked! got re-titled. Originally called Boyz in the Wood, one imagines there were some copyright issues with that nod to John […]
Review: Vinyl Nation Revels in the Joys of Tangible, Browsable Record Collections
As someone who has fairly recently rediscovered my own vinyl collection and stopped being nervous about adding to it (thanks to annual events like Record Store Day, which finally happens […]
Review: Buried in Snow, Centigrade Avalanches into a Battle Against the Elements and Personal Tensions
Director/co-writer Brandon Walsh (marking his feature film debut) and story originator/co-writer Daley Nixon have composed an intriguing idea that is a variation of other tense thrillers we’ve seen before—only Centigrade has […]
Review: House of Cardin Puts the Iconic Designer at the Center of His Own Legacy
For reasons I’m not even completely sure of, I really and truly get a kick out of documentaries about history’s greatest fashion designers, and the one who has never been […]
Review: Life, Strife and a Colorful Cast of Characters in Exuberant The Personal History of David Copperfield
In his previous works, director/series runner Armando Iannucci (The Death of Stalin, “Veep,” In The Loop) has finely tuned his R-rated satire about the warped state of politics into a […]
Review: Kinder and More Mature, Bill & Ted Face the Music Is a Fittingly Funny Sendoff
Lest you’ve forgotten, the Bill & Ted movies—1989’s Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and 1991’s Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey—were never exactly exercises in deep thought. I’m actually not big […]