(November 14, 2019)
Reviews DOCTOR SLEEP. Stephen King famously hates Stanley Kubrick's version of his novel The Shining (book 1977, movie 1980). It's not my place to say he's wrong but ......
(November 7, 2019)
Reviews DOLEMITE IS MY NAME. To fans who identify Eddie Murphy by his early movies — 48 Hrs. (1982), Trading Places (1983), Beverly Hills Cop (1984) and Coming To...
(October 24, 2019)
Reviews ZOMBIELAND: DOUBLE TAP. I liked Zombieland (2009) well enough: Its clever, comic tone, distinctive characters, strong performances and self-assured but restrained visual style made it stand out. Enough so...
(October 17, 2019)
Reviews JEXI. Writers have been trying to get a handle on the notion of artificial intelligence — giving it an assortment of names, down the decades — for, oh, the...
Kevin McKiernan's
From Wounded Knee to Standing Rock
(October 11, 2019)
I started my review of From Wounded Knee to Standing Rock: A reporter's journey, screening at the Eureka Theater on Oct. 19, with some trepidation because of its local connection....
(October 11, 2019)
JOKER. I am aware of the ex post facto politicization of Joker but I have not — will not — wade into that swamp. All art is a product of...
(October 3, 2019)
My editor informs me this week's issue will be focused on media literacy. I don't believe I could be accused of possessing said literacy and, as a writer of movie...
(September 26, 2019)
Review AD ASTRA. Back in the dark and distant past, when the word "independent" was first buzzily attached to American cinema on a widespread basis, there was a whole cable...
Hustlers delivers all the glitter, some of the grit
(September 19, 2019)
Review HUSTLERS is not a perfect movie. Of course not, such a thing does not exist. But it is a timely, important and overall very good one, and for that...
(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...
