Salon.com

Farhadi delivers another knotty morality tale with his superb new film, A Hero.... a quietly devastating portrait of a man damned.

Posted Jan 21, 2022

The 355 (2022)

It is pure catnip for fans of the genre of beautiful women fighting off the bad guys with aplomb

Posted Jan 7, 2022

The Lost Daughter (2021)

"The Lost Daughter" certainly raises as many questions as it answers, which is why it is so gratifying.... Gyllenhaal's film is mysterious too. It sinks its hooks into viewers and does not let go.

Posted Dec 31, 2021

Don't Look Up (2021)

"Don't Look Up" makes a few decent points and gets a chuckle or two, but mostly, it is leaden when it could be farcical, sluggish when it could be screwball. This end of the world comedy should have just been more fun.

Posted Dec 24, 2021

The Tender Bar (2021)

This melancholic coming-of-age film is more good than ambitious - and that may be why, even with its failings, "The Tender Bar" yields some modest pleasures.

Posted Dec 22, 2021

The Matrix Resurrections (2021)

The Matrix Resurrections is a better messenger and cultural analyst than a cinematic spectacle... It may not deliver the original's thrills, but at the least it'll start some conversations.

Posted Dec 22, 2021

The King's Man (2021)

A dumb bit of fun, a revisionist history of WWI told in a nimble, comic-book style.... Rasputin (Rhys Ifans) is deliciously over-the-top, albeit in a pretty spectacular way.

Posted Dec 22, 2021

Being the Ricardos (2021)

Most of "Being the Ricardos" lacks the magic it is trying to capture.

Posted Dec 21, 2021

Nightmare Alley (2021)

"Nightmare Alley" is a crafty noir about grifters. Del Toro makes it decidedly more elegant than gritty, which is perhaps his way of luring and seducing viewers. What do you want to believe, folks?

Posted Dec 17, 2021

We Pedal Uphill (2008)

More damaging is the fact that no narrative momentum ever emerges, and overhanging the whole thing is a penumbra of left-liberal apocalyptic thinking that isn't terribly interesting.

Posted Dec 17, 2021

Severed Ways: The Norse Discovery of America (2009)

Impressive and also absolutely ludicrous, this is the movie you need to recommend to that suburban metalhead cousin in desperate need of having his mind blown.

Posted Dec 17, 2021

Sex Positive (2009)

Wein's film provides a fascinating and crucial slice of traumatic sexual history that's all but invisible to younger generations.

Posted Dec 17, 2021

Explicit Ills (2009)

This gentle, lovely and consistently surprising survey of life in a Philadelphia inner-city neighborhood that's gradually succumbing to gentrification marks the writing and directing debut of 28-year-old actor Mark Webber.

Posted Dec 17, 2021

The Unforgivable (2021)

A dreadful and dreary melodrama.... despite Bullock's noble efforts to play against type, "The Unforgivable" is largely forgettable.

Posted Dec 10, 2021

Annie Live! (2021)

[Celina Smith] proves some tomorrow needn't be permanently elusive. For once the sun is shining on her today.

Posted Dec 3, 2021

Adrienne (2021)

If nothing else, "Adrienne" will make viewers in general, and fans in particular, wistful that she is still not living and working. Ostroy's film is a loving tribute to his late wife.

Posted Dec 2, 2021

The Power of the Dog (2021)

An exacting drama about masculinity, toxic and otherwise.... The strong performances and the striking visual style make this a potent piece of filmmaking.

Posted Dec 1, 2021

Torn (2021)

An intimate, intense, and emotional documentary.

Posted Nov 29, 2021

14 Peaks: Nothing Is Impossible (2021)

If the uplifting "14 Peaks" motivates viewers to get off the couch and go climb a mountain, well, that's a win

Posted Nov 29, 2021

India Sweets and Spices (2021)

Radhika Menon

India Sweets and Spices gives us a different aspect of the diaspora experience by trying to understand Sheila's generation and the things they gave up in order to give their children the life they have.

Posted Nov 29, 2021

The Humans (2021)

The Humans, writer/director Stephen Karam's arty, melancholic screen adaptation of his Tony award-winning play, is painful in a good way; the anguish of the characters is aching and heartfelt.

Posted Nov 24, 2021

Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (1995)

Charles Taylor

It's a flawed, contradictory movie -- aggressive and tender, stiff and graceful, clichéd and fresh, sophisticated and naive, traditional and modern. It's also, I think, a classic.

Posted Nov 18, 2021

Prayers for the Stolen (Noche de fuego) (2021)

Huezo's thoughtful film is almost deceptively simple, but like the image of a scorpion that recurs throughout "Prayers for the Stolen," it ultimately stings.

Posted Nov 18, 2021

Passing (2021)

Hall breathes life and light into it in a way that lends a weight of beauty and honesty to its immersion into a world of purposeful pretense.

Posted Nov 12, 2021

Eternals (2021)

Kylie Cheung

In many ways, what it means to be human is the central question that drives Eternals... But the movie's dizzying star power and twisty backstories render it too clunky and overstuffed to concisely answer said central question.

Posted Nov 8, 2021

Spencer (2021)

At times, the film is excruciating, albeit deliberately, and that works it its favor.

Posted Nov 5, 2021

Love Hard (2021)

Opposites attract, always and forever... and yet the screenwriters never bother to develop a plausible path for the destined couple to find its way to each other.

Posted Nov 5, 2021

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain (2021)

"The Electrical Life of Louis Wain" is uneven, and it feels a little too calculated, but it is a diverting tribute to its subject.

Posted Nov 4, 2021

3.5/4

Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)

Matthew Rozsa

Buried beneath the blood-soaked Santa suit, "Silent Night, Deadly Night" has something a lot of slasher films lack - a unique identity, and thus cult film status.

Posted Oct 31, 2021

Dune (2021)

[Denis Villeneuve's] take on Dune isn't merely fascinating and narratively coherent. It is a gorgeous sensory immersion that holds us in its spell for hours, with an ending that sparks yearning to see what comes next.

Posted Oct 22, 2021

Zero Fucks Given (Rien à foutre) (2021)

The filmmakers overperform in showing the monotony of the profession. That is a compliment and a criticism.... The biggest problem with "Zero F**ks Given" is that, truth in titling, it never quite engenders the emotions it should.

Posted Oct 16, 2021

The Velvet Underground (2021)

An impassioned, irresistible portrait. Haynes slightly avant-garde approach is wholly appropriate and why this documentary is so exceptional.

Posted Oct 14, 2021

No Time To Die (2021)

Craig is as cool as ever as Bond, and he commences with his derring-do, dispatching baddies with considerable aplomb... [O]verall this Bond delivers what fans have come to expect from a 007 film, no more, no less.

Posted Oct 8, 2021

Unclenching the Fists (2021)

Kovalenko's urgent, unsentimental approach is what makes Unclenching the Fists so potent.

Posted Oct 5, 2021

The Guilty (2021)

Both Fuqua and Gyllenhaal, working from a script by Nic Pizzolatto, give this relentless, claustrophobic drama their all, but, somehow, it is more phlegmatic than exciting.

Posted Oct 1, 2021

Promises (2021)

A fascinating portrait of ambition and loyalty.

Posted Sep 16, 2021

Silent Land (2021)

Woszczynska's potent film expertly plumbs the depths of denial.

Posted Sep 16, 2021

Citizen Ashe (2021)

As elegant and as agile as the tennis great it profiles.

Posted Sep 14, 2021

Harry & Meghan: Escaping the Palace (2021)

You may be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to put aside your cynicism for 88 minutes or so and enjoy the efforts to place a tiara on a story with an ending isn't necessarily happy but registers as satisfyingly resolute.

Posted Sep 7, 2021

Vacation Friends (2021)

These actors are audience favorites, evidenced in the number of summer movies they've showed up in lately. They could pull this off. It's a shame nothing in the script gives them a chance to do so.

Posted Aug 30, 2021

Candyman (2021)

You should feel something. That the overwhelming sensation provoked by Nia DaCosta's Candyman is numbness, then, is a problem.

Posted Aug 30, 2021

Kipchoge: The Last Milestone (2021)

While there is no doubt that Kipchoge's story is inspiring (even if the ending is known), the film is oddly underwhelming.... It might be more thrilling to just watch Kipchoge run for two hours than watch "Kipchoge."

Posted Aug 24, 2021

The Lost Leonardo (2021)

Koefoed puzzles out the story of how all of this came to be, shrewdly letting viewers absorb all the facts and points of view and deciding what they want to believe.

Posted Aug 13, 2021

Val (2021)

The moral of "Val," may be that Kilmer is his own worst enemy, an idea that gives the film its diffused power.... "Val" certainly engenders sympathy, but at times it feels like crocodile tears.

Posted Aug 6, 2021

Annette (2021)

Some will be enchanted and admire its riskiness; others will be exasperated and bored to the backteeth. But that does not make it good.

Posted Aug 5, 2021

Stillwater (2021)

"Stillwater" should be a deep investigation into a moral quandary, but it just ends up being shallow and irresponsible.

Posted Jul 30, 2021

Great Freedom (Grosse Freiheit) (2021)

A poignant, potent drama - and a love story, actually.... Great Freedom is a perceptive character study about resistance and resilience, buoyed by Rogowski's impeccable performance.

Posted Jul 19, 2021

Pig (2021)

"Pig" doesn't give viewers much to care about, other than perhaps the title character. Sarnoski's film is undercooked.

Posted Jul 16, 2021

La Civil (2021)