Movie Reviews

Arts

A Family Moves From Tragedy To Terror In 'Hereditary'

2:18pm June 06, 2018

by Justin Chang

A new film offers a searing portrait of a family wracked by grief — and by mysterious forces. Reviewer Justin Chang says Hereditary is the most emotionally devastating horror movie he's seen in ages.

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Wee Ol' Teddy, Marmalade: Ben Whishaw voices the perpetually well-meaning bear in Paddington 2.

Arts

Pop Culture Happy Hour: The Charming And Disarming 'Paddington' Cinematic Universe

5:00am June 06, 2018

by Glen Weldon

At last, we take a deep, overdue dive into the sweet, tangy jars of emotional marmalade that are the Paddington films.

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'American Animals' Uses Documentary Techniques To Tell Story Of Kentucky Book Heist

5:08pm June 01, 2018

by Bob Mondello

NPR critic Bob Mondello reviews American Animals. It's a heist film that uses actors to tell a true story, and also uses the real perpetrators to comment on its storytelling.

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American Animals tells the mostly-true story of four young boys who attempt to pull off a rare book heist. (L-R: Jared Abrahamson, Evan Peters, Blake Jenner, Barry Keoghan)

Arts

Life Tries Clumsily To Imitate Art In 'American Animals'

5:01pm May 31, 2018

by Mark Jenkins

A heist isn't as easy as the movies might lead you to believe. That's the lesson learned by four brats who try to steal expensive rare books in a fact-based story about being terrible at crime.

In A Kid Like Jake, Greg (Jim Parsons) is the father of a child engaging in gender expansive play.

Arts

'A Kid Like Jake' Doesn't Have Enough Jake

5:01pm May 31, 2018

by Andrew Lapin

A film about rich parents using their child's gender expression to get him into preschool doesn't spend enough time getting to know Jake or enough time looking closely at his parents.

The celebrated french sculptor Auguste Rodin (played by Vincent Lindon) is the subject of the aptly titled Rodin. The film tells the story of the artist's romance with Camille Claudel.

Arts

'Rodin' Shines As A Story Of Both Artist And Art

5:00pm May 31, 2018

by Ella Taylor

While many biographies of artists focus on their tortured personal lives, Rodin maintains a close focus on sculpture itself and what makes it last.

In Adrift, two free-spirited lovers (Sam Claflin, Shailene Woodley) take an ambitious sailing trip...that's complicated by the arrival of a hurricane.

Arts

'Adrift' In Time And Water, Lovers Battle To Find A Course

5:00pm May 31, 2018

by Scott Tobias

Adrift, starring Sam Claflin and Shailene Woodley, could have been a generic disaster film, if not for some clever editing that helps pull together its themes.

Arts

A Birdbrained Library Heist Is Suffused With Irony In 'American Animals'

2:12pm May 31, 2018

by David Edelstein

In 2004, four young men stole rare art books valued at more than three-quarters of a million dollars from a college library. American Animals blends fiction and documentary to retell the story.

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Elle Fanning plays Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (nee Godwin), the author of Frankenstein, in Mary Shelley.

Arts

'Mary Shelley' Is Less Than The Sum Of Its Parts

5:00pm May 24, 2018

by Mark Jenkins

Elle Fanning stars in this uneven, "perfumed account" of Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin's romance with poet Percy Shelley, and the fateful weekend that birthed her novel Frankenstein.

In Summer 1993, a six-year--old girl (Laia Artigas) is sent to live with relatives in the countryside after her mother's death. The film is based on director Carla Simon's own experience.

Arts

In Lush Catalonia, A Girl Grieves In Her Own Way: 'Summer 1993'

5:00pm May 24, 2018

by Ella Taylor

In Spanish filmmaker Carla Simon's "intimately visual" autobiographical debut feature, a young girl from Barcelona is sent to live in the country after the death of her mother.