Body Brokers is littered with fascinating parts, but never manages to pull it all together into a cohesive vision. There are at least four different movies…
I Blame Society is a cutting antihero showcase for director-star Gillian Wallace Horvat. Wickedly funny and sharp enough to draw blood, I Blame Society is the…
Young Hearts is a sweet but ultimately very slight bit of decade-late lite-mumblecore cinema. Sarah and Zachary Ray Sherman‘s young love story Young Hearts (formerly titled Thunderbolt in Mine…
Sacrifice is overly familiar, Lovecraftian knockoff material that’s a slog to get through even at a short 88 minutes. The legacy of H.P. Lovecraft looms large…
The Sinners is bad enough one wishes it veered into absurdist fun. It doesn’t. As far as horror films go, there are a number of avenues…
The World to Come is a narratively austere but emotionally and sociologically potent study of women and love under patriarchy. Set on the frigid expanse of…
OK, so things don’t really vanish anymore: even the most limited film release will (most likely, eventually) find its way onto some streaming service or…
JUMBO manages to imbue its tricky material with sensitivity but at the expensive of teasing out much of its considerable potential. It’s not often that object…
Blithe Spirit’s attempts at screwball comedy land with a dull, well-costumed thud. Mounting another film adaptation of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit isn’t a heretical act;…
The Swordsman is hamstrung by weak direction that has no idea how to shoot its otherwise well-choreographed action set pieces. The disgraced and retired warrior at…
I Care a Lot is largely founded on cheap rhetoric, a film that hints at interesting ideas but which ultimately pulls its punches. Those searching for…
It’s shouldn’t surprise that Willy’s Wonderland is an amusing enough experience, but it lacks the craft that would make it a more memorable blast. The meme-ification…
Despite Rahim’s best efforts, The Mauritanian fails to bring anything new to the familiar thematic and historical territory it recycles. Kevin Macdonald’s The Mauritanian is one…
Red Dot’s survivalist vision isn’t consistently executed, but there’s enough here to suggest Darborg is worth watching. There’s something appealingly primal about stranding movie characters…
Music is a generic, offensive slog that co-opts ASD in service of bland musical pomp and an imbalanced plot. Pop songstress Sia titling her directorial debut…
Dear Comrades! is a nuanced reckoning with Stalinist legacy and the lingering brutality left in his wake. Offering a solemn look at Soviet society in the…
Judas and the Black Messiah energizes necessary rhetoric and is impeccably crafted, but diminishes its power by sticking so closely to a prescribed biopic template. The…
Barb and Star plays to Wiig’s most overindulgent and weirdo instincts, failing to strike the balance of her best comedic work. The career path forged by…
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is yet another time loop flick that fails to do anything to energize its exhausted conceit. Note to Hollywood: No…
Of Stan Brakhage’s ephemeral Desert, Fred Camper once wrote that “large and small, and inner and outer, worlds dance about each other in a kind…