Reviews (Page 60) | The Spool

Reviews (Page 60)

And to dust we shall return: Midnight Mass, God, death & me

Mike Flanagan’s Netflix miniseries may scare some & bore others, but for a few it offers unexpected peace and comfort.

No Time to Die shakes up the Bond franchise but fails to stir

By: Matt Cipolla

Even as it makes bold steps toward the future, Daniel Craig's swan song as 007 feels like a frustrating hodgepodge of the films that came before it.

NYFF2021: Belle: The Dragon and the Freckled Princess fuses spectacle with spirit

Belle: The Dragon and the Freckled Princess may try to juggle too much, but its vision deserves to be seen on the big screen.

Unraveling pop-culture one thread at a time

The Spool is an irreverent, informative source for film and television coverage, focused on diverse, thoughtful opinions that seek out a greater understanding of the media we love.

Reeling 2021: Mascarpone takes a while to rise but reveals some sweetness in the end

By: B.L. Panther

Mascarpone, a dramedy from Alessandro Guida and Matteo Pilati, recovers from a monotone to become a warm study of a man rebuilding himself.

Reeling 2021: Invisible: Gay Women in Southern Music is as enthralling as it is expansive

By: B.L. Panther

Invisible, T.J. Parsell's documentary about queer women and the country music they make, gives its subjects a space to shine.

Reeling 2021: The Sixth Reel is a hilarious, warm, cinephiliac comedy

By: B.L. Panther

With The Sixth Reel Charles Busch writes, directs, and stars in a delightful, frantic, thoughtful picture about the hunt for a lost film.

The Great British Baking Show defies gravity (and expectations) in the season 12 opener

By: Ashley Lara

The latest crop of bakers make some flaky pastry tarts as the world's comfort-food show starts another season.

Reeling 2021: Gemmel & Tim preserves the memories of two Black gay men denied justice

By: B.L. Panther

Michiel Thomas' heartbreaking documentary calls for justice and equity and highlights the racial disparities in how society treats even gay men.

NYFF 2021: Bergman Island offers scenes from a creatively fractured marriage

By: Peter Sobczynski

Mia Hansen-Løve's latest wrestles with the creative and romantic frustrations between men and women, with Ingmar Bergman watching mindfully overhead.

Reeling 2021: The Journey of Monalisa is intimate and winding

The Journey of Monalisa, Nicole Costa's documentary about the life of poet, artist, friend, and sex worker Iván Monalisa is insightfully wry.

Reeling 2021: Being Bebe is an affectionate (if shallow) portrait of a queen

By: B.L. Panther

Being BeBe is a charming chronicle of Bebe Zahara Benet's life, but its undermined by its tendency to dodge heavier history.

Reeling 2021: No Straight Lines traces the history of queer comic books

By: B.L. Panther

Vivian Kleiman's documentary is a playful look at the art form that helped so many queer people find identity, even if only on the page.

Reeling 2021: At the End of Evin is a powerful Muslim trans story

Mehdi and Mohammad Torab-Beigi's drama presents intriguing questions about the trans body and the experience of transition.

Boosting the signal of 2001’s cult space Western musical The American Astronaut

Twenty years on, Cory McAbee's singular cult film is nearly as impossible to find as it is to look away from.

Laura Karpman on remixing the sound of the Marvel universe with What If…?

We talk to the What If...? composer about blending the existing palette of the MCU with new, diverse soundscapes.

NYFF 2021: Straight-faced or racy farce? Benedetta will never tell

Paul Verhoeven returns with Benedetta, a film so open to interpretation, it risks losing meaning. We reviewed it at this year's NYFF.

Ted Lasso “No Weddings and A Funeral” Recap: The team gets Rick Rolled

Ted Lasso Season 2 Episode 10 "No Weddings and A Funeral" neatly navigates tricky emotional waters in and out of the memorial service.

Foundation is solid enough to build upon in its early stretch

By: Andrew Bloom

Apple TV+’s latest sci-fi series is a glossy, gorgeous-looking adaptation of the Isaac Asimov novels, which nonetheless struggles to find humanity among its big ideas. NOW STREAMING: Powered by JustWatch Foundation is big. It is glossy. It is grand in scale and epic in tone. Worlds upon worlds, filled with trillions of people, hang in ... Foundation is solid enough to build upon in its early stretch

Midnight Mass is a haunting excursion into the mysteries of faith

By: Gena Radcliffe

Mike Flanagan continues an impressive run in a miniseries about a dying town forced to worship at the altar of death and unquestioning belief.

NYFF 2021: The First 54 Years offers an incomplete account of Israeli occupation

By: Jonah Koslofsky

Avi Mograbi's documentary is a long, strident presentation on the military occupation of Gaza that does a disservice to the oppression he's highlighting.

TIFF 2021: The Survivor won’t be going for the belt anytime soon

By: Soham Gadre

The Survivor wastes Ben Foster and Vicky Kreips in an overfamiliar prestige drama that botches its approach to the Holocaust.

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