Review: “Roma”

5 out of 5 stars. Alfonso Cuarón has had a hand in a number of epic films over the years, from the dystopian movie “Children of Men” to the third “Harry Potter” film to his last movie, 2013’s space thriller “Gravity.” But it’s the intimate and deeply personal “Roma” that is the director’s greatest achievement […]

Review: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”

5 out of 5 stars. I never thought I’d describe a Spider-Man movie as truly refreshing—Sony’s big live-action superhero franchise has been rebooted so many times in recent years it’s become a joke in and of itself. But refreshing, as well as “innovative” and “original,” are exactly the words to describe “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” […]

Review: “Creed II”

4.5 out of 5 stars. One of the things that made “Creed” such a success is that it was a simple but heartfelt underdog story, not unlike the original “Rocky” film that kicked off the franchise. “Creed II” takes a slightly different approach, in that Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan), the son of boxer Apollo […]

Review: “Ralph Breaks The Internet”

3 out of 5 stars. The current state of technology and the internet—especially how so many people live their lives online through social media—is endless fodder for satire. The sequel to Disney’s 2012 animated hit “Wreck-It Ralph” trades in the video game nostalgia of its predecessor for a look at the internet as it is […]

Review: “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”

1.5 out of 5 stars. Less than an hour into “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” I took a second to count how many different storylines the film was dividing time between. At that point I came up with five, with at least another one or two popping up later in the movie. The fragmented […]

Review: “If Beale Street Could Talk”

4.5 out of 5 stars. With his 2016 film “Moonlight,” writer and director Barry Jenkins infused a modern love story with a sense of intimacy so intense that it seems to have become a part of his directorial style. His new film “If Beale Street Could Talk,” his first movie since that Best Picture Oscar […]

Review: “The Grinch” (2018)

3.5 out of 5 stars. “The Grinch” is a holiday tradition for many, whether it’s watching the classic animated television special, the 2000 live-action adaptation starring Jim Carrey, or reading the original story by Dr. Seuss. Now, Illumination Entertainment puts their spin on a 3D animated version of the Christmas classic, directed by Yarrow Cheney […]

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: “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?”), […]