The Monk and the Gun
Believe it or not, the kingdom of Bhutan did not have access to television until 1999. This was part of an effort by Jigme Singye Wangchuck—then King and head of state by virtue of his royal birth—to...
View ArticleDrift
In its opening act, Drift lives up to its title as we watch Jacqueline (Cynthia Erivo) meander through the labyrinthine alleys and touristy beaches of a Greek island, seemingly without direction....
View ArticleOut of Darkness
The premise is enthralling: a group of prehistoric humans arrive in a new land hoping to find a home. We don’t know where they came from nor why, but they are scared and desperate. Yet, something is...
View ArticleLisa Frankenstein
Lisa Frankenstein splits the difference between Edward Scissorhands and Heathers. It’s a horror comedy about a sensitive, somewhat deranged young woman and her murderous, nonverbal love interest. It is...
View ArticleMarmalade
The allure of the crime spree couple has been fascinating moviegoers for decades. Bonnie and Clyde kicked things off in the real world, and since then, we’ve been blessed with an array of persnickety,...
View ArticleLola
Lola, the directorial debut of 29-year-old American actress Nicola Peltz Beckham, is a movie predestined for mockery. Peltz Beckham — the daughter of billionaire hedge-fund CEO Nelson Peltz and...
View ArticleRediscover: The Outwaters
Found-footage movies are a lot like pro wrestling: Your enjoyment largely depends on your ability to embrace kayfabe. Exactly one movie was able to exist in a world that was legitimately unsure about...
View ArticleEnnio
Three names immediately come to mind when considering the most important film music composers of the 20th century. John Williams so obviously towers above everyone else, for reasons that require no...
View ArticleBob Marley: One Love
Do you think Reinaldo Marcus Green has ever seen Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story? There are several moments during Green’s latest, an unremittingly laudatory biopic about reggae legend and peace...
View ArticleWillie and Me
Among the many benchmarks of American culture that transcend language and geography, the quirky comedy Willie and Me focuses on two: Willie Nelson, and what for the purposes of this study we will call...
View ArticleCobweb
Making movies is madness. From the near bottomless chasm of chaos that erupted on the set of Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, to the physically punishing production of Werner Herzog’s...
View ArticleCriminally Overrated: Almost Famous
Almost Famous is a case study in disconnects between form and content. Like its protagonist, William (Patrick Fugit), Cameron Crowe’s semi-autobiographical recounting of his days as a 1970s kid music...
View ArticleHere
Stillness pervades Belgian director Bas Devos’ fourth feature, Here, a contemplative film richly steeped in the duality of the isolation and interconnectedness prevalent within modern urban life. Set...
View ArticleOeuvre: Altman: Gosford Park
It takes over an hour for someone to ask the most important question at the heart of Robert Altman’s acerbic murder mystery Gosford Park: “Why do we spend our time living through them?” This is a...
View ArticleThe Taste of Things
Directed with quiet care by Trần Anh Hùng, The Taste of Things is like ASMR for home cooks who imbue their food with attention and love. Long stretches of the film abandon any traditional narrative,...
View ArticleLand of Bad
Not unlike its lurking fishmen, 2020’s Underwater has floated around the discussion of underrated modern horror movies, thanks to its sleek propulsive update to deep-sea creature features. With Land of...
View ArticleBleeding Love
Less than 24 hours after she nearly overdosed, a young woman sets out on a road trip with her father to an unknown destination. The father, played by Ewan McGregor, is shaken by his daughter’s very...
View ArticleFrom the Vaults of Streaming Hell: Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey
What if the gentle living teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh turned into a sadistic, half-human serial killer for some reason? That’s the depth of writer-director Rhys Frake-Waterfield’s storytelling and...
View ArticlePerfect Days
How do you find happiness in your work? No job, no matter how fulfilling or exciting, is immune from the tedium of routine or bureaucracy. That is the initial draw to Perfect Days, the new film from...
View ArticleOrdinary Angels
From the opening moments of Ordinary Angels, you can probably storyboard the plot beat for beat. While it’s neither complex nor novel, the film is based on a feel-good true story, so it’s hard to give...
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