“You don’t have to be a queer teenage activist to relate to Amy, but imagine what ‘Booksmart’ might mean to those who have not seen themselves regularly represented on the mainstream screen.”
“‘Fonotune: An Electric Fairytale’ can’t escape feeling like a zany music video concept, lacking the energy or plot to sustain a feature.”
“Despite entertaining directorial flourishes often accompanied by striking stock footage cutaways — from Carl Sagan to a history lesson on Black hair care products — Russo-Young can’t set her hooks into much beyond the postcard images of the Big Apple.”
“As a whole, ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’ is a fun romp and continues the Greek/pulp mythology set up in ‘John Wick: Chapter 2.’ In future installments, Stahelski might want to tone down the campiness, otherwise the series will lunge into self-parody.”
“One of the greatest pleasures of ‘See You Yesterday’ is that the challenges and complexities of the jumps get better as the story unfolds.”
“While Springsteen takes the American dream and helps everyone navigate through its dismantling, Chadha packs it all up with ‘Blinded by the Light” and makes it speak to an entirely different country and a whole new generation.”
“Those seeking some deep-dive exploration into Tolkien and his process will likely get more out of a standard biography or documentary. As it stands, ‘Tolkien’ is a merely adequate celebration of the author and the power of art.”
“Written and directed by Michael K. Feinstein, ‘The Browsing Effect’ highlights the beauty of lasting connections. Despite pressing too hard on social media tropes, the film includes numerous charming performances and genuine laugh-out-loud moments.”
“Attieh and Garcia have ironically made a movie that metatextually gives Sergio the respect he doesn’t deserve. If he were real, he’d be absolutely thrilled to be the star of a movie that’s so unique, and so genuinely cool.”
“‘Wild Rose’ has the makings of a movie deathly afraid of validating a ‘bad mother,’ even if it comes at the expense of the protagonist’s internal consistency.”
“If ‘Charlie Says’ marks the official kickoff of Manson-50-years-later discourse, we’re lucky that it prioritizes the insidiousness of his ideology.”
“‘After’ plays it too safe start to finish. And aside from whatever discussions might emerge concerning the representation of toxicity, masculinity and toxic masculinity, the lack of originality is the film’s Achilles heel.”
“No one in ‘Buffaloed’ shines brighter than Deutch, who gives a performance that will completely redefine her as an actress.”
“‘Georgetown’ is far from an egregious festival bomb, but Waltz’s directorial craftsmanship lacks the flair of his performance work.”
“‘JT LeRoy’ is a movie suiting those who, at minimum, can entertain the idea that we might not get what we desperately want.”
“Not all of Clermont-Tonnerre’s story moves hold up under logical scrutiny, but ‘The Mustang’ succeeds despite its familiarity.”
“Das’ direction examines one’s reluctance to imagine the future in any detail during childhood. She highlights the transformative power of nature, the way it allows one’s true self to shine through and thus inspires the pursuit of hidden passions.”
“Perry has written an anti-heroine who is wholly clued into her own mythology metaphor, referring to herself and the band’s circumstances using the self-aggrandizing language of conquests, lore and legacy.”
“Whether or not Johnson overcomes the arguments made by James Baldwin in essays contained within ‘Notes of a Native Son’ rests largely with the viewer’s sympathies with the objectives and sensibilities of Wright (and Johnson).”
“‘Ash Is Purest White,’ Zhangke’s latest film, is another masterful chapter of the director’s artistic journey, one that works wonderfully as a point of entry into his oeuvre.”