Now In Theaters
Vox Lux
I understand some will walk out feeling Vox Lux is a mess of conflicting ideas and moods, but Brady Corbet offers an exciting metamorphosis from low to high; a boundary-pushing shift in time and character directors rarely attempt.
Drama/Music - 110 min
I understand some will walk out feeling Vox Lux is a mess of conflicting ideas and moods, but Brady Corbet offers an exciting metamorphosis from low to high; a boundary-pushing shift in time and character directors rarely attempt.
Drama/Music - 110 min
Ben Is Back
Peter Hedges found a creative way to explore how the opioid crisis destroys families every single day and for the first half of his film, he almost achieves it. Unfortunately, the second half transformation into a mystery thriller obscures the family drama momentum ensuring the film's impact misses the mark.
Drama - 103 Minutes
Peter Hedges found a creative way to explore how the opioid crisis destroys families every single day and for the first half of his film, he almost achieves it. Unfortunately, the second half transformation into a mystery thriller obscures the family drama momentum ensuring the film's impact misses the mark.
Drama - 103 Minutes
Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle
A human attempting to be an animal within the state of nature would confront a host of psychological pitfalls and is ripe for kids to engage with it. Too bad most of them will beg their parents to turn off the blood and guts before they reach those parts.
Adventure/Drama - 104 Minutes
A human attempting to be an animal within the state of nature would confront a host of psychological pitfalls and is ripe for kids to engage with it. Too bad most of them will beg their parents to turn off the blood and guts before they reach those parts.
Adventure/Drama - 104 Minutes
Roma
Writing a semi-autobiographical story about a nanny, the bourgeois family she tends to, and how Mexican politics, culture, and social mores impact all of them is Cuarón exploiting his personal story for cinematic gains. Roma hits hard, but in a unique case, the way it looks and feels hits harder than the plot advancing scenes in a year in the life of Cleo the nanny.
Drama - 135 Minutes
Writing a semi-autobiographical story about a nanny, the bourgeois family she tends to, and how Mexican politics, culture, and social mores impact all of them is Cuarón exploiting his personal story for cinematic gains. Roma hits hard, but in a unique case, the way it looks and feels hits harder than the plot advancing scenes in a year in the life of Cleo the nanny.
Drama - 135 Minutes
The Favourite
Hewing close to historical fact, yet leaving ample room for comedy and hints of tragedy, The Favourite mocks the absurdity of Queen Anne’s court, shatters the genteel façade of regal refinement, and offers three fully-developed, three-dimensional characters played with aplomb by powerhouse female performers. Lanthimos’s version of historical drama twisted by a devious screenplay and spiced with contemporary flourishes will placate both genre purists and those who relish in experimentation.
Biography/Comedy/Drama - 119 Minutes
Hewing close to historical fact, yet leaving ample room for comedy and hints of tragedy, The Favourite mocks the absurdity of Queen Anne’s court, shatters the genteel façade of regal refinement, and offers three fully-developed, three-dimensional characters played with aplomb by powerhouse female performers. Lanthimos’s version of historical drama twisted by a devious screenplay and spiced with contemporary flourishes will placate both genre purists and those who relish in experimentation.
Biography/Comedy/Drama - 119 Minutes
Creed II
The franchise wheel keeps on turning. Creed II holds up its end of the recycled Rocky IV bargain with an insecure Michael B. Jordon, engaging boxing matches, and iconic training montages, but nobody will blame you if you sit this one out knowing you already saw a perfectly adequate version back in ’85.
Drama/Sport - 130 Minutes
The franchise wheel keeps on turning. Creed II holds up its end of the recycled Rocky IV bargain with an insecure Michael B. Jordon, engaging boxing matches, and iconic training montages, but nobody will blame you if you sit this one out knowing you already saw a perfectly adequate version back in ’85.
Drama/Sport - 130 Minutes
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Imagine the nerve required to make your best character only one-sixth of your movie. The rest had better be good. It is! I do not claim all of the six short stories are as good as "Buster Scruggs", they are not, but they are all mesmerizing and delivered in that peculiar Coen brothers method. It’s not six Coen films for the price of one; it feels like six stories the brothers had to get out of them somehow.
Comedy/Drama/Musical - 132 Minutes
Imagine the nerve required to make your best character only one-sixth of your movie. The rest had better be good. It is! I do not claim all of the six short stories are as good as "Buster Scruggs", they are not, but they are all mesmerizing and delivered in that peculiar Coen brothers method. It’s not six Coen films for the price of one; it feels like six stories the brothers had to get out of them somehow.
Comedy/Drama/Musical - 132 Minutes
Green Book
Green Book is a light-hearted, odd couple, road trip movie with a few scenes displaying nauseating Deep South racism for tension. You’ll have a marvelous time in the movie theater, but the gut punch, that feeling you’ve just seen something you’ve never seen before, is missing.
Biography/Comedy/Drama - 130 Minutes
Green Book is a light-hearted, odd couple, road trip movie with a few scenes displaying nauseating Deep South racism for tension. You’ll have a marvelous time in the movie theater, but the gut punch, that feeling you’ve just seen something you’ve never seen before, is missing.
Biography/Comedy/Drama - 130 Minutes
Boy Erased
Joel Edgerton's adaptation of a gut-wrenching real-life memoir about a kid forced to 'pray the gay away' because his parents declare divine providence says he's on his way to hell through this learned homosexual behavior is a stark reminder we are not all on the same page in this country regarding sexuality. "Dog help us all."
Biography/Drama - 114 Minutes
Joel Edgerton's adaptation of a gut-wrenching real-life memoir about a kid forced to 'pray the gay away' because his parents declare divine providence says he's on his way to hell through this learned homosexual behavior is a stark reminder we are not all on the same page in this country regarding sexuality. "Dog help us all."
Biography/Drama - 114 Minutes
Burning
Burning is not political, nor is it a true mystery or dramatic unrequited romance; it is contemporary Korea through the eyes of a 'have not' as he stares in befuddlement at the Jay Gatsbys buzzing around him. Director Chang-dong Lee creates a mesmerizing, metaphor-laden story by way of Murakami and Faulkner, a most impressive lineage.
Drama/Mystery - 148 Minutes
Burning is not political, nor is it a true mystery or dramatic unrequited romance; it is contemporary Korea through the eyes of a 'have not' as he stares in befuddlement at the Jay Gatsbys buzzing around him. Director Chang-dong Lee creates a mesmerizing, metaphor-laden story by way of Murakami and Faulkner, a most impressive lineage.
Drama/Mystery - 148 Minutes
Bohemian Rhapsody
Freddie Mercury may have broken the mold, but his biopic does not. Rhapsody is far more engaging when it’s about the music, about how the eponymous tune came to be, about how We Will Rock you figured out its foot stomps and claps. When it comes to band dynamics, their ups and downs, Freddie’s ego, and Freddie’s sexuality, the film comes off as cookie cutter and episodic. We’re here for the tunes, not the facts.
Biography/Drama/Music - 134 Minutes
Freddie Mercury may have broken the mold, but his biopic does not. Rhapsody is far more engaging when it’s about the music, about how the eponymous tune came to be, about how We Will Rock you figured out its foot stomps and claps. When it comes to band dynamics, their ups and downs, Freddie’s ego, and Freddie’s sexuality, the film comes off as cookie cutter and episodic. We’re here for the tunes, not the facts.
Biography/Drama/Music - 134 Minutes
Wildlife
Is wanting to scream, “Pull your head out of your ass!” at the screen a bad thing for the audience? At least it’s a form of caring. Where more mundane cinema will leave you docile and numb, Wildlife is going to spin you up.
Drama - 104 Minutes
Is wanting to scream, “Pull your head out of your ass!” at the screen a bad thing for the audience? At least it’s a form of caring. Where more mundane cinema will leave you docile and numb, Wildlife is going to spin you up.
Drama - 104 Minutes
The Price of Everything
Nathaniel Kahn creates a peek behind the curtain experience at the contemporary art world, which comes off as a sleazy business full of snake oil salesmen - including the buyers, the dealers, the auction houses, and even the artists. That metal bunny rabbit and gold toilet do not cost $50 million because they are the best art Earth has to offer; there are people out there whose job it is to ensure the prices remain egregious - all to keep the money wheel spinning.
Documentary - 98 Minutes
Nathaniel Kahn creates a peek behind the curtain experience at the contemporary art world, which comes off as a sleazy business full of snake oil salesmen - including the buyers, the dealers, the auction houses, and even the artists. That metal bunny rabbit and gold toilet do not cost $50 million because they are the best art Earth has to offer; there are people out there whose job it is to ensure the prices remain egregious - all to keep the money wheel spinning.
Documentary - 98 Minutes
Halloween
A sequel remake so like the original, they didn’t even change the name. Michael Myers hacks and slashes his way through female babysitters in the same neighborhood from 40 years ago creating nostalgia rather than scares.
Horror/Thriller - 106 Minutes
A sequel remake so like the original, they didn’t even change the name. Michael Myers hacks and slashes his way through female babysitters in the same neighborhood from 40 years ago creating nostalgia rather than scares.
Horror/Thriller - 106 Minutes
First Man
Damien Chazelle studies the humble, quiet man behind the mission. The history book facts are all here, but First Man works as a character study rather than moon thriller - what makes Neil tick, how does he summon nerves of steel when the rest of us would panic to become that notorious "whitey on the moon".
Biography/Drama/History - 141 Minutes
Damien Chazelle studies the humble, quiet man behind the mission. The history book facts are all here, but First Man works as a character study rather than moon thriller - what makes Neil tick, how does he summon nerves of steel when the rest of us would panic to become that notorious "whitey on the moon".
Biography/Drama/History - 141 Minutes
Venom
While the film has its fair share of eye rolls and gimmicks, its experimental atmosphere and desire to offer us just enough of a superhero ironic spin is enough to make Venom a decent addition to the club. You should take it in the same way you do exhibits at a Ripley’s Believe It or Not or the freak show tent at the traveling circus, with morbid amusement and cheap thrills.
Action/Horror/Sci-Fi - 112 Minutes
While the film has its fair share of eye rolls and gimmicks, its experimental atmosphere and desire to offer us just enough of a superhero ironic spin is enough to make Venom a decent addition to the club. You should take it in the same way you do exhibits at a Ripley’s Believe It or Not or the freak show tent at the traveling circus, with morbid amusement and cheap thrills.
Action/Horror/Sci-Fi - 112 Minutes
A Star Is Born
Cooper’s A Star Is Born is engaging, crafted with skill, and may even have you accuse someone of cutting onions in the theater. Jack and Ally are made for each other which is why the first half is one of the best film’s of the year. It’s the more melodramatic and plot-saturating second half which dims the magic of the first half’s glow.
Drama/Music/Romance - 135 min
Cooper’s A Star Is Born is engaging, crafted with skill, and may even have you accuse someone of cutting onions in the theater. Jack and Ally are made for each other which is why the first half is one of the best film’s of the year. It’s the more melodramatic and plot-saturating second half which dims the magic of the first half’s glow.
Drama/Music/Romance - 135 min
Now On DVD
