Having been bestowed the unusual honor of being selected for a 2020 Cannes Film Festival that never was (slotted into a seemingly new “Comedy” section,…
The COVID pandemic kept Pietro Marcello’s Martin Eden out of U.S. cinemas (settling for a virtual-only release) in 2020, but the film’s much-hyped 2019 festival…
The Orphanage can be flat and predictable for stretches, but it also tilts its formalism toward a playful character enough to suggest Sadat is worth continuing…
Despite its credibility and collaborators, I Got a Story to Tell doesn’t bring much new insight or verve to this latest treatment of Biggie’s life and…
The Truffle Hunters is a considerably handsome film, but one unfortunately absent of much personality or character. The Truffle Hunters is a relatively modest festival contender,…
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…
As Jazmine Sullivan’s first album in six years, Heaux Tales puts her talents on display and successfully ignores the standard R&B industry traps. Jazmine Sullivan has…
At this point, it should go without saying that any Timur Bekmambetov production that features a plot “told entirely through social media and smartphone screens”…
A Glitch in the Matrix is a shockingly tame study, likely only of interest to those yet to encounter even a Wikipedia summary of Simulation Theory.…
Whole Lotta Red is a versatile, experimental, and grand pop statement from a singular artist in full command of his authorship. Whole Lotta Red is, above…
There is a satisfaction in seeing Yves Tumor deliver an album like Heaven to a Tortured Mind, at once a clever progression of their sonic…
2020 wasn’t exactly overflowing with significant (pop) rap releases, some of the genre’s biggest stars putting out absolute duds (Donald Glover, Drake), while others hyped…
Spike Lee is doing pretty great these days, so much so that he’s been recast as a beloved elder statesman in the cultural memory. Not…
Education is Small Axe’s punctuation mark and the film that brings the entire project to an inspired and even celebratory conclusion. Regardless of whether one thinks…
Alex Wheatle is the slightest of the Small Axe films in many ways, but it’s also perhaps the most instructive as to the project’s overarching concerns. Having left…
Red, White and Blue is incisive and deeply felt, but its conclusions don’t quite feel big enough for its format. Having now seen three of Steve…
TattleTales is a placeholder album designed to bring the spotlight back on 6ix9ine, lacking in much of anything of interest or worthwhile collabs. It was always…
If No Pressure is truly Logic’s curtain call, it’s probably the right time, as the rapper simply rides his familiar cornball swagger here to diminishing returns. Logic…
The Ascension is expectedly deep and rich, but it still offers surprises in Stevens’ biting, moodier voice and more pared down arrangements. What exactly is Sufjan…
While perhaps slightly more superficial than a typical Morris, My Psychedelic Love Story is still another successful entry in the director’s continuing interrogation of late-1960s America.…