Review: “Cyrano”

“Cyrano,” director Joe Wright’s adaptation of Erica Schmidt’s musical of the same name that’s based in turn on the classic 1897 play “Cyrano de Bergerac,” opens not with its titular character, but with the object of his affections, Roxanne (Haley Bennett). Roxanne has been invited to attend a play by De Guiche (Ben Mendelsohn), an […]

Review: “The Pink Cloud”

I think it’s safe to assume that no one will ever get to watch writer/director Iuli Gerbase’s debut feature film, “The Pink Cloud,” exactly the way she intended. That isn’t because the final product of the film itself isn’t something she stands behind; quite the contrary. Rather, it’s due to exterior factors that have rocked […]

Review: “Uncharted”

The conversation surrounding the translation of video games to film has been had many a time; they frequently sacrifice story in favor of action scenes that don’t play as well when you’re watching them as opposed to, well, actually playing through them. The thing with the “Uncharted” series, though, is that you can see the […]

Review: “Strawberry Mansion”

“I just wanted someone to share my dreams with.” That statement carries a different weight in a future where our dreams aren’t really our own. It is said by Bella (Penny Fuller) to James Preble (Kentucker Audley), the auditor sent to the elderly woman’s home to assess her dreams for unpaid taxes. The year is […]

Review: ”Death on the Nile” (2022)

“Death on the Nile,” director Kenneth Branagh’s follow-up to his 2017 Agatha Christie adaptation “Murder on the Orient Express,” is a top contender for the title of most cursed film in recent memory. Production problems delayed its initial December 2019 release date to 2020, by which time the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing, prompting […]

Review: ”Drive My Car”

By the time the title and opening credits of “Drive My Car” drop approximately 45 minutes into its three hour runtime, it already feels like we’ve experienced a complete mini movie. But the embarrassment of riches that director Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s film, based on the short story by Haruki Murakami, contains are yet to unveil themselves. […]

Review: “Red Rocket”

Mikey Saber (Simon Rex) has just returned to his small Gulf Coast Texas hometown, and before we are actually told anything about him, we can discern a lot just from his face and his surroundings as he sleeps on the bus, the NSYNC pop classic “Bye Bye Bye,” which ends up serving as a sort […]

Review: “Moonfall”

There’s a sense of old-fashioned, corny blockbuster fun inherent in most Hollywood disaster movies. Gather up a vast ensemble cast of B-list actors sprinkled with a couple A’s here and there for good measure and throw them in a ridiculous narrative that places them—and the world—in mortal danger, and it’s hard to go wrong, even […]

Review: “Parallel Mothers”

In the maternity ward of a Madrid hospital, two women are about to give birth. Janis Martinez (Penélope Cruz) is an acclaimed photographer approaching 40. She had an affair with Arturo (Israel Elejalde), the archaeologist assisting her with the excavation of a mass grave in her home town, where her great-grandfather and many other residents […]

Review: ”Scream” (2022)

The new “Scream” movie opens with a scene that feels as familiar as the title it shares with the 1996 film that kickstarted the slasher franchise. A teenager, Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega), is home alone, in her kitchen, texting with her friend Amber (Mikey Madison) on her cell phone. But the Carpenters turn out to […]