Film
-
Leave Me a Clone
Pseduo-science about cloning meets Keanu Reeves's acting. The results are unsurprisingly best avoided. Read more
Jan 11, 2019
5:13 PM
-
Nothing Can Be Changed Until It Is Faced
One of 2018's most powerful films is an adaption of James Baldwin's work. Two young lovers are divided by a system that is as cruel as their bond is pure. If this one doesn't move you to tears, enjoy Green Book. Read more
Jan 11, 2019
4:42 PM
-
Cutting Room for January 2019
What comes before Die Hard? Why is Apollo Creed in space? Why does Jodie Foster put up with Mel Gibson? How does Doc Brown feel about racism? Answers to some of these in this month's column! Read more
Jan 11, 2019
7:30 AM
Zig-A-Zig-Ah 2019
Here's a look at my most anticipated film every month of 2019. You'll never believe what I picked in September! Am I doing click bait right? Read more
Jan 11, 2019
6:00 AM
Nobody Knows Dick
Part biography, part condemnation of a war based on false pretense, this exploration of the impact Dick Cheney (Christian Bale) had on America is chaotic. Frustratingly good and frustratingly bad, this is one of the strangest movies of 2018. Read more
Jan 4, 2019
12:30 PM
Battered Fish Schtick
Sunk by a soggy and stupid script, the overlong film is palatable when it explores Atlantean epic battles but miserable when anyone talks to another person. Jason Momoa isn't charismatic enough to save something this bloated. Read more
Dec 21, 2018
10:52 AM
Drown Me in a Sea of Spider-People
This hallucinatory, inspired animated film is easily among the best of the year (not just animated films). Spider-powered people from various dimensions cross paths and try to get home. Trust me, it's way more fun than it sounds. Read more
Dec 14, 2018
1:45 PM
Kids Grow Up and Leave You: The Movie
Ralph and Vanellope travel into the internet to retrieve a replacement steering wheel for the broken arcade game in which Vanellope lives. It's the kind of busy, buzzy animated film that fills nearly two hours without really doing much of anything. Read more
Dec 7, 2018
11:30 AM
Ho, Ho, Hold Up…
Let's settle this once and for all: Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? Here's a look at the actual evidence! Read more
Dec 7, 2018
6:30 AM
Leave It, Stallone
Unlike the brilliant first installment, this hackneyed sequel handcuffs Michael B. Jordan and Tessa Thompson with obnoxious cliches and betrays the nuanced messages and themes of the original. At least we'll probably get 5 more? Read more
Nov 30, 2018
6:00 AM
Widows’ Pique
A loaded cast led by Viola Davis stars in this heist movie set against a backdrop of corrupt Chicago politics. Perhaps it would have been a better fit on TV, where the brilliant cast and sprawling story would have had space, but it's still damn good. Read more
Nov 25, 2018
5:07 PM
Making Soup From Harry Potter’s Bones
This fan-fleecing sequel follows magic Hitler (Johnny Depp) as he tries to recruit a monster to kill Dumbledore (Jude Law). Mostly though, it's just people talking about wizarding lineage. For Harry Potter completists only. Read more
Nov 16, 2018
11:37 AM
Nazi Zombies the NYT Hasn’t Profiled
A genre-bending flick that mashes war-movie cliches with horror/sci-fi Nazi mad-scientist shenanigans, this almost-awesome endeavor is just a bit of wonky writing and poor pacing away from being a cult classic. Read more
Nov 9, 2018
1:12 PM
Underbitten Overbite
A paint-by-numbers music biopic, this uninspired retelling of a truly inspired band wastes a great lead performance by Rami Malek. Instead, maybe watch Mr. Robot and listen to a Queen greatest hits album for a while? Read more
Nov 2, 2018
11:29 AM
The Shaming of the Crew
The problem with movie audiences these days is the opposite of what people think the problem with movie audiences is these days. Read more
Nov 2, 2018
7:00 AM
Cutting Room for November 2018
A vastly important docu-reminder, a reunion you'll endure for hours and hours, and double-) speculation, all in this month's column! Read more
Nov 2, 2018
6:30 AM
Nothing Good Happens in Mansions
A patient and creepy, 10-episode horror show that is unafraid to explore sadness and mental health, this loose adaptation of an old gothic novel is close to being one of the best shows of this year. More like this please, Netflix! Read more
Oct 26, 2018
10:36 AM
Trick or Treatise?
A remakebootquel that ignores all the sequels, this surprisingly savvy installment sees Michael Meyers once more square off against Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). This time, however, the subtext is all smartly about feminist escapism. Read more
Oct 19, 2018
11:52 AM
What Is This, A Space Race for Snails?
This is more of a biography of Neil Armstrong (Ryan Gosling) than a movie about the space race. That would be fine, if Neil Armstrong weren't legendarily boring and stoic. The end result is an attempt that misses the mark as both intimate and epic. Read more
Oct 12, 2018
12:57 PM
Dumb Fun With a Gross Tongue
A movie about a Spider-Man villain without Spider-Man in it, this movie was never going to make sense. And yet, between a crazy performance by Tom Hardy and silly-but-fun shenanigans in the last hour, it is a surprisingly fun total disaster. Read more
Oct 5, 2018
12:42 PM
All Superheroes Are SJWs
Comic book movies are now the most popular creative genre in the world. As such, they have a responsibility (and added scrutiny) in how they influence and reflect political concerns. Read more
Oct 5, 2018
7:00 AM
Report Card
Leave Me a Clone
Pseduo-science about cloning meets Keanu Reeves's acting. The results are unsurprisingly best avoided. Read more
Nothing Can Be Changed Until It Is Faced
One of 2018's most powerful films is an adaption of James Baldwin's work. Two young lovers are divided by a system that is as cruel as their bond is pure. If this one doesn't move you to tears, enjoy Green Book. Read more
Nobody Knows Dick
Part biography, part condemnation of a war based on false pretense, this exploration of the impact Dick Cheney (Christian Bale) had on America is chaotic. Frustratingly good and frustratingly bad, this is one of the strangest movies of 2018. Read more
Battered Fish Schtick
Sunk by a soggy and stupid script, the overlong film is palatable when it explores Atlantean epic battles but miserable when anyone talks to another person. Jason Momoa isn't charismatic enough to save something this bloated. Read more
Drown Me in a Sea of Spider-People
This hallucinatory, inspired animated film is easily among the best of the year (not just animated films). Spider-powered people from various dimensions cross paths and try to get home. Trust me, it's way more fun than it sounds. Read more
Kids Grow Up and Leave You: The Movie
Ralph and Vanellope travel into the internet to retrieve a replacement steering wheel for the broken arcade game in which Vanellope lives. It's the kind of busy, buzzy animated film that fills nearly two hours without really doing much of anything. Read more
