Riz Ahmed is an interesting actor, one that can arrest us with his eloquent silence, and this is a talent put to excellent use in RELAY, a film in which he doesn’t speak for the first part of his performance. If the story of a broker of shady deals doesn’t spark to life as quickly… Read More »
NOBODY 2
The question, of course, is whether the puckish premise of NOBODY has enough going for it to warrant a sequel. The good news, as we learn in NOBODY 2, is that it does. Once again tweaking the stereotype of family values and the monotony of suburbia, Bob Odenkirk and company take us on an unexpected… Read More »
WEAPONS
It is a testament to writer/director Zach Cregger that the most ominous moment in WEAPONS, the one that does more than merely frighten, the one that is like an icepick to the brain has none of the gore with which the finale is replete. Instead, it is a POV shot from a distance of a… Read More »
THE NAKED GUN
It’s nice to know that Liam Neeson, now aged 72, has found another franchise, one which utilizes a whole new particular skill set, but one that does not force him into the rigors of a standard action flick. In THE NAKED GUN, a reboot of the POLICE SQUAD films without any of the original writers… Read More »
TOGETHER
TOGETHER is an impudent entry into the body horror genre in which the fusing together of two people becomes a, ahem, visceral metaphor for intimacy before venturing gamely into a novel definition of a happy ending. Working on two levels at once, the result is a film that provokes and repels all while considering the… Read More »
EDDINGTON
Ari Aster’s EDDINGTON will confirm your worst fears and provoke a few new reasons for anxiety about how the world really works. This brilliant use of microcosm as macrocosm is a brutal satire that does not permit the surcease of even nervous laughter or the respite of supernatural forces at work. No, this hell on… Read More »
SUPERMAN (2025)
SUPERMAN starts out wobbly, tasked as its first act is with as much exposition as might be found in a film exploring Superman’s origin story. Yet, like the Man of Steel himself, James Gunn wrenches his film from its tailspin and then zips it into a fine superhero tale full of action, thrills, nifty CGI,… Read More »
F1: THE MOVIE
F1: THE MOVIE teaches us that it’s not the Grail, as the old saying goes, it’s the quest. In this case, the natural high that Sonny Hayes (eminently likable Brad Pitt) experiences when he drives a race car. Amid the mild melodrama and occasional predictability of the script, the film as a whole delivers on… Read More »
BRIDE HARD
If there was ever doubt about the sheer talent possessed by Da’Vine Joy Randolph, and there shouldn’t be after her Oscar®-winning turn in THE HOLDOVERS, it should be dispelled once and for all after seeing her take charge of the morass that is BRIDE HARD. Tasked with playing Lydia, a one-note character, and one that… Read More »
DANGEROUS ANIMALS
There’s something refreshing about the sharks featured in DANGEROUS ANIMALS >not< being the villains of the piece. Instead, they are presented on their own terms as majestic creatures of the deep who would really, really rather not deal with humans in any way shape or form, and that includes lunch. Instead, we have a human… Read More »