Originally a Quibi miniseries that was later edited into a feature-length film for Hulu, The Stranger is a compelling misfire. It showcases exceptional performances, solid filmmaking, and a nightmarishly intriguing premise. However, its increasing and distracting implausibility and, not to mention, the shoddy explanations for it, make it a movie within which it is hard […]

Abigail Though its primary plot twist has already been spoiled to death in marketing materials and other reviews, I won’t spoil it here because that’s about all the movie has going for it and it’s a highly flat experience without the surprise. In short, a group of criminals kidnap a child ballerina and everything slowly […]

A young woman (Lucy Boynton) who is grieving over the death of her boyfriend (David Corenswet) finds that she can travel back in time to different parts of their relationship when she listens to music that the two of them previously heard together. With this ability, she makes it her mission to correct the past […]

2023 was a conflicted year for the movie industry. On one hand, it is the year that it finally found its post-COVID footing and audiences returned to theatres in droves. The year peaked with the dubbed “Barbenheimer” July weekend that saw the release of two major financial and critical hits, Barbie and Oppenheimer. On the […]

Cat Person opens with the following quote from author Margaret Atwood: “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” There could not be a better summary of the themes explored in the film, and the quote comes to mind often while watching it. Could men really […]

Almost needless to say, 1989’s Road House is an essential ‘80s action movie. It stars the now-departed and dearly missed Patrick Swayze. It was directed by the highly underrated Rowdy Herrington (Jack’s Back, The Stick Up). And it was produced by the man behind some of cinema’s most classic action offerings, Joel Silver (Lethal Weapon, […]

A group of young men (Zac Efron, Andrew Santino, Jermaine Fowler) who have been friends since childhood have been getting away with mischief for years by blaming the trouble they cause/responsibilities they shirk on a fictional best friend they invented named Ricky Stanicky. When their loved ones eventually insist on meeting the mysterious friend behind […]

A small-town, widowed police chief (Jon Hamm) investigates the murders of two women with the same name, uncovering a strange conspiracy involving a corrupt sandwich shop chain owner (Micah Stock) and his efforts to steal from the corporation that employs him. Details get stranger as things progress and numerous quirky lowlifes and inept criminals litter […]

The 2002 French film, Irreversible, is one of the most disturbing and extreme films ever made. Directed and conceived by the fearless and thunderously provocative auteur Gaspar Noé, the breathtakingly bold film tells an overall simple story about two men (Vincent Cassel and Albert Dupontel) who are seeking revenge after their current lover/ex-lover (Monica Bellucci) […]

Meg Ryan stars in and directs What Happens Later, a wholly endearing and minimalistic romantic comedy. Poorly received by both audiences and critics, the film is far better than it has been given credit for being and deserves to have its day in the sun. Unfortunately, it might be a bit too unconventional for Ryan’s […]