Movie Reviews

Chris Evans Plays A Prosecutor In 'Defending Jacob' Series

3:54pm April 24, 2020

by Eric Deggans

Superhero movie star Chris Evans plays a more down-to-earth role of a prosecutor whose 14-year-old son is accused of a murder in Defending Jacob, a limited series on Apple TV+.

For years, Karen and Barry Mason ran a Los Angeles bookshop that sold and distributed gay pornography.

Books
Arts

The Mom-And-Pop Bookstore That Sold Gay Porn: 'Circus Of Books'

8:51pm April 23, 2020

by Scott Tobias

Rachel Mason and her siblings grew up unaware that their parents ran a gay bookstore. Her "affectionate but thinly realized" documentary skims the surface of stories that deserve deeper dives.

Outlaw Ned Kelly (George Mackay) slings his guns in True History of the Kelly Gang.

Arts

Portrait Of The Outlaw As A Young Man: 'True History Of The Kelly Gang'

5:16pm April 23, 2020

by Ella Taylor

This slyly subversive revisionist take on an infamous Australian outlaw presents the burnished popular myth and a darker, brutal and tragicomic take alongside one another.

Georges (Jean Dujardin) goes beyond the fringe in Deerskin.

Arts

'Deerskin' Is Buckwild

5:00pm April 23, 2020

by Mark Jenkins

A man (Jean Dujardin) becomes obsessed with a deerskin jacket — and pretending to be a film director — in a dark comedy that is "both outlandish and slight."

Selah (Lovie Simone) rules the school in Selah and the Spades.

Arts

Assured Debut 'Selah And The Spades' Explores The Thin Line Between Clique And Cult

5:00pm April 16, 2020

by Ella Taylor

Set at an elite, ethnically diverse boarding school, Tayarisha Poe's first feature is "a YA gangster movie that doubles as a soulful meditation on the beauty and danger of power."

Hilma af Klint paints in the streaming-on-demand documentary Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint.

Arts

Documentary 'Beyond The Visible: Hilma Af Klint' Makes Solid Case For Abstract Artist

5:00pm April 16, 2020

by Scott Tobias

This documentary about an under-recognized abstract painter presents "an extensive case for Klint as a major artist while casting a jaundiced eye on how art history gets written."

Delivery van driver Ricky (Kris Hitchen) takes a break with his his daughter (Katie Proctor) in the Ken Loach drama Sorry We Missed You.

Arts

3 Movies That Strike A Balance Between Escapism And Anxiety

1:32pm April 14, 2020

by Justin Chang

What to watch next while sheltering in place? Critic Justin Chang recommends Sorry We Missed You, Green for Danger and My Neighbor Totoro.

Queue Listen Now

Pin-Ju (Hong-Chi Lee) and Yuan (Yo-Hsing Fang) in the Netflix release Tigertail.

Arts

In The Disappointingly Thin 'Tigertail,' A Taiwanese Immigrant Struggles To Connect

10:22am April 10, 2020

by Scott Tobias

Writer/director Alan Yang turns away from his proven track record in comedy for this "earnest, drippy" multi-generational drama that traffics in underwritten, wanly dramatized conflicts.

Yevgenich (Michael Gor) and Matvey (Aleksandr Kuznetsov) look sanguine in Why Don't You Just Die!

Arts

Gore-Flecked 'Why Don't You Just Die!' Is Brutally Fun

5:00pm April 09, 2020

by Mark Jenkins

Writer/director Kirill Sokolov's stylish and exuberant black comedy involves a corrupt cop, his would-be killer and a sardonic take on contemporary life in Russia.

Shepherd (Michiel Huisman) and his flock in The Other Lamb.

Arts

A Young Cult Member Turns Against Her Flock In 'The Other Lamb'

5:00pm April 02, 2020

by Scott Tobias

Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska's film about a young woman (Raffey Cassidy) questioning her place in a remote religious cult wears its broad allegory on its (woolen) sleeve.