Review: “18 1/2”

To this day, no one is certain what exactly was said during the 18 ½ minute gap in a tape of President Richard Nixon reportedly discussing the Watergate break-in with his then Chief of Staff, Bob Haldeman, or who erased it in the first place. Nixon’s secretary claimed to have pushed a wrong button and […]

Review: “Downton Abbey: A New Era”

I admittedly wavered about writing this review of “Downton Abbey: A New Era” at all. Why bother, when those who are fans of the show will watch it and more than likely enjoy it, and those who aren’t will avoid it altogether no matter what? But there’s something to be said for not just the […]

Review: “Men”

The Edenic imagery that propels writer and director Alex Garland’s latest feature film, “Men,” forward shows up early on. Having just arrived at the lavish country home she booked a stay at in order to rest and heal from the death of her husband, Harper (Jessie Buckley) strolls into the estate’s lush garden, plucks an […]

Review: “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”

The Marvel Cinematic Universe might not exist at all if it wasn’t for Sam Raimi. That’s a lot of credit to give to one individual who up to now has never been explicitly involved in the MCU at all, but it’s Raimi’s “Spider-man” trilogy—which debuted in 2002 and spawned two sequels, the last of which […]

Review: “The Northman”

A sword fight within the depths of a fiery volcano. Ethan Hawke crawling around on all fours and barking like a dog. A screeching Valkyrie riding into heavens. A prisoner bound and gagged by the innards of another victim. Björk appearing in her first feature film in over 15 years as a Seeress, adorned in […]

Review: “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”

“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” opens with perhaps one of the silliest scenes from Nicolas Cage’s long and varied filmography: the ending of the 1997 action movie “Con Air,” in which Cage’s Army vet and ex-con who just saved the day reunites with his wife and the daughter he’s never met, Trisha Yearwood’s “How […]

Review: ”Marvelous and the Black Hole”

Sammy (Miya Cech) is angry. Her mother passed away within the last few years, and the 13-year-old channels her grief through acts of aggression at school (vandalism, and a fight that leaves her with a black eye) and home. She smokes and uses foul language. She shuts out her older sister Sue (Jae Suh Park) […]

Review: “Paris, 13th District”

The City of Lights and the City of Love serves as the backdrop for a less than swoony romance in “Paris, 13th District.” Directed by Jacques Audiard, who co-wrote the screenplay along with Léa Mysius and Céline Sciamma based on Adrian Tomine’s series of short comic stories, the film’s French title, “Les Olympiades,” is derived […]

Review: “Ambulance”

In a world where most action movies are associated with an existing franchise and thrive on computer-generated effects and characters, “Ambulance”— with its confined setting and small cast and mostly practical effects, a film that is constantly going so fast and so hard it feels like everyone involved must have been snorting coke behind the […]

Review: “Everything Everywhere All at Once”

Benjamin Franklin said, “in this world, nothing is certain except death and taxes.” When we first meet Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) she is being swallowed up by the latter, sitting at a table in the apartment above the laundromat she operates with her husband Waymond (Ke Huy Quan), every inch of its surface cluttered with […]