Review: As January Horror Films Go, Escape Room Isn’t Horrible
In what has become an annual tradition at the movie theaters in early January, a PG-13 horror film has slipped in and threatened to soft-peddle largely bloodless scares in the […]
Review: In Risky Cheney Biopic VICE, Former VP is the Supervillain
Whether or not you enjoy this biopic on former Vice-President Dick Cheney may depend a great deal on how much you enjoy snark, skimming the surface of a subject who […]
Review: On The Basis of Sex Is an Approachable Biopic for an Ambitious American Icon
It could be reasonably argued that Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is the most important American woman alive today. In a deeply divided political climate, she sits in a […]
Review: Jennifer Lopez in Second Act Doesn’t Deserve a First Look
In a true Christmas miracle, everything about Second Act, the new Jennifer Lopez film, manages to scream that it’s both trying too hard and not trying hard enough. Foregoing any real […]
Review: Transformers Franchise Surprises with Friendship, Heart and Heroism in Bumblebee
Taking what is essentially the kid-and-her-pet scenario that is as old as time and applying it to a sci-fi adventure story that acts as a prequel to director Michael Bay’s […]
Review: DC’s Big, Bold Aquaman Isn’t a Masterpiece; It Is a Feast for the Eyes
Here’s the thing about the latest film based on a DC Comics superhero: it’s actually a lot of fun. Aquaman is not great—it’s barely even good—but it’s a great deal […]
Review: Building on a Legacy, Disney’s Mary Poppins Returns Is Sure to Delight
I’ll be the first to admit, I never really understood the mystique of the Mary Poppins character. Or perhaps to put it more precisely, I certainly got what she represented […]
Review: Mortal Engines Is A Long Way from Launching the Next Great Franchise
There’s no telling why the screenwriters of The Lord of the Rings trilogy—Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson—thought that the Mortal Engines four-book series (written by Philip Reeve) was […]
Review: Kore-eda’s Shoplifters Is a Masterful, Elegant Story of the Families We Choose
From one of the current masters of Japanese cinema, Hirokazu Kore-eda (Nobody Knows; Like Father, Like Son; Our Little Sister; After the Storm), Shoplifters tells the story of a group of petty criminals […]
Review: Clint Eastwood’s The Mule May Not Be PC; It’s Also Not Half Bad
If Clint Eastwood’s own recent personal history wasn’t so steeped in botched political messages, I don’t think his films (with the obvious exception of American Sniper) would be so overly […]
Review: Once Upon a Deadpool Tones Down The Snark and Violence…A Little
I’m sure many of you rolled your eyes so far back in your head they almost got stuck there the first time you heard that the makers of Deadpool 2 […]
Review: Two Strong Performances Carry a Shaky Mary Queen of Scots
There is little doubt in this most recently telling of the life and death of Mary Stuart (here portrayed by Saoirse Ronan), the ambitious Queen of Scotland, eager to build […]