Movie Reviews

An alien force adjusts reality's tint for Nathan Gardner (Nicolas Cage) and family in Color Out Of Space.

Arts

No Love, Little Craft In Pulpy Body-Horror Flick 'Color Out Of Space'

5:00pm January 23, 2020

by Mark Jenkins

In this loose, grisly adaptation of an H.P. Lovecraft story, a family undergoes a series of mutations while Nicolas Cage gets increasingly unhinged; the result is "a gory mess."

The story of a man (Mackenson Bijou) who was brought back from the dead casts a long shadow into the present in Zombi Child.

Arts

'Zombi Child': When The Real Horror Is Colonialism

5:00pm January 23, 2020

by Andrew Lapin

Writer-director Bertrand Bonello uses the tale of a Haitian zombie to explore intergenerational racial trauma in this quiet, moody film.

In writer/director Makoto Shinkai's latest animated feature, Hodaka (voiced by Kotaro Daigo, L) meets Hina (voiced by Nana Mori, R), a girl who can stop the rain.

Arts

Who'll Stop The Rain? She Will: 'Weathering With You'

5:01pm January 16, 2020

by Ella Taylor

Makoto Shinkai's latest animated feature doesn't live up to his hit Your Name, with which it shares many plot similarities. But it speaks to anxieties about climate change in a captivating way.

"Polly want a movie!": Dr. John Dolittle (Robert Downey Jr.) and parrot (voiced by Emma Thompson) are lost at sea in Dolittle.

Arts

'Dolittle' Does A Lot, All Of It Terribly

5:00pm January 16, 2020

by Scott Tobias

Robert Downey Jr.'s first post-Marvel-Universe foray "is a not a film. Dolittle is a crime scene in need of forensic analysis. Something happened here. Something terrible. Something inexplicable."

'Weathering With You' Is The Latest Anime From Makoto Shinkai

4:40pm January 16, 2020

by Bob Mondello

There's a new anime movie from the creator of Your Name — this one about a girl who may be able to control the weather.

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Arts

'1917' Is A Mind-Boggling Technological Achievement — But Not A Great Film

1:21pm January 15, 2020

by Justin Chang

Sam Mendes filmed his suspenseful beat-the-clock thriller in what appears to be one continuous take. It's an impressive feat — but it makes the WWI movie feel like an overly polished one-shot wonder.

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Violinist Rose (Freya Tingley) frets in The Sonata.

Arts

Horror Film 'The Sonata' Is Tuneless And Off-Key

5:01pm January 09, 2020

A young violin virtuoso inherits a spooky mansion — and a Satanic piece of music — in this "dreadfully dull" film.

Three Christs, No Waiting: Joseph (Bradley Whitford), Leon (Peter Dinklage) and Clyde (Walton Goggins) in Jon Avnet's film.

Arts

'Three Christs': A Too-Simple Film About The Messiah Complex

5:00pm January 09, 2020

Loosely based on the story of real-life psychiatrist who treated three patients who believed themselves to be Jesus, Jon Avnet's film clings to glib Hollywood cliches about mental illness.

France Has Nominated 'Les Misérables' To The Oscars — No, Not That One

4:36pm January 09, 2020

by Bob Mondello

France's Oscar contender for best international feature this year is titled Les Misérables. But it has nothing to do with Victor Hugo or the musical — this one is inspired by the 2005 Paris riots.

Encore: '1917' Review

8:01pm January 06, 2020

by Bob Mondello

The World War I film 1917 won best picture at the Golden Globes Sunday night. The film tells the story of an urgent rush to the front lines, designed to look like one continuous shot.

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