Movie Reviews

In The Father, Anthony Hopkins plays a man with dementia, and Olivia Coleman is the daughter whose name he occasionally forgets.

Arts

In 'The Father,' Anthony Hopkins' Mind Is Playing Tricks On Him — And On You

1:42pm March 18, 2021

by Justin Chang

Few films have gone as deeply into the recesses of dementia as The Father. Hopkins plays a man whose mind has become a prison — and we're trapped right alongside him.

Jasmila Zbanic plays a schoolteacher who works as a U.N. translator during the Bosnian war in Quo Vadis, Aida?

Arts

'Quo Vadis, Aida?' Reckons With The Devastating Legacy Of The Bosnian War

11:44am March 16, 2021

by Justin Chang

A tense new film, set in the town Srebrenica, conveys the terror of the events of July 1995, where more than 8,000 Bosniak Muslims were murdered by the Bosnian Serb Army.

Raya, a young warrior princess (Kelly Marie Tran), enlists the help of Sisu, a friendly water dragon (Awkwafina) in Raya and the Last Dragon.

Arts

'Raya And The Last Dragon' Is Not Entirely New, But It's Refreshing Nonetheless

10:56am March 05, 2021

by Justin Chang

Disney's first animated film to feature Southeast Asian characters follows a young girl's quest to recover the pieces of a magical jewel. The film has an emotional power that sneaks up on you.

Raya (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran) faces off with her lifelong foe (voiced by Gemma Chan) in the rich, gorgeously wrought Disney film.

Arts

'Raya And The Last Dragon' Soars

7:00am March 05, 2021

by Glen Weldon

A nuanced, flawed hero lends the latest Disney animated feature surprising depth, even if its grab-bag depiction of a world drawn from Southeast Asian cultures feels shallow.

Eddie Murphy returns as Prince Akeem in Coming 2 America.

Arts

'Coming 2 America': The Costumes Are Stunning

6:50am March 05, 2021

by Aisha Harris

More than three decades after the comedy classic Coming to America, much of the cast returns for an unnecessary sequel.

'Coming 2 America' Goes Heavy On Nostalgia

5:04am March 05, 2021

by Eric Deggans

The Eddie Murphy/Arsenio Hall comedy sequel Coming 2 America is now available to stream on Amazon Prime.

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A Writer's Memoir About Her Clerical Job Becomes The Movie 'My Salinger Year'

4:50pm March 04, 2021

by Bob Mondello

A young writer gets a clerical job with the book agent representing J.D. Salinger in My Salinger Year, a movie based on the memoir by Joanna Rakoff.

'The Truffle Hunters' Is On The 2021 Oscar Shortlist

6:23am March 04, 2021

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to movie critic Kenneth Turan about the Oscar-nominated film — The Truffle Hunters — which centers on the perilous search for rare, valuable truffles in Northern Italy.

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Arts

'Moxie' Says Some Things, But Not Everything, About High School Feminists

10:27am March 03, 2021

by Linda Holmes

Directed by Amy Poehler, the new Netflix film longs to stretch beyond its limits to be an inclusive look at feminism in teenagers, but its story works best when it keeps its ambitions modest.

Arts

Movie Review: 'The Father'

4:53pm February 26, 2021

by Bob Mondello

An elderly pensioner, played by Anthony Hopkins, refuses all assistance, to the distress of his daughter, played by Olivia Colman, in the dementia drama The Father.