Movie Reviews

  Petra Biondian Volpe’s Frank & Louis is one of the most disappointing movies I’ve seen at the Sundance Film Festival because of its unoriginality. The film takes place in a prison and follows Frank (Kingsley Ben-Adir), a man in jail for life for a murder her committed when he was younger. He gets a job caring for aging inmates with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Frank is tasked with looking after Louis (Rob Morgan), who used…

  The Huntress is a brutal and surprisingly inspirational tale about standing up to injustice when all hope seems lost. Writer/director Suzanne Andrews Correa takes us deep into the darkness of Juarez, Mexico to show us how one woman took a stand against violence in her community. Set over the course of a stressful day, The Huntress opens with a woman shooting a bus driver in cold blood in front of several people. This woman…

  Fair warning before diving into this review: as long as it was competently made, I was going to like The Disciple, Joana Natasegara’s documentary about the rap group Wu-Tang Clan and their mysterious and infamous 2015 album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. I love the Wu-Tang Clan. Their debut album, Enter the 36 Chambers, is one of my favorite albums ever, and any time I get to learn more about the group that…

  I was not as over-the-moon for Danny Boyle’s 2025 28 Years Later as other critics, but there were elements that I did like. I liked Ralph Fiennes as a quietly deranged doctor who has built a shrine of bones to those who have perished in this apocalyptic zombie hellscape. I liked the idea of a seemingly indestructible zombie named Samson who terrified zombies as much as humans. I like the film’s grim tone, bold…

  Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On? is a more fascinating movie in Cooper’s filmography than it is a good movie. That isn’t to say the film is bad; it’s actually quite good. But the scale of the film, its subject, and how it is filmed compared to Cooper’s first two films is more interesting to think about. Is This Thing On? is a midlife crisis dramedy. The film opens with Alex Novak (Will Arnett)…

  Marty Supreme follows Marty Mauser, played by Timothée Chalamet, in an undeniably great performance, a young man who thinks he is something that he is not. Set in 1950s New York, Marty Mauser has dreams of becoming a world-famous ping pong champion. The sport is still on the rise, and nobody takes his dream seriously. Marty will literally do anything to get to the top and see his face on the front of a…

  Before my screening of New Group, director Yûta Shimotsu introduced the film and heavily emphasized that the movie was “weird.” Coming from the director himself, I knew we were in for something unique, and New Group did not disappoint. It is a bizarre, hilarious, and at times terrifying film with a strong social message. New Group takes place at a prestigious high school in Japan. Ai (Actress) is a typical student who is easily…

  Due to director James Cameron’s obsession with creating new technology for underwater filmmaking, it took over a decade for him to make a sequel to his 2009 juggernaut, Avatar. Having that technology readily available, the time between the second Avatar film, Avatar: The Way of Water, and the third and newest Avatar film, Avatar: Fire and Ash, has been only three years. Avatar: The Way of Water was a perfect mix of sequel, reintroduction,…

  Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is a testament to Rian Johnson and his skills as a writer and director. It’s another thrilling and expertly crafted mystery from Johnson that, despite being the third entry in a franchise that’s only been around for six years, feels fresh and new. It marks the return of our charismatic and quirky detective Benoit Blanc while also delving into a darker world and asking bigger questions….

  There is a sort of “boomer” naivety to Ella McCay. Writer/director James L. Brooks’s newest film, his first since 2010’s How Do You Know, has a whimsical and idealistic point of view that could only exist in the mind of an older, wealthy person whose cinematic prime was in the 80s. It feels like Brooks has no idea what is going on in the world or in American politics. He has no idea how…