Them! (1954)
[6] Often regarded the best of the atomic age 'giant critter' flicks, Them! is best in the beginning, during two police officers' discovery of a little girl roaming the desert in a catatonic state. Looking for her family, they come…
Beauty and the Beast (1991)
[8] Disney goes Broadway in the first animated motion picture ever nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (in the days before they rolled out a separate category for the medium). This version of the classic fairy tale is fueled by…
School Ties (1992)
[6] In this period piece set in 1950s New England, Brendan Fraser stars as a high school quarterback who gets recruited to a prestigious preparatory school where he must hide the fact that he's Jewish. School Ties feels desperate to cash in…
Wonder Woman (2017)
[8] After many failed attempts (here, here, and here) to compete with Marvel by launching their own 'expanded universe', DC has finally pulled their shit together. Wonder Woman works. It works as an origin story for the character, it works…
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
[7] Everyone in front of and behind the camera is back for another go-round in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, a fun time at the movies, even if it falls a tad short of the first film's humor and…
Call Me By Your Name (2017)
[10] In picturesque Italy, 1983, a seventeen-year-old boy falls in love with an older man who is working as his father's research assistant. That's it. That's all Call Me By Your Name is about. And it's marvelous. So many other…
Logan (2017)
[8] Writer/director James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line) returns to the X-Men franchise after 2013's The Wolverine and serves up a highly satisfying conclusion for its centerpiece hero. Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart return as Logan/Wolverine and Charles/Professor…
The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
[8] Hailee Steinfeld (Oscar nominee for the Coen Brothers' True Grit remake) stars as a high school girl on the edge of a nervous breakdown when she discovers her best and only friend has begun dating her brother. Writer/director Kelly Fremon…
Doctor Strange (2016)
[6] Benedict Cumberbatch stars as a celebrated surgeon who loses the use of his hands in a car accident and then pursues Eastern mysticism which, of course, leads to superpowers and magic and shit. Doctor Strange is another rote effort from…
My Bodyguard (1980)
[8] Writer Alan Ormsby and director Tony Bill create a compelling coming-of-age story that avoids two of the greatest pitfalls of the genre: it doesn't talk down to its subjects and it doesn't wallow in sentimentality. Chris Makepeace and Adam…