This is a movie about a movie about a movie. It gets more confusing.
For years, Hollywood blacklisted Orson Welles. Never mind that many critics believed his Citizen Kane to be the greatest movie ever made. Deeply hurt by this mistreatment, the aging director tried one last time to be accepted by the mainstream.
With wonderfully edited footage, we learn about Welles’ last work—and really, about one complicated man.
This teen looks like an angel from a Renaissance painting. He doesn’t act like one.
Carlitos loves to steal. It makes him feel alive. And his unassuming baby face makes it easy. So why not chase the feeling? Consequences are for suckers.
It may be best to watch this movie remembering our boy’s mantra: Don’t ask questions, just live.
Neil Armstrong was the first human to set foot on the moon. First Man is the story of what it took to get there.
Neil was a hard worker and a family man. But rocket science was difficult work—for him, his family, and countless others. While we already know the ending to this story, we now get to learn a bit more about the journey.
This is a movie made tenderly, and with respect. Though it’s a simple story, it is beautiful, and makes us think about the big questions: Why do we do what we do? Who do we do it for?
Based on a true story, this movie shows Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette living life to the fullest at the turn of the 20th century.
Colette is a small town girl with big charms. She makes her way to Paris, and is immediately adopted by high society. For several reasons, she becomes the talk of the town. But not all news is good news.
This movie shows more than it tells: We see Colette’s surroundings and reactions, but we don’t hear her inner struggle.
In A Wrinkle in Time, a girl journeys through space-time to find her father.
Meg is a brilliant, sad young girl. She and her family are considered “weird.” Things don’t get any easier when Meg’s father goes missing. To overcome these challenges, Meg must learn to trust—something difficult to do when one feels unwanted in the universe.
This movie tries too hard to be cool and heartfelt. Too bad, because there is a worthwhile moral to the story.
The Sisters Brothers is not your average Western.
The Commodore has given assassins Eli and Charlie Sisters another job. It’s more of the same for the brothers. But for us, each day is a new, surprisingly evocative experience.
Everything about this movie is excellent: the writing; the editing; the cinematography; the acting; the music.
In Lincoln, the famed president and his supporters struggle through difficult decision-making during the latter part of the American Civil War.
President Lincoln has a very high approval rating, and wants to leverage it. He hopes that the American people will approve a thirteenth constitutional amendment freeing the slaves. Even with such a high approval rating, the road to persuasion is long and treacherous.
The movie can drag, and lay on the sentiment thick. But more often than not it feels raw and real.
Mission Impossible: Fallout is impressively exciting.
Ethan Hunt spies for an agency concerned with only the most difficult of missions. His current mission is to thwart an army of assassins lead by an unknown mastermind possessing nuclear weapons.
The movie surprises again and again without inducing eye rolls—something difficult to do given the arguably comical premise.
Black Panther is a groundbreaking (superhero) movie.
Wakanda will soon have a new leader. This super-advanced African nation has kept its prosperity and technology hidden from the world for years. Will this policy of deception continue? And will power change hands without a fight?
Though laudable in its use of black actors and themes, as a movie it is just fine.
A cast of characters meets in chance encounters to create The Hateful Eight.
A deadly blizzard fast approaches. The only viable shelter begins to fill with strangers, each more intriguing and secretive than the next. Things heat up inside.
The acting is excellent, with two consequences. First, the movie sparkles when the characters size each other up. Second, the (many) scenes of violence can be difficult to watch.
In This Corner of the World is a poignant story about a young woman living in and around Hiroshima during World War II. It is not a "war movie."
Suzu is a kind soul. She's prone to daydreaming. Or at least, she doesn't seem to focus on the things that everyone else does. Yet seeing the world through her perspective, it becomes clear that beauty can be found in the most unexpected of places.
As in life, sometimes it can be hard to tell what The Best Offer is.
Virgil Oldman is an art auctioneer at the height of his profession. His keen eye sets him apart. So when the man who has seen it all is thrown for a loop, you can't help but get excited about what's to come.
This story is as intricate as any masterpiece worthy of Virgil's attention. Whether it is fanciful or realistic is, some would say, a matter of perspective.
Only God Forgives is a violent drama about retribution.
Julian will avenge his brother Billy, who has been punished for committing a terrible crime. How far Julian must go depends on the whim of his drug-dealer mother, with whom Julian has a disturbing relationship. A ruthless police captain complicates things.
Strange pacing and lighting add to the uneasy atmosphere. Long scenes may be as boring for some as the violence is jarring for others.
Icarus tells a wild story about drug doping in competitive sports. It's a movie in two parts.
In the first part, the director quests to see how drug doping would affect his amateur cycling. The second part focuses on the doping mastermind, Grigory Rodchenkov. It's here the film kicks into high gear. Whilst helping the amateur, this head of Russia’s national anti-doping laboratory becomes embroiled in the investigation of Russia's state-sponsored doping program.
The timeline is sometimes difficult to follow. And the movie is a bit long. But these faults don't undercut an otherwise electrifying flick.