Obsession
Rating 7/10 Obsession is a remarkably self-assured little horror picture, made on a shoestring, but it never looks cheap. Yet one nagging element kept me from fully accepting the premise: its lead protagonist does not behave like a normal person. That may sound like a small complaint in a movie involving supernatural forces. But, it […]
Remarkably Bright Creatures
Rating 6/10 Remarkably Bright Creatures bears the unmistakable hallmarks of a very specific kind of Netflix movie. Before I ever pressed play, it looked like an inspirational tearjerker blessed with the comforting presence of Sally Field, doing her best to elevate the kind of accessible story that Netflix specializes in. And honestly? My impression was […]
In the Grey
Rating 5/10 Director Guy Ritchie has comfortably settled into the current phase of his career. His pictures have become reliable entertainment destined for streaming. Recent flicks like Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, The Covenant, and The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare didn’t reinvent the action genre, but they delivered solid thrills through sheer mechanical efficiency. You […]
The Sheep Detectives
Rating 6/10 After spending two decades playing Wolverine, Hugh Jackman now finds himself surrounded by sheep, making this picture the closest the actor has ever come to starring in The Woolverine. In the rural English village of Denbrook, reclusive shepherd George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) spends his days reading murder mysteries to his baa brigade. They […]
Hokum
Rating 7/10 Hokum? I hardly know’ em! Thankfully, director Damian McCarthy’s latest is far more effective than its goofy title suggests. The Irish filmmaker has built a reputation with the claustrophobic Caveat and the supernatural Oddity. The title of his third feature practically hands critics a free pass to dismiss it as a pile of […]
The Devil Wears Prada 2
Rating 7/10 Near the end of The Devil Wears Prada, Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway) makes a decisive break. Afraid of becoming like Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), she tosses her work phone into the Fontaines de la Concorde and walks away from Runway magazine for good. She promptly gets a job at the New York Mirror […]
Mother Mary
Rating 6/10 “When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me.” I can’t look upon this movie’s title without immediately singing the appropriate lyric from “Let It Be” by the Beatles. In a weird way, it makes sense. That misplaced connection is pretty common when it comes to director David Lowery […]
I Swear
Rating 7/10 The subject of the 1989 BBC television documentary John’s Not Mad was largely unknown to Americans until the 2026 BAFTA Awards brought him into public view. John Davidson was in the audience as I Swear, an adaptation of his life, competed for five awards. He lives with severe Tourette syndrome. During a live […]
Michael
Rating 5/10 There’s a nagging emptiness at the center of Michael. For all its spectacle and reverence, it never answers the most basic question a biopic should pose: Who was this person? The narrative follows a familiar arc, beginning with the Jackson 5 grinding through small-club performances before rising to fame, then charting Michael‘s solo […]
Fuze
Rating 6/10 A wartime relic from the Blitz becomes the fuse for something else entirely. Say hello to another heist thriller that aspires to the pantheon of classics, alongside Heat and Inside Man. Fuze takes its title from military terminology, hinting at a device engineered and ready to detonate. One wrong move could set everything […]