Now and then, a film will come along that unexpectedly reaffirms your faith in the power and creativity of cinema. To put it simply, RRR is an insanely good time at the movies. It’s 3 hours of sheer cinematic bliss and uplifting energy that’s contagious. Sadly I can’t say I’m …

Tom Hanks has reached grumpy old man territory in A Man Called Otto. The 66-year-old actor is in his 5th decade of acting, and this material is more in his alley house than his polarizing performance in Elvis. The film is a character study of how grief and loss cause …

Scott Cooper is a remarkably atmospheric director. If you’ve seen Out of the Furnace (2013) and Hostiles (2017), those are two particularly methodically paced films. His latest, The Pale Blue Eye, is no different. Set in 1830 at West Point, the film oozes dread with a blueish hue. You can …

David O. Russell films are an acquired taste. The acting in them is very mannered and specific. This is true, especially regarding his later films like Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle. He has primarily had success with anarchic films like Flirting With Disaster, Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees and …

There’s no denying Brendan Fraser accomplishes the performance of his life in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale. I say this as a long-time fan of his work. He’s always been a good actor who recently returned to the limelight. It’s a performance an actor can sink his teeth into due to …

John Patton Ford’s film debut reflects the current times we live in. Emily, in a breakout performance by Aubrey Plaza, is deeply in debt due to student loans. Not being able to find a well-paying job because she has a criminal record, Emily feels forced to get involved in a …

Rian Johnson is ok by me as long as he remains away from Star Wars. While not quite as good, his sequel to the immensely enjoyable Knives Out (2019) is a satisfying spell from beginning to end. In its own right, Glass Onion is a well-written, well-acted, clever mystery whodunit. …

In Damien Chazelle’s fifth feature Babylon, he swings for the fences. This unwieldy, uncompromising three-hour film is perhaps the last of its kind, given the current trend in the movie industry. It represents a director who, given his recent success (Whiplash, La La Land – for which he won an …

Watching Halloween Ends is a highly bizarre experience. Then again, so is David Gordon Green’s trilogy taken as a whole. I admire him for wanting to try something different. Halloween (2018) established the old Halloween franchise feeling successfully.  Halloween Kills (2021) is more of an action movie with Laurie sidelined. …

While I think Top Gun: Maverick isn’t a great film, there’s no way it needs to be as good as it is. Seemingly it has everything going against it. Why revisit this franchise over 35 years later? Tom Cruise is almost 60 years old! Despite that, the sequel has succeeded …