Movie Reviews
Movie Review: The Korean thriller ‘Hope’ is a creature feature to the tilt
Na Hong-jin makes chase movies and it can be incredible where they go. His latest, “Hope,” is his biggest and wildest movie yet. But despite its heft in scale and run time, it rarely pauses to take a breath. Though some of Na’s contemporaries are better known in the West, the South Korean writer-director has […]
Movie Review: Medieval action drama ‘The Uprising’ struggles under a Robin Hood origin twist
“The Uprising” starts as a true story of medieval England in the grip of economic revolution. That’s good stuff. Then it gets inexplicably hijacked by an origin story for one of the West’s most popular folk heroes. That’s head-scratching stuff. Paul Greengrass’ movie mixes fact and fiction in such an anachronistic, uncomfortable way that it […]
Movie Review: ‘Practical Magic 2’ should have stuck with the original spell book
Getting a sequel greenlit nearly 30 years after the original movie floundered upon its release likely required a stroke of magic. 1998’s “Practical Magic,” led by Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as the Owens family witches, eventually became a cult classic, finding its footing with a home video release and subsequently, streaming services and social […]
Movie Review: Despite its title, the slasher siege movie ‘Onslaught’ takes its time
Masked soldiers deployed on domestic soil and an air of conspiratorial paranoia give Adam Wingard’s not-quite-grindhouse siege film “Onslaught” a contemporary pulse, even if this lean, B-movie thriller doesn’t deliver much more than a flicker of its throwback promise. Wingard, though, does seem freshly liberated in this return to his low-budget thriller roots (“You’re Next,” […]
Movie Review: Kenneth Branagh and Ryan Reynolds star in irreverent Cold War action-comedy ‘Mayday’
Somewhere along the way, Sir Kenneth Branagh developed a knack for playing Russians. He was the vindictive oligarch in “Tenet” and a villainous industrialist in “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” but “Mayday” may be the first time he’s been asked to use his very particular set of language skills for … comedy? His character, Nikolai Ustinov […]
Movie Review: ‘Finding Emily’ is the British rom-com we’ve been waiting for
Late August can be a depressing time at the movie theater, but there’s a gem to be found in the British romantic comedy “Finding Emily,” which opens in theaters Friday. Here, finally, is a smart, funny and sweet story about young love that moviegoing audiences deserve. Yes, the setup is contrived — it even fits […]
Movie Review: What’s up, flop? The toon-human hybrid ‘Coyote vs. Acme’ should’ve stayed on shelf
Some Hollywood decisions defy logic. Like, who looked at the world of Looney Tunes, those unhinged cartoons of our youth, and thought: Let’s add a bunch of personal injury lawyers. Such is the premise of the clunky, too-earnest, live-action-toon-hybrid “Coyote vs. Acme,” a film initially mothballed by the studio only to later be featured in […]
Movie Review: A tender love story with postapocalyptic teeth in Ridley Scott’s ‘The Dog Stars’
It says something about us that dogs are critical when it comes to postapocalyptic movies. Tom Hanks had an adorable terrier in “Finch” and Will Smith had a heroic German shepherd in “I Am Legend.” Another German shepherd is due to accompany Brad Pitt in next month’s “Heart of Beast,” but until then we have […]
Movie Review: Gen Z gets a moody, existential horror in ‘It Ends’
Every generation deserves its own postgrad malaise movie. Not every attempt is going to be “The Graduate” or “Frances Ha,” but even when they’re mediocre, they’re also often a pure expression from a young filmmaker about what their contemporaries are feeling at that exact moment. Though the details may change — the clothes, the hairstyles, […]
Movie Review: ‘The End of Oak Street’ is a gonzo good time
At the end of the block in David Robert Mitchell’s “The End of Oak Street,” is a cul-de-sac with a telephone pole in the middle and wires radiating out like the cables of a big top. It’s a fitting touch for a breakneck, carnivalesque movie made with throwback showmanship. Summer movies, of course, are not […]