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 […]
When you hear the line “I did what I had to do,” odds are the writer knows you were thinking “Why in the world did they do that?” Whenever someone gets shot, ripped off, roughed up, or double-crossed in The Kitchen, we understand why she did it, but it is rarely an obligation. When “I […]
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 […]
Is anyone actually this nostalgic? Beneath the song and dance and snappy dialogue in the new Lion King is a feeling of resignation and inevitability. This reenactment—remake would imply that something is different from the beloved 1994 animated film—fails to explain to puzzled audiences why it exists at all. It’s not live action like Cinderella […]
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 […]
When a horror movie reaches a certain level of pedigree or critical acclaim, it’s common in some circles to find any word other than “horror” to describe it. “That was just a really scary drama.” Or, “I think it was more of a thriller,” a genre that can overlap but is still distinct. “Post-horror” is […]
Somehow, against all odds and conventional wisdom of movie sequels and their diminishing returns, the Toy Story series just keeps getting it right. The mere fact that there is a conversation about which is the best one shows just how successful it is. No one says the same about Incredibles 2, Monsters University, or Cars […]