Drama

As a filmmaker, Josh Trank is less famous for his body of work than for his public persona. It all started with the modestly budgeted, Chronicle. Told via a found-footage narrative, it entailed the story…

I always think it’s a little silly when we ascribe descriptors to a film that never intended to have them. Clementine has been described by many as an “erotic thriller”, which is pretty hilarious when…

On April 15th, 2020, we lost the great Brian Dennehy. It goes without saying that, as an actor, he left behind a great legacy. As with many people, the first time I noticed him was…

You probably don’t need me to tell you that ICE detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants throughout the United States is a hot button issue. You also probably didn’t need me to start this review by…

In January of 2019 at the Sundance Film Festival, I saw a film that I was convinced was going to resonate wide and far in Martha Stephens melancholic coming-of-age film To The Stars. The film…

Every generation has their favorite high school movie. From Fast Times at Ridgemont High to Booksmart, seeing whipsmart or daffy teenagers played mostly by actors in their 20s traverse the difficulties of growing has made for…

It’s safe to say I wasn’t lamenting Bloodshot‘s uninspired opening weekend at the box office in mid-March amid virus concerns. (You know what’s worse than getting the Coronavirus? Getting the Coronavirus AND having to listen to…

Conducting a therapy session by way of moviemaking is something I’m intensely interested in…if done correctly. It feeds into our fascination with celebrity, and the films themselves take on deeper meanings than what’s on the…

We don’t need to see eye to eye, we just have to remain respectful. This virtue is understood by most children, but it seems lost in American political discourse. It’s disheartening seeing people cheer for…

Title pun aside, it was only a matter of time before Hollywood remade Ruben Östland’s Force Majeure. The premise is just too good to pass up, being both a high-concept, attention-grabbing jumping-off point for marketing…

The Assistant, Kitty Green’s first fictionalized film, is a master class in subtlety and illustrates just how powerless young women are when faced with powerful, abusive people. Julia Garner plays Jane, a quiet but talented…

I had a funny experience when I caught up with Netflix’s Miss Americana, the Taylor Swift documentary which captures her political awakening while also recapping her career and work leading up to the release of…

Sometimes, a tragedy happens that is so beyond the scale of my comprehension, that I cannot fully engage in it. It can be hard to watch relentless news coverage or read emotional articles about senseless…

After my first experience at Sundance last year, I arrived this year at the festival cognizant of the hyperbolic reactions that come with the environment. (Or, at the very least, I did my best. I’m…

The infamous Victorian Bushranger, Edward ‘Ned’ Kelly is arguably Australia’s most controversial historical figure. A 19th-century outlaw, thief, and murderer that in equal measure has been both condemned as a villain and mythologized as a…

There are precious few films that announce their brilliance in their opening moments. Minari is one of those films — and I’m positive that this isn’t the “Sundance high” talking that frequently comes with reactions…

The Death and Life of John F. Donovan is one of those movies that was made, and sat around for a bit. It made the rounds on the festival circuit in 2018 and 2019, but…

The last bit of text before the credits come over the screen in Just Mercy reads “For every 9 people who have been executed in the U.S., one person on death row has been proven…

“Women, they have minds, and they have souls, as well as just hearts. And they’ve got ambition, and they’ve got talent, as well as just beauty. I’m so sick of people saying that love is…

Sadly, sexual assault and sexual harassment in the workplace have been the norm for years now. Especially by powerful men who use sex as a tool against female subordinates or women who lack power. In…

After an incredible run writing and producing television, Lena Waithe is taking her extraordinary talent to film with her first full-length feature script, Queen & Slim. As is custom for Waithe, she takes an unconventional…

When Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood went off the air in 2001, it was the end of an era. Fred Rogers died two years later, leaving a gap in our cultural landscape that will never be filled.…

Over the years, coming-of-age films have taught me one overarching idea: rebellious teens gotta rebel. It’s a timeless idea baked into coming-of-age tales from every generation in which a young adult begins to form their…

Fast race cars? Check. Two wonderful lead performances? Check. Thrilling cinematography? Check. James Mangold’s latest film, Ford v Ferrari (labeled Le Mans ’66 in some European territories — which I believe to be the superior…

Honey Boy tells the story of a young actor, Otis (Noah Jupe), and his unhinged relationship with his father James (Shia LaBeouf). The film alternates between two periods: 1995 and 2005. Very early on, we find…

It’s not uncommon to see a movie, television show, or story about a man who stands up against injustice. However, the same story with a female protagonist (especially a female protagonist of color) is not…

The Truth (La vérité) seems a particularly tricky film to handle. It covers the stormy reunion between a renowned French actress, Fabienne (Catherine Deneuve) and her daughter, Lumir (Juliette Binoche), as Lumir; her American husband,…

The Current War is actually the Director’s Cut of the initial film. The initial film, by most accounts, was a mess. Being distributed by The Weinstein Company, director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon was forced to release the…

I’ll be honest, my reasons for seeing Cuck were partly masochistic. I wanted to find out if this film was as bad as it appeared to be. Many people are mocking this film, and it’s…

Judy Garland was a performer with a capital P. She is an icon above icons, a movie star in every sense of the word. She was also a human being whose life off camera was…

My introduction to Paolo Sorrentino’s wondrous style of filmmaking was with the first season of The Young Pope, a show that, despite much critical acclaim, became the subject of much ridicule in social media and…

I’m a Downton Abbey fan, and I’m not ashamed to say it. Period dramas are rarely my cup of tea, but this show is a prime example of how to make an entertaining one. It…

It’s never a good sign when a movie shifts release dates multiple times. That was the case for Where’d You Go, Bernadette, the latest film from acclaimed director Richard Linklater. After an initial release scheduled for…

Spend five seconds scrolling through Twitter and you’re immediately inundated with existential dread from the impending doom of our entire species. The Amazon is up in flames, many countries are on the verge of political…

Being a devoted admirer of writer Cormac McCarthy, it was hard not to be reminded of arguably his most celebrated work, The Road, while watching Light of My Life. Both feature a father and his child,…

Hollywood has made a habit of repurposing buzzy foreign films into English-language stories. (Look no further than The Upside from just a few months ago.) Some Most of these attempts are worthless, acting as soulless retreads in…

Quentin Tarantino is back for his (supposedly) penultimate film. After a short spree of two Westerns, Tarantino is now tackling the Hollywood of 1969. Steve McQueen is still being cool, Bruce Lee is still kicking…

I can picture the more standard, Hollywood version of Share in my head: it’s full of long diatribes, tearful wishes, and happy resolutions. A24’s Share, however, is far more cynical and rough, challenging its audience to accept its…

There’s a tendency for most of us to bristle when films attack us with uncomfortable subject matter in a bracingly puzzling manner. I suspect that many will shun The Mountain for this very reason…if they…

If you’re anything like me — and may the gods have pity on you if you are — then you’ve grown quite tired of the countless obvious corporate products that have limped into multiplexes so…