“‘Haunt’ Writers on Their ‘A Quiet Place’ Success and the ‘Crazy, Zany’ Script They’re Working On”

Nervous about talking to filmmakers whose last movie left you kind of cold? No problem, especially when their new one is pretty rad! Continue reading →

“Vox Lux, A Star Is Born, And Bohemian Rhapsody All Challenged The Pop Persona In 2018”

2018 had pop stardom on its mind, but the best pop star movie of the year is the one that bothers being honest about how we talk pop culture in the first place. Continue reading →

“How ‘Bird Box’ Tweaked the Book’s Ending”

You have questions about the ending of BIRD BOX. We have answers. (Actually, I have questions, and I have answers, plus residual anxiety that Netflix will green-light a totally unnecessary sequel to this thing.) Continue reading →

“‘Escape Room’ and the Comfort of a Predictable Formula”

I generally avoid describing movies as “formulaic”*, except as a matter of fact; I neither consider formula a positive nor a negative. Formulas have their place. Good movies rely on formula. Bad movies rely on formula. Movies in between the two, the movies that comprise the majority of the bricks in the cinematic pyramid, also … Continue reading →

“Films By Women: Four Movies To Watch From December”

  It’s the last “Films By Women” piece of 2018! I bet you’re pretty bummed. But it’s okay; there’ll be other lists soon. Like, “in a month” soon. We’re already getting our 2019 watching underway over here in Andy Crump land. (There is no “we.” I am using the royal “we.” It’s my blog! I … Continue reading →

“Christian Bale’s Chubby Dick Cheney Impersonation Is the Only Interesting Thing About Vice”

I tried, guys. I promise you I tried. Oh, how I tried to give Vice, the new Adam McKay movie, a fair shake; tried not to read the movie as “The Big Short, but wicked extra, and also obnoxious.” But I couldn’t, because that’s exactly what it is, times ten, and don’t let any clever types try … Continue reading →

“Trevante Rhodes Does His Most Important Work Before 8 a.m.”

No better way to preamble this piece than by saying that speaking with Trevante Rhodes was a humbling experience; he’s a gracious man, to say nothing of his talents as an actor or his Herculean physique, and while we did do some press about his new movie (Susanne Bier’s Bird Box), we talked more about male identity … Continue reading →

Review: Aquaman, 2018, dir. James Wan

Preamble: Man, the DCEU movies are fucking bad. (Excepting Wonder Woman, which is good until it’s bad.) …okay, got that out of the way. Aquaman kinda rocks. Like Wonder Woman, Aquaman cradles its share of flaws and bad creative decisions, most of them involving the totally great Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who deserves to be a big huge movie star and … Continue reading →

Review: Cold War, 2018, dir. Pawel Pawlikowski

I did, four years ago, write a review of Pawel Pawlikowski’s post-war masterpiece Ida, but I’m not certain it’s still online or if I ever even shared it on this website; that’s too bad, because it’d be nice to revisit my words for context for Cold War, Pawlikowski’s new film, which I imagine years from now I’ll also … Continue reading →

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Shows That Anyone Can Be Spider-Man”

True story: On first hearing of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, I wrote it off and put it out of my memory, thinking, “this sounds like a pretty naked excuse to put a bunch of different Spider-Man variations into a single movie for the purpose of moving lots of ancillary product, and also most Marvel movies aren’t … Continue reading →

“The 15 Best Horror Movies of 2018”

Well, you can’t win ’em all. Thought exercise: Even if I did like Suspiria and Hereditary (they’re bad), I’d probably put Mandy ahead of them both. Mandy is a distinct horror throwback, but the film feels current, of the moment, a time capsule for reviewing its era sans wistful nostalgia, and it frankly stands to move the genre forward in … Continue reading →

“The 10 Best Movies in Theaters Right Now”

“Hmm,” you’re saying, checking movie listings, trying to figure out what exactly you should consider going out to the movie theater palace to see, gauging whether or not this movie or that movie is worth spending your money (which you can earn back) and your time (of which you have a finite amount as a … Continue reading →

“‘Mowgli’ in the Shadow of ‘Lord of the Rings'”

It happens to us all: We crib, subconsciously, from the books and movies and shows and plays and such that make up our creative genetic material, whether when we’re writing our own books or movies or whatever, or writing about others’ books or movies or whatever. In the case of Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle, that mental bleed wound … Continue reading →

Review: Clara’s Ghost, 2018, dir. Bridey Elliott

I suspect, by now, that a number of those of you reading my work and my Twitter feed are just about sick of hearing me complain about Ari Aster’s Hereditary. Well…I’m going to complain about it a couple times more, though in this instance, we’re talking less about a complaint than a comparison. If you’re going to make … Continue reading →

Review: Shoplifters, 2018, dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda

Two Hirokazu Kore-eda movies! In one year! What a gift to all of humanity, Shoplifters in particular, this humane but knotty and deeply complicated movie; good though The Third Murder may be, it simply isn’t Shoplifters, the best “family is what you make it” movie of 2018 (and “family is what you make it” is indeed a surprising sub-theme … Continue reading →

“‘Robin Hood’ And Making A War Movie Out Of A Folk Hero”

Look, I really can’t explain Robin Hood to you, even in two frigging articles; it’s an inexplicable movie. On the one hand, he’s Batman for whatever dumb reason. On the other hand he’s Chris Kyle. I don’t get it. It’s fine to try and update classic characters of yore like this guy, but I’m not sure the … Continue reading →

“Creed II Review: It’s An Even Better Version Of Rocky IV”

I liked Creed. I have Feelings™ about Rocky IV. It stands to reason that I’d feel at least minor trepidation about a Creed movie that addresses the events of Rocky IV, even though down the line the Creed chapters in the Rocky franchise would need to address Rocky IV out of continuity necessity.  So consider it a Thanksgiving miracle that Creed II, which opens today, the … Continue reading →

“The New Robin Hood Steals From Batman Begins And Gives Back In Poorer Form”

I’m increasingly convinced that superheroes will be the death of pop culture, and that one day, not too many days away from this day we’re on right now, all will be superheroes. Superhero movies and superhero TV series’ are just the beginning. Superhero music. (Probably already a thing.) Superhero diet plans. (Same.) Superhero high fashion. Superhero … Continue reading →

“What ‘Fantastic Beasts’ Lost by Leaving ‘Harry Potter’ Behind”

You may remember that two years ago, I had very unflattering things to say about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, allegedly a “spin-off” from and “prequel” to the Harry Potter films, but more honestly an attempt at squeezing a few bajillion more dimes out of J.K. Rowling’s now-classic YA series. To paraphrase Sarah Silverman in Popstar: … Continue reading →

“Chris Pine And A Banner Year For Male Nudity”

Two things: The original title of this piece, or, more honestly, the suggested title, was “Chris Pine‘s Wood.” Obviously that got nixed, for reasons I can appreciate and agree with. I forgot about The Spy Who Dumped Me, which has some impressive male dong and balls on display, and was reminded by a dear friend after the … Continue reading →