Licorice Pizza (2021)

Licorice Pizza (2021)

[8] Hollywood often waters down characters and storylines to make them universally appealing. Filmmakers like Paul Thomas Anderson with Licorice Pizza, or David O. Russell with Joy and The Fighter, are challenging that notion with stories of tremendous specificity --…
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

Silver Linings Playbook (2012)

[8] Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence star in this tale of two clinically depressed people (he's diagnosed bipolar) who strike up an unusual relationship. She teaches him to dance with her for an upcoming competition in exchange for delivering letters…
Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

Wet Hot American Summer (2001)

[7] Camp counselors engage in all kinds of shenanigans on the last day of summer camp in August, 1981. Wet Hot American Summer is a throwback to raunchy, sexy comedies of the early '80s, elevated by a charismatic ensemble cast…
The Mule (2018)

The Mule (2018)

[7] Clint Eastwood directs and stars in The Mule, the story of a 90-year-old man who becomes a drug runner for a dangerous Mexican cartel. The money keeps Eastwood's character motivated. Meanwhile, his ex-wife and daughter express disappointment with his…
A Star is Born (2018)

A Star is Born (2018)

[8] Director/co-star Bradley Cooper decided it was time for a fourth version of A Star is Born (previous versions were released in 1937, 1954, and 1976). I haven't yet seen any of those versions, so I'm coming into this one…
Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

[8] I've been hard on Marvel movies for being cookie-cutter and devoid of surprises, but Avengers: Infinity War stops that trend dead in its tracks. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Civil War) are downright…
All About Steve (2009)

All About Steve (2009)

[3] Sandra Bullock gives her most offputting and peculiar performance in All About Steve, a film that sets the feminist movement back about fifty years. Bullock plays Mary, a woman in her forties who lives with her parents, tries to…
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

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…
The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

The Place Beyond the Pines (2012)

[7] The Place Beyond the Pines, from writer/director Derek Cianfrance (Blue Valentine), is a family epic of sorts. The first third of the film follows a low-life motorcycle showman, played by Ryan Gosling, who turns to crime to try and…
Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

[8] James Gunn (Slither) co-writes and directs one of the best Marvel movies ever. The plot is simple, nothing new or groundbreaking. Good guys gotta stop bad guys from literally destroying the world. Been there, done that, right? And like…