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,…
Review: Nightmare Alley
I've been a big fan of Oscar winner Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape of Water) since he first made his mark with Pan's Labyrinth back in 2006. He's a master at…
Review: Red Rocket
Director Sean Baker (The Florida Project, Tangerine) loves stories and characters that Hollywood regularly ignores. And his newest dark comedy Red Rocket continues to plumb the depths of America's underclass. It's…
Review: Being the Ricardos
Aaron Sorkin (The Trial of the Chicago Seven, The Social Network) is the undisputed master of clever, snappy dialogue. And here he turns his gift to telling the story of…
Review: Drive My Car
Adapted from a short story by Haruki Murikami, one of my favorite authors, Drive My Car is a haunting drama about love and grief and reckoning. It centers on two…
Review: Don’t Look Up
In this apocalyptic satire from Oscar-winning writer/director Adam McCay (Vice, The Big Short) astronomy PhD student Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence) discovers a comet hurtling straight towards the earth. She and…
Review: Belfast
This Oscar-bait memoir movie comes from writer/actor/director Kenneth Branagh who takes a look back at a defining year of his childhood. Branagh was just a 9-year-old boy in 1969, living…
Review: The Lost Daughter
In her directorial debut Maggie Gyllenhaal demonstrates that she's as talented behind the camera as in front. Oscar winner Olivia Coleman (The Favourite) stars in this psychological drama adapted from…
Review: The Hand of God
This coming of age drama from Academy Award-winning writer/director Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty) tells the story of Fabietto (Filippo Scotti). Set in Naples in the 1980s, it's clearly a…
Review: King Richard
If you're at all into tennis, this is a must see. Even if you're not, you can't help but be aware of the amazing Williams sisters, Venus and Serena. King…
Quickie review: The Harder They Fall
The Western has always been a pretty white genre. The Harder They Fall turns that on its head. With a superb cast (Idris Elba, Regina King, Jonathan Majors, Zazie Beetz, Edi…