What to Watch on the Small Screen: September 2018
Summer will officially be over in just a couple weeks. If that has you feeling down, however, watching a movie is the perfect way to keep yourself distracted. Here are […]
Review: Minding the Gap Is One of the Finest Documentaries of the Year
One of the most impressive feature debuts I’ve seen in quite some time is Bing Liu’s documentary Minding the Gap, about three boys growing up in Rockford, Illinois, and bonding […]
Review: An Athlete at the Top of His Game in John McEnroe: In The Realm of Perfection
There’s a moment in the footage presented in the documentary John McEnroe: In The Realm Of Perfection in which McEnroe dives for a ball he knows he has no chance […]
Review: Kin Proves an Interesting Blend of Sci-Fi and Family Drama
Mixing genres can be a tricky thing in the movies, but in the last couple years, some of the finest exercises in horror—The Babadook, A Quiet Place, The Witch, Hereditary—have […]
Review: A Layered Story and Terrific Performances Make The Bookshop Worth a Visit
The Bookshop, a bittersweet, fragile drama set in 1959 England based on the novel by Penelope Fitzgerald, centers on Florence Green (the always great Emily Mortimer), a widow who has spent months […]
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: The Sting of Arizona Lands Between the Laughs
Although the horror-comedy Arizona is the first feature from Jonathan Watson, he has actually spent many years working second unit on films and TV series created by the likes of […]
Review: The Wife Weaves a Tangled Web, with Glenn Close at its Center
Based on the novel by Meg Wolitzer (adapted by Jane Anderson), The Wife is the story of a nearly 40-year marriage that is held together by the same things that […]
Review: Papillon Update Brings More Grit, Suffering and Strong Performances
I’ve never read either of the books written by Henri Charrière upon which Papillon is based, but I can tell you that the 1973 film is a perfect movie—a character […]
Review: An Unexpected Comedy Duo Makes Blue Iguana a Good Time
Although the setup to this British crime comedy is a bit of a stretch, the execution is often quite funny, and let’s face it: anytime you get a chance to […]
Review: Dark Family Dynamics Drive a Thrilling, Tense Custody
In 2013, writer/director Xavier Legrand made a short film called Just Before Losing Everything, about a woman attempting to extract herself and two children from what she felt was a […]
Review: Uninspired and Disappointing, The Happytime Murders Totally Misses the Mark
Just before the closing credits on director Brian Henson’s (son of the late Jim Henson, the Muppets creator) latest film The Happytime Murders begin to roll, a compilation of footage […]