Movie Reviews

During the reality TV boom of the aughts, many households likely heard the timbre of one man’s voice announcing his presence as he entered a room. “I’m Chris Hansen with Dateline NBC,” he would say, as he invited an unsuspecting child predator to take a seat at a kitchen counter. Shocked and surprised, the alleged […]

Grab your best slip skirt and fuzzy cardigan, because we are back, witches.  “Practical Magic,” the 1998 film directed by Griffin Dunne starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as Sally and Gillian Owens, sister witches burdened by a generational curse, was, like so many romantic comedies (then and now), a bit of a flop at […]

Jane Schoenbrun’s third feature, “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” is a fitting entrant in their filmography lineup. As a fairly new filmmaker who has begun to make a name for themself in the industry, Schoenbrun is interested in how gender and identity themes can be tied to the media we consume. Their first […]

American cheesemongers have a chip on their shoulders.  It’s not entirely unwarranted. American cheese (the category) is fairly young, all things considered, gaining traction only in the 1970s, and is often conflated with the giant bricks of yellowish-orange American cheese (the product) found in grocery stores across the country. “The Big Cheese,” a new documentary […]

Campgrounds have been a key location for horror movies throughout film history. There’s something about that specific type of location that brings teenagers — in the midst of their coming-of-age — together and allows whatever inhibitions they may have at that point in their lives to run free. But, of course, something is always lurking […]

Steven Spielberg is often credited as the father of the summer blockbuster, thanks to his mega-hit “Jaws” in 1975. He’s worked effortlessly between prestige dramas and popcorn entertainment for the entirety of his career (sometimes in the same year, like 1993, which saw the release of “Jurassic Park” and the year’s Best Picture winner, “Schindler’s […]

Writer-director Sophy Romvari’s “Blue Heron” is a deeply personal feature debut. Romvari has been making shorts since 2011, which would indicate she has been ready to make the leap to features for a while. Most filmmakers would use a few well-received shorts as their launchpad to feature filmmaking, but “Blue Heron” feels like Romvari needed […]

Musical biopics have become an easy target of criticism these days, and it’s even easier to be entirely cynical about them. Sometimes, a movie about a musician dares to break the mold and escape the tried-and-true formula to create an unique experience (2024’s “A Better Man” wasn’t a good movie, but certainly tried to do […]

In the early moments of “Fantasy Life,” written and directed by Matthew Shear, Sam (played by Shear himself, in a feature debut) is told he is being let go from his job at a law office. While trying to process the news, he goes to a bookstore and a panic attack overtakes him, causing him […]