Review: Spike Lee’s ‘Da 5 Bloods’ Matters
“As always, Spike Lee asks all the right questions, and it’s up to us to recognize that even though the answers may not be ones we want to hear, we need to grapple with them all the same.”
‘Ghost in the Shell SAC_2045’: Unsustainable Revival
“‘Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045’ attempts to move the series into full octane action but pushes its philosophical roots to the side.”
Review: Brandon Christensen’s ‘Z’
“As a genre exercise, ‘Z’ shows promise for what Christensen might do with a higher budget.”
Review: Jeff Barnaby’s ‘Blood Quantum’
“Politically motivated but never preachy, ‘Blood Quantum’ is a zombie movie for the ages that honors the grandest traditions of the genre while remaining true to its own unique essence.”
Don’t Make Him Wait: Editing, Thelma Schoonmaker and ‘The Irishman’
“Schoonmaker’s contribution to ‘The Irishman’ may be her finest effort: she shapes an epic that masterfully controls pace — accelerating and decelerating it at will…”
Leopards in Winter: ‘The Irishman’ and the Banquet Sequence
“‘The Irishman’ may be the last film of an era. The banquet scene ranks among the most powerful sequences of Scorsese’s career because he allows it, following Visconti’s example, to linger.”
Sundance Film Festival Review: Josh Ruben’s ‘Scare Me’
“‘Scare Me’ takes a while to get going, awkwardly finding its footing through its opening scenes, but when it settles into the long night of storytelling in the cabin, Ruben’s debut feature becomes a total delight.”
‘Cheer’ and the Dangers of Family Symbolism
“What’s consistently left out of the ‘Cheer’ conversation is a discussion of the precarious tension of love and exploitation between coach Monica Aldama and the team.”
Review: Noah Baumbach’s ‘Marriage Story’
“At once riveting and entertaining, while inciting in the viewer visceral and arduous self-reflection, ‘Marriage Story’ is an uncompromising and deeply affectionate reflection on what pulls us apart and yet what keeps us bound together despite it all.”
Review: Steven Soderbergh’s ‘The Laundromat’
“A great magician never reveals his tricks, and Soderbergh far too nakedly shows the craft in ‘The Laundromat,’ whereas a narrower focus, with the human consequence of the Panama Papers in clear sight, could have beguiled, incited and entertained in equal measure.”
Crossover After Crossover: The Layered Discussions in ‘High Flying Bird’
“While ‘High Flying Bird’ may seem uneven at first glance, one has to appreciate that Soderbergh directly addresses controversial societal topics that always touch a nerve in America.”
Review: Liza Mandelup’s ‘Jawline’
“As we careen further down the barrel of late-capitalism, it has become clear that the laborer is now the product.”
Review: Nicolas Winding Refn’s ‘Too Old to Die Young’
“‘Too Old to Die Young’ is rough around the edges, and perhaps deliberately so. It’s almost as if the writers are two brothers in a car fighting between soft rock and techno on the radio.”
Review: Nahnatchka Khan’s ‘Always Be My Maybe’
“The rom-com isn’t dead. It was simply evolving into something more interesting, more modern and more accepting.”
Martin Scorsese and Bob Dylan Make Believe in ‘Rolling Thunder Revue’
“Not everyone, and not even every Dylan fan, will go along with the tall tales, but amidst the japes are several of the most riveting live performances of Dylan’s career.”
Stefon Bristol Makes Bright Debut with ‘See You Yesterday’
“One of the greatest pleasures of ‘See You Yesterday’ is that the challenges and complexities of the jumps get better as the story unfolds.”
Artist Rashid Johnson Makes Feature Debut with ‘Native Son’
“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).”
Review: Ivan Ayr’s ‘Soni’
“Despite being a well-intentioned art house film, ‘Soni’ somehow fails to create an impressionistic effect and often feels cliched. But what’s commendable is the character treatment by the debutant director, Ayr.”
Review: Morgan Neville’s ‘They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead’
“Its vibrating self-awareness, unwieldy traveling circus vibe and mind-bending movie-within-a-movie duality allow Welles to simultaneously mock and indulge in the critically celebrated, sexually-charged, Antonioni-style, European art film.”
Dan Gilroy’s ‘Velvet Buzzsaw’ Doesn’t Work as a Thriller or Satire
“‘Velvet Buzzsaw’ is nicer to look at than a urinal signed ‘R. Mutt,’ but like Duchamp’s ‘Fountain,’ I won’t be rushing to see it again anytime soon.”