Reviews “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” flies steady but lacks heat By: Andrew Bloom It remains to be seen if Marvel's latest TV spinoff can capture audiences' attention as well as its predecessor.
Festivals SXSW 2021: “Tom Petty: Somewhere You Feel Free” is genial to a fault By: Peter Sobczynski Mary Wharton's doc celebrates Petty's life and works, but the lack of conflict makes it hard to latch onto.
Festivals SXSW 2021 Narrative Competition: “I’m Fine”, “Here Before”, “Our Father”, “The Fallout” By: Clint Worthington Tales of poverty, paranoia, and adolescences framed by tragedy cap off SXSW's Narrative Feature Competition.
Festivals SXSW Documentary Spotlight: “The Lost Sons”, “WeWork”, “Hysterical” By: Soham Gadre Curious tales of lost children, doomed startups, and the pressures of being a female stand-up stud Day 1 of SXSW's documentary offerings.
Reviews “Slaxx,” or how staying fashionable can be murder By: Gena Radcliffe Shudder’s latest is a deeply silly horror-comedy that mostly succeeds in spite of itself.
Festivals SXSW 2021: “Demi Lovato: Dancing With the Devil” shows it’s OK to not be OK By: Peter Sobczynski This YouTube Original documentary refuses easy answers for the pop star's struggles with addiction and mental health.
Festivals SXSW 2021 Narrative Spotlight: “See You Then”, “Ludi”, “Fabulous Filipino Brothers” By: Lisa Laman Two old flames reuniting, a harried nursing home worker, and Dante Basco's family affair mark SXSW's Narrative Spotlight.
Festivals SXSW 2021 Narrative Competition: “Women is Losers,” “Potato Dreams of America”, “Islands”, “The End of Us” By: Clint Worthington SXSW 2021's Narrative Feature Competition includes autobiographical queer comedies, COVID-set romantic dramedies, and more.
Reviews “Tina” tells an incomplete story about a living legend By: B.L. Panther The first feature-length documentary dedicated to Tina Turner leaves out too much to be truly engaging.
Reviews “Zack Snyder’s Justice League” is a worthy film with a fraught history By: Justin Harrison The ambitious-as-hell, occasionally lovely superhero epic comes with a whole lot of baggage.
Reviews “Waffles + Mochi” shows kids how food connects us around the world By: Beau North The latest Obama-produced series for Netflix is a stone-cold adorable mix of Sesame Street and Salt Fat Acid Heat.
Interviews Jermaine Stegall on giving voice to Zamunda in “Coming 2 America” The Coming 2 America composer talks about finding the sound of Zamunda and the need for opportunities for Black composers.
Reviews “Come True” comes undone with a last-minute revelation By: Jon Negroni IFC Midnight properly knows its audience for this chilling, but uneven exploration of sleep paralysis.
Reviews “Kid 90” shows us the highs and lows of child stardom By: Megan Sunday Soleil Moon Frye directs this bittersweet albeit breezy look back at the Hollywood teen stars of the '90s, and their difficult road to now.
Reviews Gen Z gets another teen sex dramedy with “Generation” By: Theo Estes Co-created by a father and daughter duo, the new series on HBO Max starts on shaky ground, but shows promise.
Reviews “Stay Out of the Fucking Attic,” & stay away from this movie By: Sean Price An interesting concept is wasted with shoddy special effects and indifferent performances.
Features The moving “Days of Being Wild” is all too timely Wong Kar-wai's melancholy second feature hits harder in the face of current events.
Reviews “The Inheritance” struggles to coalesce notions of Black liberation By: Oluwatayo Adewole Ephraim Asili's Godard-inspired treatise on Black activism and community-building loses itself a bit in its artistic flair.
Berlinale Berlinale: “Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn” is quite a trip By: Reyzando Nawara Radu Jude's latest is as unsubtle as it is gripping, a strange tryptich about sex, justice, and communal madness.
Filmmaker of the Month Wong Kar-wai cut his teeth on the bold “As Tears Go By” Wong Kar-wai's first film is a messy crime drama that nonetheless shows glimmers of his future genius.
Columns P.S.H. I Love You: “Pirate Radio” sinks under its own weight Philip Seymour Hoffman does his best to lift up Richard Curtis' (literally) queasy ode to '60s boomer rock hits.