Movie Reviews

Arts

'The Souvenir' Is A Piercing Portrait Of A Woman Learning To Become An Artist

2:39pm May 21, 2019

by Justin Chang

Joanna Hogg's movie, which centers on a young film student, is the first of a projected two-part drama drawing from Hogg's life. It won the top prize in Sundance's world cinema dramatic competition.

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Keanu Reeves is back in the over the top John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum.

Arts

There Is No Spoon, But There's Plenty of Knives In 'John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum'

6:12pm May 16, 2019

by Chris Klimek

The third installment of the Keanu-as-super-assassin series triples down on the gorgeously staged violence, but little things like his character's motivation get hopelessly muddled.

The "we" in We Have Always Lived in the Castle refers to Merrricat (Taissa Farmiga) and Constance (Alexandra Daddario). Charles (Sebastian Stan) is the new guy.

Arts

'We Have Always Lived In The Castle' — And It Feels Like It

5:00pm May 16, 2019

by Andrew Lapin

Shirley Jackson's novel is "a Gothic psychodrama that eats itself from the inside." But this adaptation proves too low-key and repetitive to build suspense and succeeds only in testing patience.

Anthony (Tom Burke) and Julie (Honor Swinton Burne) navigate a toxic romance in Joanna Hogg's The Souvenir.

Arts

A Passionate Romance, Remembered Dispassionately: 'The Souvenir'

5:00pm May 16, 2019

by Mark Jenkins

Joanna Hogg's tale of a London film student who falls for a manipulative older man is at war with itself: Hogg's "confessional memoir draws you in, while her clinical style pushes you away."

In Photograph, a street photographer (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) tries to get Miloni (Sanya Malhotra) to pose as his fiancee.

Arts

'Photograph' Captures Romance Blossoming Across Mumbai's Class Divide

5:00pm May 16, 2019

by Ella Taylor

The writer/director of 2013's crowd-pleasing romance The Lunchbox returns with another heartwarming tale of unlikely love the crowded streets of Mumbai.

Arts

French Comedy 'Non-Fiction' Infuses Every Conversation With Seductive Pull

1:25pm May 13, 2019

by Justin Chang

Writer-director Olivier Assayas has a knack for turning abstract ideas into stimulating cinema — which is exactly what he does in Non-Fiction, a modern-day talkfest centering on the Parisian elite.

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Jazz Film 'Bolden' Mixes Fact And Fiction To Capture A Legendary Bandleader

1:23pm May 10, 2019

by Kevin Whitehead

Dan Pritzker's new film tells the story of Charles "Buddy" Bolden, a mythic jazz hero who burned so bright he burned himself out. Though striking and stylish, Bolden loses its grip in the final act.

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Abby (Amy Poehler) and Naomi (Maya Rudolph) share a toast in Wine Country.

Arts

'Wine Country': An Ode To Female Friendships, With Mellow Notes

5:01pm May 09, 2019

by Andrew Lapin

Amy Poehler directs and stars in this Netflix film that, while light on laughs and conflict, delivers a "cozy reunion happy hour and an ode to female friendships."

Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway star in The Hustle.

Arts

'The Hustle' Doesn't Flow

5:01pm May 09, 2019

by Scott Tobias

Rebel Wilson and Anne Hathaway never generate any chemistry as a pair of con artists in the French Riviera, and the labored script never generates any heat.

Tim (Justice Smith), a talking Pikachu (Ryan Reynolds), and a hard-nosed intern journalist (Kathryn Newton) team up to find Tim's missing father in Pokémon Detective Pikachu.

Arts

'Pokémon Detective Pikachu' — Go!

5:00pm May 09, 2019

by Vincent Acovino

Fueled by Ryan Reynold's clever, wisecracking voicework, the film feels fresh and invigorating, and not simply the dutiful extension of a familiar brand it so easily could have been.