The extravagances of fine dining are ripe for skewering. Chefs who fancy themselves geniuses – crafting plates that more closely resemble modern art than an edible meal – reach a level of pretension that canRead Full Review

In a year filled with auteurs making their autobiographical films, Bardo certainly stands out. If James Gray’s Armageddon Time is a New Hollywood-style exploration of the troubled domestic ethics within the Reagan era and Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans is a wide-eyedRead Full Review

The name ‘Steven Spielberg’ is synonymous with the best in Hollywood filmmaking. Other than Hitchcock, Spielberg’s name may be the first most people think of when they think of “movie director”. We are getting closeRead Full Review

The meteoric rise of Jennifer Lawrence was so fast and furious that it’s difficult to remember that it all started with a tiny independent film called Winter’s Bone. Soon after Bone got her the first of herRead Full Review

There’s a moment early in Holy Spider, Ali Abbasi’s new murder suspense film, where a news report about 9/11 plays on a television while a man has sex with a prostitute in the next room. It’sRead Full Review

Henry Selick has directed a lot of animated films that you love, though you may not know it. James and the Giant Peach, Coraline, and his most famous film, The Nightmare Before Christmas have become so intertwinedRead Full Review

New York City is essential to the films of James Gray, where the outer boroughs provide a home for his various downtrodden characters. His last two films – The Lost City of Z and Ad Astra –Read Full Review

The story of Emmett Till is a tragedy that has haunted several generations. His senseless murder at the hands of white men in Money, Mississippi caused a major shift in American politics which crescendoed in the CivilRead Full Review

The characters in The Banshees of Inisherin do not behave logically. In a way, the entire plot is pushed forward by inexplicable behavior by some and absolute befuddlement by others. As you watch, you may find yourselfRead Full Review

The power of memory can be arresting. Fleeting, but at times vivid, they are the foundations with which we build the story of own lives. We can’t trust our memories to be accurate, but weRead Full Review

If Park Chan-wook’s success in the early 2000s is defined by the brutality of hit films like Lady Vengeance and Oldboy, his latest decade is more defined by his sensuality. The violence never left, but in films like Stoker andRead Full Review

It’s fascinating to me that a director as divisive as Ruben Östlund could win two Palme D’Ors in such a short amount of time. His idea of satire – nihilistic and mean, shooting the biggestRead Full Review

The finest orchestras in the world are filled with musicians skilled and fortified with a lifetime of practice and discipline who play their instruments to the peak of perfection; but who plays the orchestra? In a longRead Full Review

In the windswept, coastal Irish village that is the setting of God’s Creatures, harshness is a part of everyday life. We never learn what the town is called. The sky is a permanent gray and the ocean tideRead Full Review

If one wanted to be generous to writer-director Andrew Dominik, they might say that his punishing, persistently unpleasant Blonde is a call of solidarity with its protagonist, Marilyn Monroe. An attempt to ease her painRead Full Review

The death of the romantic comedy has been declared high and low. Some say that it’s because Hollywood has sworn off all mid-budget adult movies to further invest in blockbuster spectacle, while others claim that movieRead Full Review

Too many words have already been written about the troubled production of Don’t Worry Darling. On-set feuds between director and star, certain ne’er-do-well actors releasing compromising voicemails, even a possible spitting controversy at the film’s tempestuousRead Full Review

The David Bowie estate has always been careful about any cinematic interpretations of his life and career. This was true even before Bowie’s death in 2016. Todd Haynes made one of the seminal films aboutRead Full Review

In the wilderness of West Africa in 1823, the kingdom of Dahomey lived amongst other tribes whose power and influence fluctuated with the rise of the European slave trade. What separated Dahomey from the restRead Full Review

The legacy of the 1975 masterpiece Dog Day Afternoon is that every single bank robbery/hostage drama since has in some way borrowed from it. It’s become one of those inescapable things, like trying to make aRead Full Review

Because we’ve all seen movies before, we know that Javier Bardem’s egomaniacal factory owner in The Good Boss will be anything but good. The title is a sly nod to its audience that knows that theRead Full Review

Mythical fables involving wish-granting genies are some of the oldest stories we’ve ever told. They are almost always parables about the unforeseen consequences of getting what we’ve always wanted. The latest film from George Miller, Three ThousandRead Full Review

Watching Beast is watching the perfection of a movie that has a complete understanding of what it is. There are no sly tricks, no unbroken promises. There is the assurance of suspense, characters hampered by domestic drama,Read Full Review

There are some legitimate reasons for the cultural fascination around Gen Z youths. The first generation with no experience of a pre-internet world has, no surprise, very skewed perceptions on society and human behavior. The banalRead Full Review

The post-Parks and Recreation career of Aubrey Plaza has been exponentially more interesting than I ever could have predicted. In between the occasional Hollywood paychecks of Dirty Grandpa or Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, she has beenRead Full Review

The Predator has traveled throughout the film series. He’s been to the Central American jungle, he’s been to 90’s gangland Los Angeles. He’s fought the xenomorph alien from Alien both here and abroad. One place he’sRead Full Review

How would you behave if the devil returned after twenty years? You might act kind of like Margaret Ballion, a high-ranking medical executive and single parent, whose life is lived by specific rules and preciseRead Full Review

The Russo brothers have directed some of the highest grossing films in movie history. Their work within the MCU is the peak of populist cinema, kitchen sink ensembles with every superhero you can think of.Read Full Review

The evolution of Jordan Peele from the second most famous person in a beloved sketch comedy duo to Oscar-winning horror director happened in a flash. In his third film, Nope, Peele makes the leap from didactic psychological terror to full-blown blockbuster thriller.Read Full Review

Fire of Love is a story about love within the ash of active volcanoes. The romance between our two main characters is volcanic in its passion, and the footage of the volcanoes is passionate in itsRead Full Review

One would have to search the high seas for a Netflix original animated film that has caught with critics and audiences. Last year’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines is an exception, but that one is alsoRead Full Review

In Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris, Lesley Manville plays the titular Ada Harris, an English cleaning woman with an infectious, can-do spirit and the patented stiff upper lip. It’s a movie character we’ve seen before; aRead Full Review

We’ve lost Iron Man, Captain America, and Black Widow (not to mention, The Incredible Hulk seems lost in an unidentified hiatus). Which leaves Thor, the last of the Phase One Avengers, and actor Chris Hemsworth,Read Full Review

It seems pretty simple, at first. An anthropomorphized shell with a beady eye and a pair of pink shoes shares his unique experience of the world. His life is narrow to us, but to himRead Full Review

The film industry satire is almost as old as the industry itself. The navel gazing aspect of the genre can lead to something that is more vain than deconstructive, and perhaps that’s why so manyRead Full Review

We are still feeling the ripple effects of mumblecore, an American indie film movement that really spearheaded a particular kind of cinematic mediocrity that somehow passed for art. I don’t mean to say that thereRead Full Review

The politics of the bedroom is the central focus of Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. Emma Thompson plays Nancy Stokes, a widow and retired school teacher on the other side of sixty. Her life hasRead Full Review

One of Adam Sandler’s many everyman traits that he touts in interviews and various celebrity appearances is that he loves basketball. I, too, love basketball. I also love Adam Sandler movies – well, at leastRead Full Review

The Canadian film director David Cronenberg has been consistently grossing out audiences for over fifty years. He is the undisputed face of body horror, a storyteller who spends no time deciphering between the grotesque and the sensual.Read Full Review

There isn’t much to be said here. The Bob’s Burgers Movie is essentially a 100-minute episode of the enduringly popular animated series Bob’s Burgers. Fans of the show will get what they want: clever, hilarious dialogue withRead Full Review

Not much has changed for Naval Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in the last thirty-six years. Despite a well-decorated career as one of the world’s most skilled jet pilots, he has passed on promotions that would gainRead Full Review

When our long-suffering heroine, Harper Marlowe (played by Jesse Buckley), arrives at her holiday cottage in the countryside, she sees an apple tree. Picking one off the branch, she takes a bite, instantly recalling EveRead Full Review

The timeliness of Happening is not incidental. I don’t mean that this French abortion drama timed its release with a heartbreaking American news cycle. I mean that part of the film’s thesis is that there is neverRead Full Review

Two friends damaged by abusive childhoods. One of them is in a psych ward after attempting suicide. The other is paralyzed by his own emotional stasis. Neither wants to live, so why not help eachRead Full Review

In a Marvel Cinematic Universe where Iron Man and Captain America are both gone, and newer, younger stars appear to be coming to take their place, Doctor Strange seems like a character a bit in limbo.Read Full Review

In a scene boosted by stunning scenic imagery in the second half of Montana Story, one of our main characters (played by Haley Lu Richardson) speaks of the indoctrination she received as a child for natural wonder. ThisRead Full Review

“I’m too carefree,” expresses the title character midway through Anaïs In Love, “A voice tells me ‘You could die tomorrow, so make the most of it’”. From the opening frame, Anaïs moves like a character whoseRead Full Review

Any career that can last for four decades is impressive, but there’s something singular about the career arc of Nicolas Cage, he’s been an action star, a comedy lead, and an Academy Award winner. TheRead Full Review

Through three films, Robert Eggers has shown us a wide variety of grotesqueries, ranging from the haunted spirits of The Witch to the self-imposed depravities of The Lighthouse. His latest (and, by far, his biggest) film travels allRead Full Review

As Petite Maman opens, the eight-year-old Nelly (Joséphine Sanz) politely says goodbye to several old women in a hospital, dutifully visiting each room and giving a fond but final “au revoir“. Saying goodbye is important to her, andRead Full Review