Movie Review: YELLING FIRE IN AN EMPTY THEATRE (Slamdance Film Festival)
Justin Zuckerman’s Yelling Fire in An Empty Theater removes any pretense that moving to a new city is easy, fun, or romantic. His entertaining first feature film replaces these tropes with a gritty narrative rich in bohemian angst. Isadora Leiva gives a lively performance as Lisa, a young woman whose arrival in New York is fraught with […]
Review: FERROEQUINOLOGY (Slamdance Film Festival)
Pulling into the station as the world is reopening and people are rushing to get back to normal, Alex Nevill’s leisurely documentary Ferroequinology could not be better timed. Translated literally as “the study of iron horses,” his film, streaming as part of Slamdance 2022, follows two wandering spirits as they set out on separate railroad photography […]
Review: PARIS IS IN HARLEM (Slamdance Film Festival)
There is a lot to unpeel in Christina Kallas’ Paris Is in Harlem. Screening as part of the 2022 Slamdance Film festival, this emotionally powerful and crisply paced film uses the cultural tapestry of Harlem as the backdrop for exploring multiculturalism. Structured like a jazz composition this fine example of socially conscious cinema piles layers […]
Review: ‘Scream,’ starring Neve Campbell, Melissa Barrera
Many horror-movie fans, including myself, consider Wes Craven to be one of the greatest horror directors of all-time and rightfully so. With a catalog consisting of Last House on the Left, Nightmare on Elm Street, The Hills Have Eyes and Scream are just a few of his masterpieces. After Craven passed away, I figured the […]
Review: THE 355 Starring Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Penélope Cruz
Writer-director Simon Kinberg follows up his feature directorial debut (X-Men: Dark Phoenix) with a star-studded, yet sloppily-executed spy/thriller that never quite delivers on its potential. CIA agents “Mace” Brown (Jessica Chastain) and Nick Fowler (Sebastian Stan) are working to track down a weapon that can control any type of technology – a dangerous McGuffin in […]
[Review] SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME Starring Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch
(Note: As always, I will do my best to keep my review as spoiler-free as possible. Any part of the plot I mention will have been shown in the trailers. If you don’t watch trailers to avoid any possible spoilers, you have been warned.) Do you ever watch a movie where a character makes decisions […]
Movie Review: GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE Starring Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, Paul Rudd
When I was a kid, my dad used to travel to Indiana for work a few times a year. Every trip, he’d take a few VHS tapes with him and record episodes of “The Real Ghostbusters” and bring them home for me to watch (I think they were on cable and we didn’t have cable […]
Movie Review: Marvel’s ETERNALS Starring Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani
The latest from Marvel Studios introduces ten new lead characters, following their stories over 7,000 years, features multiple cosmic entities, and answers questions fans have had for years. Luckily, the film is in good hands with director Chloé Zhao. How can a big-budget superhero film go bigger AND smaller at the same time? It’s no […]
Movie Review: LAST NIGHT IN SOHO Starring Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith
Edgar Wright’s latest is an ambitious, stylistic horror-thriller that doesn’t always hit the mark – but manages to suck you in through its unique story and stellar performances. Ellie (Thomasin McKenzie) packs her bags and heads to London, where she will attend school to pursue her dreams of becoming a fashion designer. Overwhelmed by life […]
Movie Review: DUNE Starring Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Oscar Isaac
Based on Frank Herbert’s celebrated 1965 Sci-Fi novel, Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Dune delivers on every level. Enormous in scope, the likes of which haven’t been seen since Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films, the film is beautifully crafted and completely enthralling – transporting audiences to far-off worlds in the distant future. Villeneuve (Blade […]