Reuniting “Thor: Ragnarok” co-stars Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth should have been a home run, but “Men in Black: International” whiffs it by refusing to take any chances whatsoever. Gone is the imagination and wit that made the original such a success; in its place is a lifeless and unforgivably generic piece of studio content.
Adam Lubitow
Film critic for CITY Newspaper, writer, iced coffee addict, and dinosaur enthusiast.
Posted inMovies
Film preview: ‘The Dead Don’t Die’
The new zombie comedy “The Dead Don’t Die” suggests that it’s society itself that’s currently making writer-director Jim Jarmusch most apprehensive, and the film ultimately offers up his rather bleak appraisal of the modern world.
Posted inSpecial Sections
We’re past the ‘Endgame’ now
The biggest movie of the year may have come and gone, but there’s still plenty more reasons to get excited for summer movie season
Posted inMovies
Film preview: ‘The Tomorrow Man’
Each of the main characters have their own unique ways of maintaining control in a world that appears to be steadily careening toward chaos; both are eager to escape some pain of their past while possessing an often debilitating fear of the future. But together they might find a more manageable present.
Posted inMovies
Film review: ‘Non-Fiction’
The latest from French filmmaker Olivier Assayas, “Non-Fiction” is a chatty, breezily entertaining comedy of manners when isn’t getting bogged down by its characters’ self-conscious meditations on life and culture in the digital age.
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Film review: ‘The White Crow’
With this fitfully compelling biopic, actor-director Ralph Fiennes tackles the life of legendary and mercurial Russian ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev. The film doesn’t require a prior knowledge or particular love of ballet, centering mostly on Nureyev’s defection from the Soviet Union to the West — the first Soviet artist during the Cold War to do so.
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Film preview: ‘Rocketman’
“Restrained” shouldn’t be the first word that comes to mind when describing larger-than-life singer Elton John. But that’s exactly the descriptor that came to mind while watching “Rocketman,” director Dexter Fletcher’s surprisingly timid and conventional rock-musical-biopic of the artist’s most unconventional life.
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Film preview: ‘Booksmart’
Smart, funny, and empathetic, Olivia Wilde’s directorial debut is a love letter to the blissfully uncool dorks among us. Both referential and thoroughly modern, it feels like an instant classic of the high school genre.
Posted inMovies
Film review: ‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’
“Parabellum” picks up immediately where the last film left off, finding Wick excommunicated, with a $14 million bounty on his head and the entire population of the criminal underworld very keen to collect.
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Film review: ‘Pokémon Detective Pikachu’
The film has to please longtime fans while serving as an introduction to those who don’t know their Squirtles from their Bulbasaurs. As the start of a potential franchise, it’s flawed but promising.
Posted inMovies
Preview: The Reel Mind Theatre and Film Series
The annual series will return next week, continuing its mission to fight the social stigma of mental illness by shining a spotlight on topics far too many of us are content to sweep out of mind. This year’s four films focus on the difficult topic of suicide, highlighting stories of survivors that seek to spread a message of hope and recovery.
Posted inMovies
Film preview: Rochester International Film Festival
Celebrating the art of the short film, RIFF presents a program of films that pack as much compelling plot, character, and visual interest as a traditional feature in only a fraction of the time.
