movie reviews
Movie Review: Godzilla Minus One
4.5 stars out of 5 It’s the waning days of war in Japan, and Koichi Shikishima is a failed kamikaze pilot; you’d think the situation couldn’t get any worse. Ah, but you forgot about Godzilla, didn’t you? Frankly, no one would blame you. In 1998, the American film conglomerate tried to reboot the big scaly […]
Movie Review: May December
4.5 stars out of 5 I have gone on record as being a big fan of both Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman (who once guest-edited an issue of my magazine). For Todd Haynes, I had to play a little catch-up, but he’s become one of my favorite directors. So I had high expectation for this […]
Movie Review: The Marvels
1.5 stars out of 5 The credits list three screenwriters but I have to think ChatGPT was behind this script, because it does not make a lick of sense. (Keywords: SUPERHEROES + NOT-YET-BLED-DRY YOUNG FEMALE AUDIENCE + OUTER SPACE) I’m a big fan of Brie Larson and the first Captain Marvel movie was… eh, mostly […]
Movie Review: Napoleon
4 stars out of 5 Going in, I readily admit I didn’t know very much about Napoleon, besides that he was a military guy who had a Napoleon complex. So I learned an awful lot from watching this film. But beyond just that, as the younger dude who was the only other person staying till […]
Movie Review: The Holdovers
3.5 stars out of 5 You can go see this movie or, just watch the trailer, as there isn’t too much difference. Meet Paul Giamatti; he’s a curmudgeonly teacher! Now meet a bunch of students left behind over winter break at a fancy school — and Giamatti has to oversee them! Throw in the cafeteria […]
Movie Review: Priscilla
3.5 stars out of 5 I read Peter Guralnick’s superb two-volume Elvis Presley biography, but it is not at all fresh in my mind. And thus far, I haven’t watched the 2022 Elvis movie. So I was pleased to revisit the Priscilla years, and Sofia Coppola is much more my speed than Baz Luhrmann. This […]
Movie Review: Anatomy of a Fall
3.5 stars out of 5 This is like a jumbo episode of La Loi et L’Ordre. And perhaps they purposely used a title similar to the legendary courtroom drama Anatomy of a Murder. Our story begins in the French Alps. German actress Sandra Hüller plays German author Sandra Voyter, being interviewed in her family’s chalet […]
Movie Review: Killers of the Flower Moon
4.5 stars out of 5I know, you’re waiting to watch this at home on Apple TV+, a half hour here, 42 minutes there, between football games and driving the kids wherever. But if you really love movies — and I know you do — plan a day around seeing Killers of the Flower Moon in […]
Movie Review: Exorcist—Believer
3 stars out of 5 Twenty years ago, David Gordon Green co-wrote and directed a terrific, thoughtful film called All the Real Girls. Since then, he’s formed a productive comedic HBO partnership with Danny McBride. And their recent big-screen, “you know what would be fun?” venture — rebooting horror franchises — got off to a […]
Jack Silbert, curator