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The Beach Boys
(2024)
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Jay Horton
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A crisp, even-handed, always-watchable Behind the Music-style tribute illustrating how the untutored sock-hop darlings atop America’s silliest genre would both rewrite the rules of popular song with transcendent masterwork Pet Sounds...
Posted Jun 26, 2024
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Sing Sing
(2023)
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Morgan Shaunette
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The emotional journey through Sing Sing is often one of rejection and despair, but it stresses the need for community and laughter, even in the bleakest of situations, and is sure to set you free smiling.
Posted Jun 26, 2024
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Fancy Dance
(2023)
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Chance Solem-Pfeifer
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Still, good signs abound for Gladstone’s continued brilliance, not the least of which is that Forest Whitaker executive-produced Fancy Dance. She shares his uncanny knack for controlling tone and pace, such that believability is never in question.
Posted Jun 26, 2024
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Janet Planet
(2023)
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Morgan Shaunette
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The feature debut of playwright Annie Baker, Janet Planet is a story without much forward momentum, opting to bask in the silence of lazy summer afternoons and serenity of heartfelt conversations at bedtime.
Posted Jun 26, 2024
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Evil Does Not Exist
(2023)
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Ray Gill Jr.
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Hamaguchi may well have a poignant message in here he wants heard, but he offers little incentive to find it.
Posted May 22, 2024
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Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
(2024)
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Daniel Rester
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The action sequences are thrilling, and Ball always makes sure they are in service of progressing the plot and not just spectacle for spectacle’s sake.
Posted May 22, 2024
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I Saw the TV Glow
(2024)
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Morgan Shaunette
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I Saw the TV Glow may turn off viewers in search of a more conventional horror narrative, but for those tuned into its frequency, it’s an ethereal, heartbreaking experience that will linger long after the static fades to black.
Posted May 22, 2024
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The Fall Guy
(2024)
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Morgan Shaunette
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The story charts a familiar path—no points for guessing the movie’s title has multiple meanings—but it’s in the details that The Fall Guy truly soars.
Posted May 22, 2024
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New Life
(2023)
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Chance Solem-Pfeifer
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While New Life holds few pleasures as it twists and convulses into new genres, it excels at glimpses of terror and jaded job execution.
Posted May 22, 2024
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Rebel Moon: Part Two - The Scargiver
(2024)
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Daniel Rester
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The Scargiver, however, fails to drive the story into any interesting direction and becomes monotonous with its action.
Posted May 01, 2024
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The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
(2024)
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Jay Horton
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The uncomplicated heroics of charismatic sadists trading endlessly watchable flourishes of deadpan repartee couldn’t be more perfectly tailored to the talents of our breezily brutal heist auteur...
Posted May 01, 2024
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Abigail
(2024)
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Daniel Rester
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Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett have a great eye for horror action, but the script by Stephen Shields and Guy Busick could have used a little more tightening.
Posted May 01, 2024
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The Wages of Fear
(2024)
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Daniel Rester
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This Wages of Fear is a slick but unremarkable rendering of Arnaud’s premise, mostly sacrificing tense situations with the nitro in favor of clunky flashbacks and boring shootouts.
Posted Apr 23, 2024
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Challengers
(2024)
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Bennett Campbell Ferguson
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Challengers is less a film than a feast of sensual pleasures: alluringly crisp polo shirts, sweat dripping across masculine brows, muscles so taut they threaten to snap.
Posted Apr 23, 2024
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The People's Joker
(2022)
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Morgan Shaunette
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Through means of questionable legality but undeniable passion, Vera Drew has repurposed pop mythology into something personal and relatable, using the icons of a genre to speak her truth and share her story
Posted Apr 20, 2024
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Civil War
(2024)
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Max Fainaru-Wada
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Civil War wants to be a whole cake, but ends up being a lot of icing on a piece of toast.
Posted Apr 20, 2024
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The Truth vs. Alex Jones
(2024)
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Morgan Shaunette
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The movie reminds us that there’s no reasoning with or giving the benefit of the doubt to a man like Jones. Exposing his lies might seem like a never-ending battle, but the truth is worth fighting for.
Posted Apr 20, 2024
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Spermworld
(2024)
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Max Fainaru-Wada
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Spermworld may be devoid of easy answers, but it’s easily one of the best and most important films so far this year.
Posted Apr 17, 2024
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1/4
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The Beast
(2023)
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Chance Solem-Pfeifer
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Bonello is known as a provocateur, but The Beast is a thuddingly dense Madama Butterfly pastiche that dares only to use an actor of Seydoux’s caliber as a construct for two hours and 25 minutes.
Posted Apr 10, 2024
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3/4
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Damsel
(2024)
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Daniel Rester
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The second half of Damsel grows repetitive, but Brown is a physically and dramatically compelling presence—and the dragon, menacingly voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo, is frightening enough to make Smaug’s scales tingle.
Posted Apr 10, 2024
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3/4
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Monkey Man
(2024)
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Morgan Shaunette
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Monkey Man isn’t the debut of a new action-film messiah, but it’s a slick ride all the same and proof that Patel has the chops, punches, kicks and occasional bites to be one of the greats.
Posted Apr 10, 2024
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Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus
(2023)
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Daniel Bromfield
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Sora didn’t have much to work with over these 100 minutes, but his familiarity with his father’s physical body gives the film a certain tactility.
Posted Apr 03, 2024
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3/4
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They Shot the Piano Player
(2023)
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Ray Gill Jr.
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The film may be an unflinching look at a murderous past, but tragedy is juxtaposed with the joy of seeing an animated Ella Fitzgerald running barefoot through the streets... encapsulating the chaotic splendor and spirit of this cinematic gem.
Posted Apr 03, 2024
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3/4
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Shayda
(2023)
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Ray Gill Jr.
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Unflinching in its portrayal of battle lines defined by gender and tradition, Shayda refuses to force-feed a message to its audience, confronting you with a harsh reality that’s already staring you in the face.
Posted Apr 03, 2024
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3/4
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Indigo Girls: It's Only Life After All
(2023)
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Ray Gill Jr.
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... The documentary dismantles the myopic views of the haters, offering a deeper understanding of the Indigo Girls’ activism and music.
Posted Apr 03, 2024
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3/4
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A Perfect Day for Caribou
(2022)
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Chance Solem-Pfeifer
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A Perfect Day of Caribou is intentionally, sometimes stiflingly disquieting—with the visual palette of Alexander Payne’s Nebraska and elliptical, nature-bound dialogues reminiscent of Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy.
Posted Apr 03, 2024
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2/4
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Road House
(2024)
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Daniel Rester
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Liman (The Bourne Identity, Edge of Tomorrow) delivers slick imagery and welcome chuckles, but for the most part, Road House is a generic and forgettable action flick missing its predecessor’s lurid spirit.
Posted Mar 27, 2024
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2/4
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Arthur the King
(2024)
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Jay Horton
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A more humane interpretation of events would've at least questioned the wisdom of a career spent so ferociously chasing one's own tail—though self-prescribed incredible journeys are rarely about the destination.
Posted Mar 27, 2024
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3/4
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Late Night with the Devil
(2023)
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Morgan Shaunette
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While its mistakes may haunt it, Late Night With the Devil still boasts impressive filmmaking in front of and behind the camera, making it a trip to hell worth taking.
Posted Mar 27, 2024
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Little Wing
(2024)
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Chance Solem-Pfeifer
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Dean Israelite and writer John Gatins don’t thread their chosen needle between the theme-heavy character study and the YA crowd pleaser.
Posted Mar 21, 2024
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2/4
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Kung Fu Panda 4
(2024)
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Jay Horton
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As with that other express Panda franchise hawking oversugared flavors plucked out of context, a creative vision ungrounded by larger perspective and unconnected to cultural context leaves a nauseating aftertaste.
Posted Mar 20, 2024
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2/4
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Imaginary
(2024)
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Daniel Rester
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Imaginary finally gains momentum in the third act once the plot gets nutty, but by then it is too little too late. Wadlow has certainly made worse horror films than Imaginary, but his latest effort is still mostly toothless and unimaginative.
Posted Mar 20, 2024
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4/4
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About Dry Grasses
(2023)
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Ray Gill Jr.
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Is About Dry Grasses about a work scandal, a love triangle, or is it truly about dry grasses? The answer is elusive, and the ideal viewer will stop asking what Ceylan's film is about and accept it for what it is: a masterpiece.
Posted Mar 20, 2024
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2/4
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Problemista
(2023)
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Bennett Campbell Ferguson
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... A satire of immigrant dreams that too often parries when it should stab.
Posted Mar 13, 2024
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3/4
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Love Lies Bleeding
(2024)
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Morgan Shaunette
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Love Lies Bleeding’s mix of lurid violence and dreamlike atmosphere may turn off some viewers, but those looking for a hard-edged, gravel-in-your-gut kind of caper will enjoy feeling the burn.
Posted Mar 13, 2024
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3/4
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Lisa Frankenstein
(2024)
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Daniel Rester
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Lisa Frankenstein won’t hit for all audiences, but it is easy to foresee it gaining a cult following, like the 2009 Cody-scripted feminist horror flick Jennifer’s Body.
Posted Mar 08, 2024
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2/4
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Madame Web
(2024)
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Daniel Rester
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As Cassie defends a group of teenage girls (including Sydney Sweeney) hunted by the nefarious Ezekiel (Tahir Rahim), it becomes clear that director S.J. Clarkson’s film is mostly just another dull attempt by Sony to spotlight Spidey’s side characters.
Posted Mar 08, 2024
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2/4
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Bob Marley: One Love
(2024)
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Morgan Shaunette
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Devotees may find some enjoyment in hearing hits from the singer’s back catalog in surround sound, but anyone hoping One Love will do justice to an icon will find that the cinematic message lacks the conviction of the messenger.
Posted Mar 06, 2024
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3/4
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Suncoast
(2024)
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Daniel Rester
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A film that evokes a specific moment in time without getting too heavy-handed with the nostalgia.
Posted Mar 06, 2024
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3/4
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Dune: Part Two
(2024)
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Chance Solem-Pfeifer
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It’s curious to say that a two-hour, 45-minute epic of this tonnage is holding something back, but Villeneuve is (once again) just as interested in prophesying the next film as he is in cementing the current one.
Posted Mar 06, 2024
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3/4
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Robot Dreams
(2023)
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Bennett Campbell Ferguson
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Robot Dreams is too wise and tender to deny, but for better or worse, there's a touch of sadism behind its sweetness.
Posted Mar 06, 2024
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Your Fat Friend
(2023)
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Jay Horton
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[Gordon] makes for an instantly rootable protagonist, and her tale—lifelong wallflower finds her own voice speaking out against an insidious mass bigotry—hits all the crowd-pleasing notes with a textured authenticity.
Posted Feb 29, 2024
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3/4
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Io Capitano
(2023)
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Chance Solem-Pfeifer
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The folk-tale framing gives the movie its narrative grip, though that conceit doesn't always sit easily next to the process-driven indignities endured by Seydou and Moussa.
Posted Feb 29, 2024
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Mississippi Masala
(1991)
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Chance Solem-Pfeifer
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It’s a nuanced tale of interracial love that tackles colorism, how prejudice functions within a local economy, and the generational pain of cultural displacement.
Posted Feb 29, 2024
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3/4
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Drive-Away Dolls
(2024)
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Bennett Campbell Ferguson
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A cleverly comedic and romantic provocation.
Posted Feb 23, 2024
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2/5
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How to Have Sex
(2023)
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Chance Solem-Pfeifer
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How to Have Sex appears devised more as a foregone conclusion than a story.
Posted Feb 14, 2024
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4/5
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Origin
(2023)
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Chance Solem-Pfeifer
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Both lyrical and essayistic, the latest film by Ava DuVernay is, firstly, a feat of adaptation.
Posted Feb 14, 2024
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4/4
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Perfect Days
(2023)
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Chance Solem-Pfeifer
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Wenders taps into a precious cinematic paradox: We viewers escape our lives to be mindful inside someone else’s.
Posted Feb 14, 2024
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2/5
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Argylle
(2024)
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Morgan Shaunette
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Argylle strains under the weight of its ambitions, but if Vaughn’s irreverent charm is your thing, it’ll leave you shaken and stirred.
Posted Feb 07, 2024
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3/4
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Orion and the Dark
(2024)
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Daniel Rester
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While Orion and the Dark is kiddie fare, Kaufman does manage to squeeze in some jokes aimed at adults, while director Sean Charmatz brings Kaufman's script to life in colorful ways.
Posted Feb 07, 2024
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