“‘Promising Young Woman’ Spurns Emerald Fennell’s Promise”

I can promise you this: Unlike Dennis Harvey, I think Carey Mulligan is 100% hot enough to serve as this film’s lead. Continue reading →

“‘Frozen 2’s’ Themes Become Darker Even as the Kid Gloves Stay On”

Hell yeah, a grown-ass man beating up on the adorable kids film, because my HEART is COLD as ICE. Continue reading →

Interview: Ira Sachs, “Little Men”

I didn’t put Ira Sachs’ Little Men on my top ten of the year thus far list, but if I’d revisited it before seeing Mike Birbiglia’s Don’t Think Twice, it might have ended up at least in the ten slot, and possibly higher. It’s one of the films in 2016 that comes as close to perfect as possible, … Continue reading →

Review: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, 2016, dir. Glenn Ficarra & John Requa

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot has a Tina Fey problem, but then again, Tina Fey’s movie career has a Tina Fey problem. How is it this hard to figure out how best to transition Fey’s multi-pronged TV persona into multiplex success? Maybe it’s worth looking at Fey’s big-screen choices before we look at her as an actress: movies like Date Night … Continue reading →

Review: Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet, 2015, dir. Roger Allers

“Should we consider Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet kids’ fare? The default categorization for any animated movie with a child protagonist is “children’s film,” but if it’s easy to picture a theater full of tykes getting swept up in this movie’s gorgeous imagery, it’s equally as difficult to imagine them nodding along with its philosophical apothegms. … Continue reading →

Review: Rango, 2011, dir. Gore Verbinski

Gore Verbinski got his kid’s movie in our spaghetti Westerns and neo noirs, and the results are surprisingly excellent. Rango, Verbinski’s 2011 animated story of a chameleon who lives in a terrarium and possesses aspirations of stage acting, is a gem, madcap and nutty and palatable for kids but most rewarding for movie lovers and … Continue reading →

Review: An Education, 2009, dir. Lone Scherfig

A critical darling of 2009, Lone Scherfig’s An Education approaches its subject matter– the blossoming relationship shared by Carey Mulligan’s not-yet-of-age schoolgirl and Peter Sarsgaard’s cultured and much older gentleman– with such a deft hand as to negate any potential for casting a lecherous taint upon the story. By any account, this should be treated … Continue reading →