Movie Reviews

Spider-Man Faces The Usual Villains, An Unusually Tricky Storyline In 'Far From Home'

4:45pm July 01, 2019

by Bob Mondello

Marvel's Spider-Man: Far From Home finds Peter Parker on vacation in London when a new super-guy shows up: Mysterio, played by Jake Gyllenhaal.

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'Ophelia' Sees The World Differently Than Shakespeare's Prince Hamlet

5:57pm June 28, 2019

by Bob Mondello

Claire McCarthy's new film Ophelia takes the Bard's advice to "hold, as 'twere, the mirror up to nature," and finds a fresh angle on the story Shakespeare called Hamlet.

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'Maiden': Groundbreaking 1989 Sailing Race For All-Female Crew

6:44am June 28, 2019

by Kenneth Turan

A new documentary tells the story of the first all-female crew to enter the Whitbread Round the World sailing race in 1989. The crew was led by a 24-year-old and the boat was called Maiden.

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Get thee to a nunnery! And a tighter script! Daisy Ridley stars in this retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Arts

'Ophelia' Drowns ... In Meaninglessness

5:00pm June 27, 2019

by Scott Tobias

Based on a YA novel told from Ophelia's perspective, Claire McCarthy's film is by turns too glib and too reverent with the source material, hopelessly blurring its point of view.

Not everything is what it seems in The Plagiarists, a lo-fi indie drama directed by Peter Parlow.

Arts

'The Plagiarists' Ponders Authenticity, Inauthentically

5:00pm June 27, 2019

by Mark Jenkins

Shot on vintage, lo-fi video cameras, this talky, didactic film finds a bickering couple beginning to question themselves once they start to question a tale told by an older black man.

Jack Malik (Himesh Patel) is an aspiring singer-songwriter who finds himself taking credit for The Beatles' catalog in Yesterday.

Arts

Imagine There's No Beatles: 'Yesterday' Proves Too Clumsy For Its Clever Conceit

1:43pm June 27, 2019

by Justin Chang

The breezy rom-com is set in a world where only one man remembers the fab four. The film so takes our affection for The Beatles for granted that it never bothers to give the music a proper showcase.

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In Spider-Man: Far From Home, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) goes on a European vacation, but can't catch a break.

Arts

'Spider-Man: Far From Home,' But Still On Familiar Ground

9:24am June 27, 2019

by Chris Klimek

A charming cast, some fun twists, and the usual third-act bloat; Avengers may be over, but this "bright and buoyant" spider-sequel doesn't give you a chance to forget the Marvel formula.

'Toy Story 4' Reaches For An Even More Resonant Sense Of Closure Than Last Film

6:37pm June 21, 2019

by Bob Mondello

Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the gang are back for a new adventure involving Bonnie's newest toy, Forky, a spork, in Pixar's Toy Story 4.

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The Toys Are Back: A Review Of 'Toy Story 4'

5:56am June 21, 2019

Woody, Buzz Lightyear and the rest of the gang are back on an adventure in Toy Story 4. NPR's Steve Inskeep talks to Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan about the new film.

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Fresh out of prison, a Scottish single mother heads to Nashville to pursue her dream of country music stardom in Wild Rose.

Arts

A 'Wild Rose' Grows In Glasgow, With Dreams Of Getting Transplanted

8:18pm June 20, 2019

by Ella Taylor

Rose-Lynn (Jessie Buckley) is a scrappy Glaswegian single mom, fresh out of prison, who chases Nashville dreams in this beguiling, emotionally resonant film.