Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
[5] Thor: Love and Thunder is another Marvel movie. It is better than a few other Marvel movies, but not as good as most. It was never torturous to watch, but if a storm knocked the movie theater's power out,…
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)
[6] Benedict Cumberbatch makes his first official sequel as Marvel's Doctor Strange, although he's appeared in many other Marvel movies since the first film was released in 2016. The core concept of this movie has dramatic potential, casting one of…
Summer of 85 (2020)
[5] Director François Ozon (8 Women, Swimming Pool) adapts a French young adult novel (Aiden Chambers' Dance on My Grave) about a sixteen-year-old boy who falls in love with a slightly older boy who rescues him when his sailboat capsizes…
Moonfall (2022)
[1] Roland Emmerich must be stopped. Since 1996's Independence Day, the director has been obsessed with apocalyptic disaster movies like Godzilla, 10,000 BC, The Day After Tomorrow, and 2012 -- each one exponentially dumber than the preceding. When I heard…
The Black Phone (2021)
[6] A 13-year old boy is kidnapped and locked away in the basement of a serial killer. As the killer tries to engage the boy in mind games, the boy starts receiving otherworldly phone calls from a disconnected phone on…
Men (2022)
[9] Writer/director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation) serves up this intimate horror/thriller about a woman (Oscar nominee Jessie Buckley) who escapes London for the English countryside after the death of her ex-husband. Once there, however, she encounters several strange men…
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent (2022)
[7] Nicolas Cage plays himself in this meta action-comedy that finds the actor on the verge of reluctant retirement before a wealthy fan (The Mandalorian's Pedro Pascal) summons him to coastal Spain for a birthday party. Once there, the two…
The Northman (2022)
[9] Before seeing The Northman, I already considered director Robert Eggers the most exciting director working today. His debut film, The Witch, is my favorite film of the 21st century thus far, and The Lighthouse is a fascinating follow-up. With…
Scream (2022)
[6] I like all the Scream movies, and I'm happy to say that trend continues with this fifth entry in the franchise. Not that the fuel tank isn't getting low. While the original movie marries an inspired script with tight…
The Power of the Dog (2021)
[8] Just as she did with The Piano nearly thirty years ago, director Jane Campion exposes the tragic consequences of rigid gender conformity in The Power of the Dog. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as a deeply closeted gay cattle rancher in…