Review: “Summerland”

“Summerland” is a period piece that is exactly as pleasant as it looks and sounds. But by injecting a rather traditional and sentimental narrative with a more contemporary attitude, and through Gemma Arterton’s winning performance, writer and director Jessica Swale’s debut feature is a sumptuous treat. Set during World War II, “Summerland” stars Arterton as […]

Review: “The Rental”

You may think twice about booking that weekend at someone’s Airbnb after watching “The Rental,” the thriller that’s Dave Franco’s directorial debut. The film, which is co-written by Franco and Joe Swanberg, follows two couples: Michelle (Alison Brie) and Charlie (Dan Stevens) and Charlie’s brother Josh (Jeremy Allen White) and his girlfriend Mina (Shelia Vand). […]

Review: “The Painted Bird”

Toward the beginning of “The Painted Bird,” we see the nameless young protagonist (played by Petr Kotlár) watch Lekh (Lech Dyblik), the bird breeder he is staying with, paint the wings of a small bird he has captured before releasing it to rejoin its flock. But because the painted bird is different from the rest, […]

Review: “Relic”

The scariest aspect of “Relic” isn’t the unseen presence supposedly lurking in the rural Australian home of elderly Edna (Robyn Nevin). Rather, it’s something that many people have experienced within their own families: watching dementia or an illness such as Alzheimer’s overtake an older relative until they no longer know who you are. They’re still […]

Streaming Movie Recap: June 2020

June was a pretty busy month for movies released on streaming platforms, particularly as several films originally intended for theatrical release made their debut on demand or on streaming services like Disney Plus instead due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve already reviewed some of those films (and I’ve linked my reviews below), but you can […]

Review: “The King of Staten Island”

It’s a credit to “The King of Staten Island” that it stars two comedians I’m personally not a fan of, and yet I still immensely enjoyed not only the film, but the characters they played. The new comedy/drama from writer/director Judd Apatow (who co-wrote the screenplay with Dave Sirus and star Pete Davidson) possesses some […]

Review: “Babyteeth”

A romance with a terminally ill teen is practically a subgenre within the universe of young adult novels and films, often weepy, often tender, and often dwelling a lot on the illness itself. “Babyteeth,” a new release from IFC Films and the debut feature from director Shannon Murphy, is none of those things. “Babyteeth” centers […]

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 […]

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 […]