Columns August DVD Releases: Agnes Varda, Swallow, Gamera and more Criterion compiles a legend's filmography into a single set, Gamera gets a big box, & more in our rundown of August's DVD & Blu-ray releases.
Columns “Synecdoche, New York” is an excruciating, exciting trip to nowhere Charlie Kaufman's minimalist meditation on mortality is as hard to get through as it is oddly rewarding.
Columns P.S.H. I Love You: Enter the suck zone of 1996’s “Twister” Philip Seymour Hoffman livened up Jan de Bont's 1996 blockbuster -- and probably made Jack Black's career possible.
Columns Criterion Corner: The Complete Films of Agnès Varda One of cinema's greatest pioneers receives a comprehensive, curatorial box set courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
Columns P.S.H. I Love You: Beware “The Ides of March”, if you can remember it Try as he might, not even Philip Seymour Hoffman can't quite spice up George Clooney's warmed-over political drama.
Columns P.S.H. I Love You: “Happiness” is only real when its mood is shared Todd Solondz's "Happiness" is a grimly comic film that swings for the fences, and is buoyed by Philip Seymour Hoffman's compellingly repressed figure.
Columns The “Moneyball” we got delivers a baseball movie for Ben Shapiro Bennett Miller's adaptation of Michael Lewis' book is an overlong, overcrowded sports biopic partially redeemed by its cast.
Columns July DVD Releases: “Sorry We Missed You”, “You Don’t Nomi” Ken Loach's Sorry We Missed You, a thrilling doc about Showgirls, prestige Stephen King adaptations and others mark July's DVD and Blu-ray releases.
Features “Charlie Wilson’s War” wins some of its battles A token of the aughts and a swan song for Mike Nichols, this 2007 drama runs on more hermetically sealed Aaron Sorkin writing to okay results.
Columns “Scent of a Woman” proves a putrid example of early ’90s Oscar bait 1991's Scent of a Woman remains one of the most baffling recipients of Oscar gold, a prep-school drama lifted only by an early Philip Seymour Hoffman turn.
Columns “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead” remains a skillful sum of its parts A puzzle of a thriller, Sidney Lumet's final film slides its script and performances together with ease.
Columns “The Talented Mr. Ripley” benefits from Hoffman’s skill It's good, but Anthony Minghella's 1999 adaptation really comes alive when Philip Seymour Hoffman's scumbag enters the picture.
Columns June DVD Releases: “Etruscan Smile,” “Watchmen”, “Portrait of a Lady on Fire” Powerful indies and revisionist superhero series dot some of June's most addictive home video offerings.
Columns “Capote” teaches us as much about Philip Seymour Hoffman as its subject Playing a creator who needs adoration, Philip Seymour Hoffman revels in the idiosyncrasies of famed author Truman Capote in Bennett Miller's biopic.
Columns Criterion Corner: “Tokyo Olympiad” Blu-Ray Re-release Kon Ichikawa's seminal sports documentar about the 1964 Tokyo Olympics receives a pristine 4K restoration courtesy of The Criterion Collection.
Columns May DVD releases: “Wildlife”, “Promare”, and more Paul Dano's directorial debut, Nancy Kelly's feminist Western & more number among May's physical media releases.
Columns What’s New on DVD in April: “Friends”, “Grand Budapest Hotel” and More Alonso Duralde's monthly column comes to The Spool to discuss the latest indies, classics, TV, and new releases coming to DVD and Blu-ray.
Box Office Report Box Office: “Onward” Tops A Sickly Weekend Amid Coronavirus Concerns The temporary shutdown of public life that's happening amid global coronavirus conditions has led to a standstill at the box office.
Box Office Report Box Office: Audiences Say “Onward, No!” To Newest Pixar Movie With Pixar having one of their lowest openings yet, the box office experienced one of the worst weekends for this time of year in over a decade.
Box Office Report Box Office: Paradoxically, “The Invisible Man” Is Widely Seen A $29 million take spells success for the low-budget Universal horror film, proof that the Blumhouse model works.
Box Office Report Box Office: “Sonic the Hedgehog” Speeds Past “Call of the Wild” The kid-friendly video game movie keeps pace with a $26 million second weekend, staying ahead of Harrison Ford and his dog.