Review: “Artemis Fowl”

I’ve been waiting for an “Artemis Fowl” movie for almost 20 years. I picked up the first book in the fantasy series by Eoin Colfer when I was in middle school and immediately became an avid fan, devouring each of the subsequent seven books in the series as soon as they were released. But whether […]

Review: “Shirley”

Writer Shirley Jackson is perhaps best known for her horror novel The Haunting of Hill House, widely regarded as one of the best and scariest ghost stories ever written. But Jackson’s personal life becomes a sort of horror story of its own in “Shirley,” a new drama based on the novel by Susan Scarf Merrell […]

Streaming Recap: May 2020

Normally at this time of year we’d be a month into the summer blockbuster season. Unfortunately, due to the ongoing state of things, that is not the case. But we still have lots of movies to stream at home in the meantime. You can read my reviews of films that debuted on streaming services in […]

Review: “The High Note”

In “The High Note,” comparisons between Tracee Ellis Ross (who plays fictional pop diva Grace Davis) and her mother (real life pop icon Diana Ross) are inevitable. But Ross dominates in the role and makes it her own in a standout performance that makes “The High Note”—a pleasant if not particularly original comedy/drama about the […]

Review: “The Lovebirds”

A romantic comedy starring the funny and talented Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae and directed by Michael Showalter (who helmed the poignant and unique 2017 rom-com “The Big Sick,” also starring Nanjiani) sounds like a definite winner. But Nanjiani and Rae’s talents outshine the script for their new movie “The Lovebirds,” which fails to do […]

Review: “The Trip to Greece”

Michael Winterbottom’s “Trip” film series starring Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon are truly unique in nature. Starting in 2010 with the television series “The Trip” that was later edited into a feature film and followed with “The Trip to Italy” and “The Trip to Spain,” the series follows Coogan and Brydon as they travel and […]

Review: “Scoob!”

Scooby-Doo and the Mystery, Inc. gang have survived countless iterations since their television debut as a Hanna-Barbera cartoon in 1969. Now, they are featured in a new 3D animated feature film, “Scoob!”, which combines nostalgia for the original show with modern updates. Directed by Tony Cervone, the opening of the film is an origin story […]

Review: “Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind”

The questionable circumstances revolving around actress Natalie Wood’s untimely death have frequently overshadowed her prolific career and reputation as a caring wife and mother. Now, her daughter Natasha Gregson Wagner attempts to alter the way we remember her mother as producer of the new documentary “Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind.” Directed by Laurent Bouzereau, the […]

Review: “How to Build a Girl”

The coming-of-age story is a familiar one in film, but rarely does the protagonist go through as many incarnations as Johanna Morrigan does in “How to Build a Girl.” The new movie from IFC Films, which is directed by Coky Giedroyc with a screenplay by Caitlin Moran adapted from her novel of the same name, […]

Review: “Bad Education”

In light of the 2019 college admissions scandal, “Bad Education” feels like a very timely movie. But it’s actually based on a true event that occurred in the early 2000s. Set in the small Long Island town of Roslyn, it explores the largest public school embezzlement scandal in American history. Directed by Cory Finley and […]