Kenneth Branagh returns as the world’s greatest detective, Hercule Poirot in A Haunting in Venice, the third and best film Branagh has directed based on the books of Agatha Christie. Set in post-World War II Italy, Hercule Poirot (Branagh), having lost faith in humanity and his passion for detection, has retired from detective work and living in exile. He is visited by Ariadne Oliver (Tina Fey), an old friend and mystery author, and she…

  Nia DaCosta’s The Marvels, the 33rd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, comes on the heels of a scathing Variety article talking about how the MCU is in trouble. Their recent films and shows have been receiving poorer than usual reviews, their box office numbers are not booming to the level they are accustomed to, there are troubles off-screen, and they can’t seem to find their footing in a post-Endgame world. None of this…

  Sofia Coppola’s Priscilla marks the second film involving Elvis Presley to be released in the last eighteen months following Baz Luhrman’s Oscar-nominated film, Elvis. We’ve seen films with similar subjects be released at the same time before, like Deep Impact and Armageddon, Wyatt Earp and Tombstone, Capote and Infamous. Usually when films of similar topics are released around the same time, the two films are constantly compared to which one is better. But that…

  The opening credits to David Fincher’s The Killer prep you for everything the movie is about and everything the movie is about. The credits move at a fast and efficient pace, giving the viewer only seconds to see the names on screen. But they aren’t too fast. You can easily read each and every credit as if Fincher knew exactly how long it would take for the viewer to read and process the credits….

  Raging Grace is a relentlessly suspenseful horror story about the immigrant experience in London. Raging Grace takes place in a posh neighborhood in London. Undocumented Filipina Joy (Max Eignemann, in a tremendous performance) makes a living by being a maid of the upper class and sleeping in their homes while they are out of town with her rascally daughter Grace (Jaeden Paige Boadilla). When Joy gets a call for her latest job, it takes…

  Late Night with the Devil is a chilling found-footage horror film led by a brilliant performance by David Dastmalchian. Dastmalchian stars as Jack Delroy, host of the late-night talk show Night Owls and member of an all-male satanic cult called The Grove. While his show was once one of the most popular shows on TV, rivaling The Johnny Carson Show for ratings (the film takes place in the 1970s), they have since seen their…

  Robot Dreams is a very sweet and heartwarming silent animated tale about a dog, a robot, and finding your person. Based on the popular graphic novel by Sarah Varon, Robot Dreams is set in 1980s New York City somewhere in the East Village. We are introduced to Dog alone in his apartment playing Pong on Atari against himself. Yearning for a companion, he sees an advertisement on TV for the Amica 2000, a robot…

  Only the River Flows is a tightly constructed crime film about a good detective who begins to lose his grip on reality when he gets too involved in a case. Only the River Flows takes place in a rundown city in Southern China in 1995. The buildings are dilapidated, the streets are dirty, and it is always raining. An old woman, known around town as Granny Four, is murdered and the prime suspect is…

  Club Zero is a bizarre, quietly terrifying film about blind faith and following new trends led by a terrific lead performance by Mia Wasikowska. Ms. Novak (Wasikowska) takes a job at an elite prep school teaching a new health class about what she calls “conscience eating”. Less than a dozen students join her class, but Ms. Novak has an immediate effect on them. Teaching the kids her conscience eating method seems simple enough, as…