“‘They Shall Not Grow Old’ is such an apt title because the experiences of these soldiers are made entirely immediate, through both technical and narrative care. Peter Jackson reaches into the past and immortalizes those lives through film.”
“Dramatic license is so much a given that discussions of authenticity are as damned as they are damning.”
“This is a cinematic autobiography that feels both grounded in personal history and expanded upon and imagined.”
“The presence of Binoche in ‘Let the Sunshine In’ is a bit of brilliance that taunts and challenges the viewer; if Isabelle can’t find lasting, fulfilling tenderness and companionship, what chance do the rest of us have?”
“Red as warning, as love, as danger, as violence, as prophecy, as passion, as occult mystery: all of these and more are conveyed in the director’s use of the color throughout this story of loss, grief and obsession.”
“In its own histrionic way, the ‘Maniac’ cycle presages a wave of reaction that would draw its power from the patriarchal fear of dispossession.”
“‘The Deer Hunter’ encapsulates a commanding representation of a precise period in American history, a precise location and precise types of men — somewhat clichéd, yes, but remarkably representative.”
“To use a gaming term, it’s got replay value, but it might leave those looking for a cohesive, more-traditional narrative choosing a different path.”
“In ‘Vox Lux,’ pop music is an emblem of pop culture and the distractions we use to soften the growing trauma of the nation. It also plays into the main question that Corbet raises: just how long can we cling onto pop culture before society gets so bad that nothing will help?”
“This truly does feel like a religious fable farmed out via an automated word generator, one funded by corporate studio execs and programmed by Madison Avenue hacks and Instagram influencers.”
“Liminality is the coin of Martel’s realm in ‘Zama,’ and she manages to make the excruciating uncertainty of the long pause an engrossing experience for the audience…”
“‘For Some Inexplicable Reason’ strains for authenticity but only registers as a compendium of conventions familiar to the tired subgenre of the post-collegiate dramedy.”
“In their own ways, Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger all go beyond the real world, and beyond mortality.”
“Lanthimos is a master at challenging the notions of what a horror film can and should be, simply because he elicits the genre’s most key component, fear, out of his viewers.”
“With all its supporting superheroes and hints of story threads, ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ is bankable for sequels and spin-offs. As long as there’s creative juice for this world, any follow-up would feel inspired.”
“‘The Mule’ will not be remembered as one of the Eastwood classics. In all likelihood, it will be boxed in with two superior Eastwood films as part of a collector’s pack.”
“With ‘The Tale,’ Jennifer Fox addresses a painful subject in a straightforward and clear-eyed manner.”
“The power of ‘First Reformed’ is rooted in Schrader’s ability to take a number of clear forbearers — Bresson, Dreyer, Pialat — and twist them into a style that feels wholly unique and rooted in a personal set of values and obsessions.”
“‘Zack and Miri Make a Porno’ is a lot like a modern ‘When Harry Met Sally,’ for broke 30-somethings rather than wealthy, super-hot business types.”
“‘Scrooged’ carries on Dickens’ themes and message in a way that speaks the most directly and urgently to its audience, teaching that “the miracle” of giving can happen to all of us, at any time. Provided, of course, we can turn off the TV for just long enough.”