In Shoplifters, director Hirokazu Kore-eda explores the beauty and morality that forms within societal fractures. The characters live as any family ought: They are supportive, caring, loving, and do what they must to help each other survive. They uphold the epitome of family values, except they are criminals and none of them are related. Every […]
If you’ve ever listened to somebody tell a joke when they’ve clearly lost track of the punchline, you know the experience of watching The Upside. Full of good intentions and boundless charisma between the performers, every moment of real tension in the film is diffused before getting to the good stuff in this remake based […]
Based on James Baldwin’s novel of the same name, Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk is a moving, absorbing experience dedicated to truth and beauty in a world of deceit. Told with the same patience and elegance as his previous film, Moonlight, Beale Street is a tale of young love, a dissection of racism […]
As the year winds down and awards season approaches, movies that most audiences have never heard of begin to dominate the film news cycle. Limited releases, festival favorites, and critical darlings become the movies to watch according to tastemakers and award-giving organizations, but it can be a bit frustrating to hear so much about films […]
After four disasters and one triumph, the DC Extended Universe offers the middling, non-event Aquaman, directed by James Wan (Saw, The Conjuring, Fast 7). This one is intended for folks seeking a visual experience who don’t care much about remembering what actually happens or why. It’s the sort of movie we might hate had it […]
If you’re not going to get a good movie for your money, you may as well get a lot of one. So it goes with Mortal Engines, a YA fantasy novel adaptation that seems to have learned from the overlong Divergent series by packing the entire Mortal Engines trilogy into one movie. Or, perhaps producer […]
The romantic costume drama gets an injection of style and attitude in Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Favourite. By its description—period piece from the director of Dogtooth, wartime power struggles, a love triangle, cousins jockeying for the Queen’s good graces—you’d have no way of knowing that The Favourite is one of the most ferociously funny films of […]
By its very nature, portraying the life of an artist of any medium on film while incorporating the substance of his work into the overall aesthetic is a risky endeavor. Perhaps it’s no coincidence, then, that visual artist and director Julian Schnabel has helmed two of the most resonant films about the lives and work […]
After competing with HBO in the original series game, Netflix is now gunning for Hollywood recognition with a slew of prestige film acquisitions helmed by some of the most respected names in show business. Here are a few streaming contenders for Oscar glory. Roma R, 135 minutes (On Netflix December 14) Perhaps the biggest score […]
The classic heist movie gets a stylish, topical treatment with Widows, cowritten by Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) and Steve McQueen (Shame, 12 Years a Slave), who also directed. It could be seen as a gender-swapped caper flick, but with McQueen’s philosophical eye and Flynn’s take on societal expectations, Widows turns into an examination of gendered […]