(September 12, 2019)
Review IT CHAPTER TWO. When I realized I would have to wait two years between It and It Chapter Two, I was disappointed. The first movie, released in 2017, was...
(September 5, 2019)
Review PEANUT BUTTER FALCON. What I tend to think of as healthy skepticism is probably more likely pathological or diagnosable on some sort of spectrum — not particularly healthy, if...
(August 29, 2019)
Review READY OR NOT. It did not escape me that David Koch, half of the political juggernaut that was the Koch brothers, died the same sunny Friday afternoon this film...
(August 22, 2019)
Review GOOD BOYS. Because I spend time surfing and know a thing or two about the ocean, NCJ arts and features editor Jennifer Fumiko Cahill figured I should be the...
The Farewell and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
(August 15, 2019)
Review THE FAREWELL. Lulu Wang's The Farewell opens on a phone call between Billi (Awkwafina) in New York and her grandmother Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhao) in China. It's a charming,...
(August 8, 2019)
Review OPHELIA. As the title character of Ophelia tells us at the outset, "It is high time I should tell you my story myself." So begins this re-telling of Shakespeare's...
(August 1, 2019)
Review ONCE UPON A TIME ... IN HOLLYWOOD. It's been nearly four years since the release of Quentin Tarantino's last movie The Hateful Eight (2015) and for many of us much...
(July 25, 2019)
THE LION KING. By the time the original Lion King (1994) came out and caught fire, I had already started moving out of the animated feature lane (where I...
The Last Black Man in San Francisco is a case study in gentrification
(July 18, 2019)
Reviews The Last Black Man in San Francisco. The movie opens on a school-aged African American girl skipping happily down a street next to the bay. Inches away, be-hazmatted workers...
(July 11, 2019)
Reviews SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME. Way back in 2017 (time proves elastic, seems to have no real meaning) I was somewhat taken aback by how much I enjoyed the most...
(July 4, 2019)
Reviews YESTERDAY. I wouldn't call Danny Boyle one of my favorite directors. He can tend toward narrative overreach, treacly sentimentality and visual excess. Still, he's been showing up and doing...
(June 27, 2019)
Reviews LOS ESPOOKYS. Even as blockbuster movies continue spiraling into a pit of staleness — eight of the 10 highest-grossing films last week were remakes or sequels — streaming channels...
(June 20, 2019)
Reviews SHAFT. Isaac Hayes' Theme from Shaft is a certified slapper (that's what the kids are calling them, right?). Trouble is, so is John Shaft, at least as characterized by...
Biggest Little Farm, Dark Phoenix and Secret Life of Pets 2
(June 13, 2019)
Reviews THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM. John and Molly Chester give up city jobs and buy a dilapidated farm with the goal of a) keeping a promise to their dog and...
(June 6, 2019)
Reviews ALWAYS BE MY MAYBE. It can be challenging for me to find an entry point with romantic comedies. Not that I dislike them (though to be honest I would...
(May 30, 2019)
Reviews BOOKSMART. Unless you're one of those people who has the sun shining on them every day, high school can be tricky to navigate. Whether it's infuriating or merely...
