Movies

There’s a small movie you probably haven’t heard of coming out in a few days. Called Moana 2, or something like. Like I said, I’m sure you haven’t heard of it. Well, some corporation from Disney invited me to the top of the Space Needle to interview one of the voice stars and a producer

An entertaining, visually appealing Disney sequel, Moana 2 delivers what families are seeking–harmless fun–while otherwise not looking to rock the boat.  What began as a Disney+ TV series has been converted into a feature-length film, and it sometimes shows. The humor is a little more slapstick, the story a bit more rough around the edges.

Kieran Culkin gives the performance of his career and Jessie Eisenberg writes and directs the acclaimed comedy-drama A Real Pain, a moving if not quite consistent examination of the lasting impact of the Holocaust, and other more modern personal traumas. Eisenberg also stars as yet another character who looks, sounds, and acts just like the

I want to be sophisticated. Hell, I’d be okay with appearing as sophisticated. And yet movies such as All We Imagine as Light come along, charged with Oscar buzz, decorated with the Cannes Grand Prize, and boasting a 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating that make me question my life and all that matters in the world.

A drama that is surprisingly and thankfully not about piano lessons, The Piano Lesson keys into a family’s complicated and tragic history. Plus, there are ghosts, sort of. Sadly, the movie suffers from what so many other plays-turned-films suffer from: it still feels like a play. Adapted from a play by August Wilson, The Piano

In Wicked, secretly known as Wicked: Part One, director Jon M. Chu adapts the first act of the highly popular musical and somehow manages to make it just as long as the entire damn play. Nonetheless, powered by great acting and enchanting musical numbers, Wicked: Part One is a charming spectacle that will satisfy existing

When I first saw the trailer for Robert Zemeckis’ Here, I immediately thought it was a cinematic adaptation of the Disney theme park attraction Carousel of Progress, one of the lamest and most antiquated rides Disney has to offer. Spanning time but set within a single location—hell, a single camera angle—Here cycles through hundreds of

Maximus is dead, but never underestimate a Hollywood studio seeking to capitalize on its IP. Ridley Scott returns to direct Gladiator II, a swords-and-sandals action-adventure that echoes in eternity when men are being impaled by spears or gored by slave-rhinos but flails when it gets bogged down in political scheming and debauchery. It may not

One of the wildest and unpredictable dramas of the year, Emilia Pérez is a highly entertaining piece of filmmaking–but your mileage will vary based on a multitude of factors. To set the stage, both my girlfriend and I went into this Netflix prestige film all but blind: I knew it was a serious Oscar contender

Hugh Grant plays Hugh Grant—if Hugh Grant were a charming psychopath—in Heretic, an absorbing, chilling horror-thriller where the journey is more rewarding than the destination. Sister Barnes (Sophie Thatcher) and Sister Paxton (Chloe East) play two Mormon missionaries who arrive at a seemingly innocuous house in hopes of converting its inhabitants—and instead find themselves locked

A zombie movie unlike any other, MadS goes inside the heads of the infected, presenting a frightening vision of isolation and insanity—all captured in one continuous shot. MadS begins with a young, well-off man on drugs driving to a party—but who first stops to pick up a bandaged and bloodied women who proceeds to bite

So this is what happens when your most anticipated movie of award season turns out to be… just ok? Anora, riding a wave of unfair Oscar buzz, is unfortunately not the Best Picture-level flick it has been chalked up to be—though it still delivers plenty of laughs and chaos along the way. To be clear,

There’s a simple truth in life: I don’t like animated movies and TV shows made for adults. No matter how good the animation, compelling the story, or well executed the final product, animated adult-themes stories start at a disadvantage and rarely win me over. Memoir of a Snail is no exception, despite its obvious positives.

I didn’t particularly like the original Terrifer. Terrifier 2 was a bit better, with more of a plot and the introduction of stellar Final Girl Sienna, played by talented and attractive Lauren LaVera, but it still was a lot of gory violence without much purpose. Terrifier 3 demonstrates another positive evolution of director Damien Leone’s

There may be no movie released in 2024 with a more on-the-nose and absolutely dull title as Exhibiting Forgiveness, but make no mistake: the emotional drama is a nearly unrivaled acting showcase. André Holland is incredible, as is John Earl Jelks and the rest of the cast deserve serious award attention. The movie itself, from

There’s something special about Ralph Fiennes. I can’t quite place it–I’ll leave it to more eloquent and deep-thinking film critics to figure that out–but the dude can command a scene like few other actors can. He can be quiet, even passive, and yet the way his piercing eyes shift around the room, his lips purse,

Taylor Swift is terrorized by a smile demon in Smile 2, a suspenseful and scary thriller that sends its protagonist to the edge of insanity. Well crafted, cleverly scored, and satisfyingly gruesome, Smile 2 is a solid sequel from returning director Parker Finn. Naomi Scott (Aladdin) gives a terrific performance as a famous pop singer

A dude gets hit by a car and meets the girl of his dreams—but he’s not her #1 priority—in the emotionally resonant We Live in Time. Andrew Garfield gives a powerful performance as Andrew Garfield while Florence Pugh delivers another riveting one, playing a focused and determined chef who won’t let anything stand in her

A young Donald Trump’s moral compass goes awry as he aspires for more in the drama The Apprentice, a surprisingly entertaining movie that simultaneously humanizes the former U.S. president while depicting his descent into full-blown narcissistic asshole-ness. The Winter Soldier himself, Sebastian Stan, immerses himself in the role, looking and playing the part well while

In The Outrun, Saoirse Ronan has fun drinking and partying—never mind that she is a severe alcoholic and addict. Based on a memoir that is most likely a fascinating read, The Outrun is a perfectly fine and perfectly forgettable examination of trauma and overcoming troubled pasts. Ronan is one of my favorite actresses, and one

A helpful robot pisses off thousands of animals, kills a family of geese and “adopts” it’s only survivor, and succumbs to the whispers of a wily fox in The Wild Robot, a pretty and immersive animated tale about creatures defying their “natural programming” to build a better world. Armed with a morbid if underused sense

Pretty much every great actor succumbs to it at some point: the straightforward biopic where they are the best thing in it. Kate Winslet plays photographer Lee Miller in Lee, which documents her rise to fame as she straddles the front lines of World War II. Directed by Ellen Kuras, Lee is a nice-looking if

Samara Weaving plays a game of hide and seek in the relentless Azrael, where the Ready or Not actress exchanges eluding her murderous in-laws for murderous religious fanatics and zombies. The results are mixed. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where most people don’t speak, very few words are spoken in Azrael. We’re introduced to the

As I write this review, surely there are other film critics out there–you know the type, the ones who think a little too hard about films and find magic where others don’t–who are actively psychoanalyzing Francis Ford Coppola’s expensive passion project Megalopolis, examining its deep themes, contrarian style, and unconventional storytelling. I am not one

Demi Moore learns a hard lesson–that you shouldn’t inject strange, green substances into your body–in The Substance, one of the wildest, boldest, and twisted movies of the year. Moore and co-star Margaret Qualley deliver impressively immersive performances in this body horror film like none other. It deserves to be seen, even if it ultimately sags

A unique coming-of-age dramedy that appears to star Aubrey Plaza but doesn’t actually star Aubrey Plaza, My Old Ass is about an 18-year-old who encounters her 39-year-old self and begins a journey of self discovery. From writer/director Megan Park, the filmmaker behind the excellent and sadly overlooked drama The Fallout (which made my Top 10

In Didi, a 13-year-old Taiwenese-American boy tries to find his way, navigating his first crush, attempting to figure out who he’s going to be, what culture he’ll belong to, and what “friends” will make him the coolest. One of the better coming-of-age dramas I’ve seen in quite some time, Didi is a sensational piece of

A young Optimus Prime—before he went by the name Optimus Prime, he was known as Bob—rallies his friends to battle corrupt forces on his home planet in the animated action movie Transformers One. Notably absent of any human characters, Transformers One of course puts the Autobots—and Bob—front and center, a refreshing change from the Michael

Viggo Mortensen writes and directs The Dead Don’t Hurt, a western about a dude who falls in love, gets laid, and then foolishly decides to high tail it to fight in the American Civil War. When he returns, he discovers things have changed. Polar opposite to this summer’s other western—Kevin Costner’s sprawling, epic-ish, messy, and