If Todd Phillips’ Joker had been better, or worse, then the pre-release controversy might have been worth something. If it defied the odds as a prestige work, or if it were a sloppy misfire, the incessant discourse might have led somewhere interesting. But a technically slick yet thematically shallow production keeps us in exactly the […]
When two similar movies are made in close proximity, they are often described as “twin films.” Think Armageddon and Deep Impact, The Prestige and The Illusionist, and now Smallfoot and Abominable. The worst thing they can do is give you déjà vu, like you’ve seen this story before. The best is blaze a totally different […]
Meditative, introspective, and gorgeously executed, Ad Astra is an art film in a blockbuster’s clothing. Behind the hard science fiction, the predictions of how the next generation of space travel will look and operate, and even moon shootouts and space chimp battles are deep ruminations on anger, masculinity, and transference of toxicity from one generation […]
Luce is many things: a coming of age story, a family drama, a biting social commentary. And though it uses many techniques and tropes from the thriller genre that may seem familiar, that is one thing it is not. Just as the indie drama Krisha was designed to feel like a horror film in order […]
The class rage-fueled horror comedy Ready or Not is for anyone who’s been robbed of the life they deserve, in order to further someone else’s wealth, status, or tradition. It’s a bloody, hilarious, and satisfyingly mean parable that’s not only mad about income inequality. It’s mad about the rich themselves. How they gained their wealth, […]
The child performers in Good Boys are quite good, and the jokes can be very funny, but what do you do with a movie that forces you to compare it to something better? It’s Superbad for sixth graders in almost every way: Produced by Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen, and Jonah Hill, Good Boys follows three […]
It takes a phenomenal storyteller to turn such a deeply personal story into a film like The Farewell. Based on the real experiences of writer-director Lulu Wang, The Farewell is a touching, funny, emotionally rich story about how the expression of love differs between cultures and communities. Sometimes the difference is radical and irreconcilable, but […]
Delight is not a word you often associate with a Quentin Tarantino film, but damn if you don’t leave Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with a smile on your face. The delight is usually QT’s, who every few years gets to share his latest pastiche, a focused fever dream informed by childhood obsessions of […]
Did Stuber get greenlit because of its name, or in spite of it? Whatever its origins, it’s bad. Really bad. The kind of bad where even when it does land a solid gag, you’re so frustrated that you don’t even grant it a chuckle, out of pure resentment. Its charismatic leads Kumail Nanjiani and Dave […]
The first question that will inevitably come up regarding Spider-Man: Far From Home is: How does it compare to the other screen portrayals that followed Sam Raimi’s landmark films? But let’s be honest, that train of thought goes nowhere useful. In terms of superhero movies and blockbusters in general, almost nothing is on par with […]