Disappointing ‘GLADIATOR II’ Offers Bread and Circus
Ridley Scott’s Gladiator II is a beast of an audio-visual experience, best taken in on the biggest IMAX screen you can find. But its convoluted plotting and mimicry of its…
REVIEW
REVIEW
‘ANORA’ A Blistering Anti-Romance That Only Sean Baker Could Make
Mikey Madison rules the screen as a Brooklyn stripper who falls for the wealthy son of a Russian oligarch and the fallout their entanglement entails in the truly alive 'Anora'.…
REVIEW
‘CONCLAVE’ A Punchy Papal Political Thriller and One of the Best of the Year
Led by a masterful turn from the always-reliable Ralph Fiennes, 'Conclave' is a crackling actors' showcase forging standout production elements with a best-of-year script. There’s a cool irony to the…
REVIEW
Brutal Sequel ’SMILE 2’ Hosts The Curse of Celebrity
Despite featuring some truly grade-A kills, solid jump scares, and an electrifying scream queen in Naomi Scott, 'Smile 2' can’t quite manage to land this possessed plane without cheating—leaving this…
REVIEW
‘TERRIFIER 3’ Clowns Audiences With Depraved Slapstick Slashing
'Terrifier 3' combines malicious, vaudeville goofball humor with line-crossing brutality, frequency dancing across the line of what is thought to be acceptable with all the gory good humor of a…
REVIEW
A24’s ‘WE LIVE IN TIME’ a Thoughtful Melodrama About Quality Time, With Strong Leads
Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield bring heated chemistry to this romantic tragedy about a years-long love story complicated by a cancer diagnosis. John Crowley elevates this two-hander melodrama by treating…
REVIEW
‘THE APPRENTICE’ Reveals Young Donald Trump: Ambition, Power, and Moral Vacuousness
This biopic of Donald Trump’s early years wisely focuses on his time as the eager protégé of the infamous Roy Cohn, though condensing such a sprawling story into two hours…
REVIEW
Singsong Sequel ‘JOKER: FOLIE Á DEUX’ Is Provocative Anti-Entertainment
More interesting as a concept than in execution, 'Joker: Folie à Deux' is a bizarre, off-putting sequel that seems to reject everything that the first film stood for. The pairing…
REVIEW
Demi Moore is Breathtaking in Body Horror Triumph ‘THE SUBSTANCE’
Coralie Fargeat returns to the horror genre to deliver one of 2024's best films, 'The Substance'. With a remarkable return-to-form performance from Demi Moore, a chilling turn by Margaret Qualley,…
REVIEW
Wistful ‘MY OLD ASS’ Stops to Smell the Roses
A well-acted and poignant piece of coming-of-age filmmaking, 'My Old Ass' uses a genre conceit to explore the concept of do-overs and living in the moment. Maisy Stella, Percy Hynes…