Suburbicon (2017)
[4] After his mother is killed in a home invasion, a young boy (Noah Jupe) begins to suspect his father (Matt Damon) and aunt (Julianne Moore) staged the event -- and that his life is now in danger, too. He tries to…
Dune: Part One (2021)
[8] Director Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049, Arrival) takes a stab at delivering Frank Herbert's dense, complicated science-fiction novel to the big screen. Dune centers around a teenaged royal named Paul Atreides (Call Me By Your Name's Timothée Chalamet) whose family is…
Frankenstein (2025)
[7] Director Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water, Pan's Labyrinth) puts his cinematic stamp on Mary Shelley's formative sci-fi novel, casting Oscar Isaac (Dune: Part One, Annihilation) as the obsessed Victor Frankenstein who brings an assembly of dead body parts to…
Ex Machina (2015)
[8] Writer/director Alex Garland (Annihilation, Men) delivers a thoughtful, character-driven psychological thriller with sci-fi overtones in Ex Machina. Domhnall Gleeson plays a computer programmer summoned to a remote research facility where an eccentric entrepreneur (Oscar Isaac) has created a highly advanced artificial…
Annihilation (2018)
[8] Writer/director Alex Garland (The Beach, Sunshine) casts Natalie Portman as a biologist who joins a team of other female scientists into a mysterious, growing dome called 'the shimmer'. Inside they quickly learn that the phenomenon is altering the DNA of flora…
Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
[7] It's best to go into The Rise of Skywalker knowing that this third Star Wars trilogy has never had a strong guiding hand. It's not the result of a carefully premeditated creative effort. Creator George Lucas was not there watching over…
Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
[8] Writer/director Rian Johnson (Brick, Looper) picks up the reigns and steers the franchise into bold, new waters with an entry that summons Star Wars fans to let go of the past and wipe the slate clean, so that something new can…
Body of Lies (2008)
[5] Ridley Scott directs Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe in a story about a CIA agent (DiCaprio) trying to bust a terrorist leader in Jordan while having his chain yanked by both the Jordan and American governments. I could also describe it…
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
[8] Bryan Singer returns to helm his fourth film in the X-Men series, and he hits another home run. This one picks up some number of years after the events of Days of Future Past, as an ancient all-powerful baddie named Apocalypse…
Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
[7] J.J. Abrams (Lost, Super 8) takes the directing reigns from creator George Lucas and delivers a better film than any of the prequels. Original core cast members join new players in a script co-written by Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, who penned…