Love them or hate them, zombie stories remain popular because they represent the nagging fear that the problems we allow to persist will eventually overpower us. Zombies are husks, barely recognizable as humans, possessing our shape and our need to consume but lacking morality, symbols of our collective failure as a society. In the 52 […]
No one could have predicted the global pandemic of COVID-19 when production began on Jim Allison: Breakthrough, but its foundational message is so resonant that there might not be a more perfect time for it to reach audiences. Chronicling the life and scientific research of Nobel laureate and trailblazing immunologist James Allison, whose work with […]
From the opening moments of The Invisible Man, writer-director Leigh Whannell sets the stakes for the journey to come. Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss) is enacting an escape plan from her abusive boyfriend, Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen). His house is a shrine to his pathological need to control while giving the illusion of freedom: walls made entirely […]
The Rhythm Section’s title refers to the parts of the body an assassin must keep steady in order to be most effective: heartbeat and breathing. Everything else is tactical and depends on the specifics of the situation, but those are what truly matter. And in this film, those are the only parts [...]
Despite its name, Ladj Ly’s Les Misérables is not a retelling of Victor Hugo’s famous novel. But there are many ways it closely resembles its namesake. Within the confines of a tight thriller and a runtime of less than two hours, Ly explores questions of justice, crime, redemption, rebellion, [...]
It would be against the spirit of Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of Little Women to compare it to other versions, particularly the 1994 one directed by Gillian Armstrong. Just as the March sisters are all different yet equally deserving of a fair shot at happiness, so too does each adaptation tap [...]
This year was an embarrassment of riches when it comes to quality filmmaking. Long-established directors were firing on all cylinders, while new talents were upping their game. Top-tier work could be found at all levels, from megaplexes to arthouses and even on demand. So, while these are my [...]
Trey Edward Shults’ Waves is an ambitious next step for the writer-director of Krisha and It Comes at Night, balancing his atmospheric skills against a complex narrative of parental pressure, trauma, transgression, and redemption with overtones of race and class. It is very nearly a runaway [...]
In the grand tradition of Agatha Christie comes Rian Johnson’s Knives Out, an ingenious, exciting, rollicking good time. It’s best experienced with no knowledge of the plot, so if that’s enough to convince you to see it, our job here is done. If you need a little more, read on, where we will [...]
Investigative thriller The Report cares so passionately for its subject matter that it could almost be considered a new work of journalism, rather than a docudrama. Director Scott Z. Burns has written and produced several films on the theme of speaking truth to power using any means available, [...]
The best thing you can do with a Stanley Kubrick sequel is to make it as un-Kubrick as possible. Mike Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep, adapted from Stephen King’s follow-up to The Shining, has about much interest in recreating its predecessor as its lead character, grown-up Danny Torrance (Ewan [...]
The good news is that you’ll love writer/director/actor Taika Waititi. The bad news is there’s no charming your way out of a misfire as big as Jojo Rabbit. You can see that this is an “anti-hate satire,” with it plastered over all of the promotional materials like it’s the official subtitle, [...]
The progression from animated family film to straight-to-Netflix series is perfectly natural. Kids want to spend more time with the characters, studios want to keep the property in the public eye between installments, and parents just want something that isn’t totally mind-numbing for them and [...]
If Todd Phillips’ Joker had been better, or worse, then the pre-release controversy might have been worth something. If it defied the odds as a prestige work, or if it were a sloppy misfire, the incessant discourse might have led somewhere interesting. But a technically slick yet thematically [...]
When two similar movies are made in close proximity, they are often described as “twin films.” Think Armageddon and Deep Impact, The Prestige and The Illusionist, and now Smallfoot and Abominable. The worst thing they can do is give you déjà vu, like you’ve seen this story before. The best is [...]
Meditative, introspective, and gorgeously executed, Ad Astra is an art film in a blockbuster’s clothing. Behind the hard science fiction, the predictions of how the next generation of space travel will look and operate, and even moon shootouts and space chimp battles are deep ruminations on [...]
The problem that has always plagued adaptations of Stephen King’s IT is that the two halves—kids and grown-ups—are not equally interesting. Nostalgic coming-of-age tales of scary monsters and friendship are inherently more engaging than 40-somethings with bad memories. Chapter One put us in the [...]
The class rage-fueled horror comedy Ready or Not is for anyone who’s been robbed of the life they deserve, in order to further someone else’s wealth, status, or tradition. It’s a bloody, hilarious, and satisfyingly mean parable that’s not only mad about income inequality. It’s mad about the [...]
Delight is not a word you often associate with a Quentin Tarantino film, but damn if you don’t leave Once Upon a Time in Hollywood with a smile on your face. The delight is usually QT’s, who every few years gets to share his latest pastiche, a focused fever dream informed by childhood [...]
The release of Avengers:Infinity War last year felt like the grand payoff of our decade-long investment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Twenty years ago, most of the public hadn’t even heard of many of these heroes, but their erasure from existence by the snap of Thanos’ finger and our [...]
Aretha Franklin’s Amazing Grace, released in 1972, remains to this day the highest-selling live gospel album of all time, a stunning display of raw talent, passion, and emotion. Regardless of your beliefs, or lack of them, you can’t help but have a near religious experience while listening to [...]
The hollow shell where human joy ought to be is a fantastically creepy thing. It’s what Tim Burton spent his early years satirizing—the self-satisfied stability (read: stagnation) of suburbia through the eyes of an outsider who finds no satisfaction in it. The smiling husks felt like prison [...]
With Get Out, Jordan Peele electrified the world of modern horror filmmaking, reinvigorating the potential for strong socio-political messages in harrowing and entertaining packages. The message amplified the scares and vice versa, sending shockwaves all the way to the Academy Awards. With Us, [...]