Streaming Recap: March 2020

These days, we’re all spending much more time at home than usual. I know my normal routine of reviewing new movie releases has been severely impacted by movie theaters closing nationwide, and most films slated for spring release being postponed until later in the year. But that means there’s no better time to check out […]

Review: “1917”

5 out of 5 stars. “1917” is a war epic brought down to a more personal level, without sacrificing the scale or horror of said war. That is thanks to director Sam Mendes and his crew, who adhere to a vision for this story—based on an anecdote told to him by his grandfather, Alfred Mendes—that […]

Review: “The Two Popes”

3.5 out of 5 stars. “The Two Popes” is the story of two men at an intellectual and spiritual crossroads. Adapted by Anthony McCarten from his play “The Pope” and directed by Fernando Meirelles, the film maintains the intimacy of a stage production with some added cinematic flourishes, and is anchored by fantastic performances by […]

Streaming Movie Recap: October 2019

We are already a few days into November, but before getting too wrapped up in the onslaught of holiday movies, I wanted to take a minute to review a few films released on streaming services in October: EL CAMINO: A BREAKING BAD MOVIE (NETFLIX) If you were a fan of the series “Breaking Bad,” then […]

Review: “Zombieland: Double Tap”

3 out of 5 stars. As far as post-apocalyptic zombie comedies go—and yes, I do believe that that is a genre in and of itself, thank you—it doesn’t get much better than “Zombieland.” The 2009 film directed by Ruben Fleischer takes place in an America that has been overrun by zombies, with the nerdy and […]

Review: “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”

1.5 out of 5 stars. “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” sounds like a pretty straightforward title: it’s a movie about Maleficent, one of Disney’s most memorable and fearsome villains, and she’s evil. But in fact, this sequel to 2014’s “Maleficent” neither features her as being a mistress of evil, nor features Maleficent much at all. This […]

Review: “Yesterday”

2.5 out of 5 stars. It’s difficult to imagine a world without the Beatles. Their music has been an integral part of pop culture around the world for decades, their impact and influence on others seemingly never-ending. But a world without the Beatles is exactly what the movie “Yesterday” tries to imagine, only the premise […]

Review: “Late Night”

3.5 out of 5 stars. In “Late Night,” Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling both play women who defy those who underestimate. The film may be a workplace comedy—and a very funny one at that—but it has an important and timely message that reaches far deeper. The movie is directed by Nisha Ganatra from a script […]

Review: “Men in Black: International”

2 out of 5 stars. “Men in Black: International” is the latest in a long list of sequels to franchises that no one asked for, but that we got anyway. As unnecessary as the film is, it did have a few things going for it—and it managed to squander them all, resulting in an action […]

Review: “Dark Phoenix”

2 out of 5 stars. 2019 is the year that many iconic pop culture franchises are coming to a conclusion. But while 20th Century Fox’s live-action “X-Men” series has been around for longer than most of them—almost 20 years, in fact—it feels less like a bittersweet farewell and more like a sigh of relief to […]