Review: Decision to Leave
This Korean romantic thriller from Park Chan-wook (Handmaiden, Snowpiercer) begins with the classic set-up. Weary detective Hae-joon (Park Hae-il ) arrives at a crime scene. A man is dead. But…
Review: Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon
Ana Lily Amirpour's Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon is one of those little Indies that you hope people will see because it's weird and quirky and a fun ride.…
Review: Blonde
Blonde from Director Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) takes the well-known, sad story of Marilyn Monroe, from her tragic childhood to her tabloid fodder death,…
Review: The Good Boss
Javier Bardem is one of my favorite actors. I would pay to watch him read a phone book. (Do they still make those?) He is definitely one of the most…
Review: Breaking
Watching this "based on a true story" drama, you can't help but think back to several other films about decent men taking hostages because the system is horribly unfair to…
Review: Happening
Talk about a film arriving at just the right moment! This gripping French drama about a young woman in the early 1960s who gets pregnant and has to go through…
Review: Hit the Road
This wonderful road trip drama traverses the Iranian landscape with a family and their dog. Along for the ride are a mother (Pantea Panahiha) and father (Hasan Majuni) and their…
Quickie Review: The Northman
This is a quickie because I know I am not the audience for this violent revenge epic. It's the latest from writer/director Robert Eggers who garnered high praise for his previous…
Review: Everything Everywhere All At Once
At the center of this wild ride of an action/sci-fi flick is Chinese immigrant mom Evelyn (Michelle Yeoh, Crazy Rich Asians, Shang-Chi) whose life definitely took a wrong turn somewhere.…
Review: Topside
This is a really gritty and entirely engaging little film. It's about Nikki (co-director Celine Held) and her 5-year-old daughter Little (Zhaila Farmer) who're living on the edge underground in…
Review: Wood and Water
Not a lot "happens" in this character study film, but that doesn't mean it's boring. It's the story of Anke (played by Anke Bak, the director’s mother), a German woman…
Review: Huda’s Salon
This riveting “based on true events” thriller from two-time Academy Award nominee Hany Abu-Assad (Paradise Now, Omar) is set in the West Bank. Reem (Maisa Abd Elhadi) is a young Palestinian…
Quickie Review: No Exit
This taut little thriller is the perfect flick to watch from the comfort of your couch. In it a young woman checks herself out of rehab to rush to her…
Review: Fabian
In this adaptation of "Fabian: Going to the Dogs", a German novel first published in 1931 but later banned and burned by the National Socialist Party, Jakob Fabian (Tom Schilling)…
Review: Licorice Pizza
This quirky coming-of-age rom-com was one of my favorite films of the year. The leads, Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, are unknowns, but there are some fabulous cameos from A-listers,…