Review: “Boy Erased”

4 out of 5 stars. To many of you reading this, something like gay conversion therapy is completely unfathomable. But to others, who view homosexuality as a choice, or a sickness, it is a very viable option. It’s those others who are at the center of “Boy Erased,” a drama written and directed by Joel […]

Review: “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms”

2.5 out of 5 stars. When you think of “The Nutcracker,” chances are all the things related to the famous ballet come to mind: beautiful dances and costumes, Tchaikovsky’s music, and of course the main characters, a young girl named Clara and a nutcracker prince. However, only a handful of those elements are present in […]

Review: “Bohemian Rhapsody”

3 out of 5 stars. You don’t need to know much about the band Queen to know that their music defied convention; one listen to “Bohemian Rhapsody” will tell you that. It’s curious and rather disappointing then that the biopic of the band and its lead singer, Freddie Mercury, is the definition of conventional. It’s […]

Review: “Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween”

2.5 out of 5 stars. Imagine: you sit down to watch a movie. It’s the sequel to a movie from a few years ago that you really enjoyed, and for the most part, this sequel boasts the same look and feel. And yet, something is missing, some spark that makes this movie less enjoyable. Okay, […]

Review: “Colette”

3.5 out of 5 stars. “Colette” looks like a traditional period piece. It boasts lush costumes and production design, a gorgeous score, and an array of talented actors. But while it is traditional in appearance, this film is imbued with modern sensibilities throughout, flipping expectations at every turn as it tells the true story of […]

Review: “Halloween” (2018)

3 out of 5 stars. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the release of John Carpenter’s “Halloween,” the slasher movie that reinvented the horror genre and made Michael Myers one of the scariest villains in film history. It has also spawned a whopping seven sequels (not including a remake and a sequel to the […]

Review: “First Man”

3.5 out of 5 stars. The first man to walk on the moon. As far as real life space stories go, it doesn’t get any bigger than that. And yet director Damien Chazelle’s new film “First Man,” which details astronaut Neil Armstrong’s life and career from his entry into the space program at NASA to […]

Review: “Venom”

2 out of 5 stars. “Venom” is an awful movie. It’s so mind-numbingly stupid, it’s difficult to believe that it was made with (likely) all seriousness. But there’s something so wacky in the film’s violence and humor, in addition to a strong lead performance by Tom Hardy, that it enters the realm of movies that […]

Review: “A Star is Born” (2018)

4 out of 5 stars. Hollywood loves to talk about itself. Maybe that’s why the story of the rise and fall of celebrity in “A Star is Born” is one of the most remade films in Hollywood history. The first version, from 1937 (which was in turn inspired by the 1932 film “What Price Hollywood?”), […]

Review: “A Simple Favor”

3.5 out of 5 stars. Stephanie and Emily couldn’t be more different. Stephanie is an upbeat suburban mommy vlogger who wears demure sweaters and obsessively participates in every activity in her son’s first-grade class. Emily is barely around for her son; she has a high-profile public relations job in the city. She’s foul-mouthed, drinks a […]