Sirāt
Rating 7/10 Sirāt is unmoored from geographical borders. It drifts between Spanish, French, and Arabic languages more fluidly than its travelers drift across a vast desert terrain. Director Óliver Laxe is French-born but grew up in Spain, where his career has been nurtured and financed. He has worked for years within Spanish cinema. Meanwhile, this […]
Crime 101
Rating 7/10 Crime 101 sounds like an elective you have to take in college to fulfill a requirement. It tells you nothing about the duel at the heart of this picture: A jewel thief comes up against the detective obsessed with catching him. I assume the title was meant as a clever wink to the […]
2026 Oscar Nominated Shorts: Documentary
This year’s 2026 Oscar-Nominated Short Films: Documentary program opened in theaters on February 20 through Roadside Attractions. The five nominees present intimate portraits drawn from real-world crises that wallow in grief. Well, four of them do anyway. For reasons known only to the Academy, this category heavily favors grim subjects. It’s a dispiriting lineup. Only […]
2026 Oscar Nominated Shorts: Live-Action
This year’s Oscar-Nominated Short Films: Live Action program is being presented in theaters beginning February 20 by Roadside Attractions. Five individual films showcase the range of storytelling, each one under a runtime of 40 minutes. From intimate character studies to hypothetical dystopias, the lineup demonstrates how quickly a story can be told. The subjects differ, […]
2026 Oscar Nominated Shorts: Animation
This year’s Oscar-Nominated Short Films: Animated program is being presented in theaters starting February 20 by Roadside Attractions. Five different films demonstrate just how much can be accomplished in mere minutes of screen time. Each one offers a unique perspective, proving that brevity can heighten impact. While the shorts vary widely in tone, they share […]
Wuthering Heights
Rating 5/10 Quotation marks can imply a distance from the source. Director Emerald Fennell has been quite candid about the punctuation around the title of “Wuthering Heights.” In interviews, she has stated, “You can’t adapt a book as dense and complicated and difficult as this book.” This adaptation does not purport to be faithful to […]
The Moment
Rating 6/10 Prior to this movie, I could not have picked Charli XCX out of a lineup of six. However, I’m tangentially familiar with a few of the British singer’s songs. She co-wrote and contributed vocals to “I Love It” by Swedish duo Icona Pop. It was a massive hit in the U.S. in the […]
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
7/10 If I Had Legs I’d Kick You had to be one of the most bizarre titles of 2025. It suggests having the desire to lash out, but lacking the ability or permission to do so. The movie played in fewer than 300 theaters back in October. For comparison, Black Phone 2 expanded to 3,460 […]
Send Help
Rating 7/10 Our story begins in the misery of corporate life. Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) is an awkward, overlooked employee at a consulting firm. She has been promised a long-awaited promotion. Instead, it is handed to a smug coworker (Xavier Samuel) after Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien), the son of the company’s late manager, takes over. […]
Is This Thing On?
Rating 7/10 Some movies are fastidiously crafted works that announce themselves with a megaphone. Others step up to the mic, clear their throat, and start talking without any preparation. Is This Thing On? is in the latter category. But that’s part of the appeal. Bradley Cooper directs this mix of comedy and drama with a […]