Festivals Sundance 2021: “Cryptozoo” is a visually bonkers trip By: Matt Cipolla The new film from Dash Shaw and Jane Samborski uses its breadth of bold psychedelic inspirations to distract from a tepid script.
Festivals Sundance 2021: “Coda” is a sweetly on key coming of age story By: Gena Radcliffe Sian Heder directs a touching & funny story of having to choose between dreams & obligation.
Reviews “The Dig” explores our aching need to be remembered By: Beau North Simon Stone crafts an exquisite drama about the importance of history on our personal and societal stories, anchored by beautiful turns from Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes.
Filmmaker of the Month “The Reluctant Fundamentalist”’s subterfuge of the American Dream Mira Nair's adaptation of the Mohsin Hamid novel is a probing exploration of the forces that make us who we are.
Reviews Zendaya’s electricity can’t save the self-indulgent “Malcolm & Marie” By: Reyzando Nawara Sam Levinson's Malcolm & Marie has axes to grind about relationships and the role of criticism, but it wastes time whining.
Festivals “Resident Alien” phones home, but it can’t quite find a signal By: Ashley Lara Alan Tudyk hams it up as an alien on a secret mission in a small town in Syfy's mismatched fish out of water comedy.
Filmmaker of the Month “The Namesake” beautifully explores the liminal states of immigrant life Mira Nair's sumptuous adaptation of the Jhumpa Lahiri novel treats the dynamics of multi-generational immigrant families with grace.
Reviews “The Queen of Black Magic” casts a stylish spell By: Marshall Estes Shudder's remake of the 1981 cult horror focuses more on the titular queen's victims, but is still a gory good time.
Reviews “Palmer” plays all the notes of a small-town drama well By: Sean Price Thanks to the father-son relationship at the center of its plot, Fisher Stevens' drama about an ex-con's redemption mostly succeeds.
Filmmaker of the Month “Amelia” is little more than smoke on the wind Mira Nair's most American film may well be her most impersonal.
Reviews “Haymaker” spectacularly whiffs every last shot By: Justin Harrison Nick Sasso’s martial-artist-meets-pop-star romance is a hollow, muted, shabbily made affair.
Reviews Cookie-cutter disability drama “Penguin Bloom” fails to flower By: Rob Kojder Naomi Watts and Andrew Lincoln struggle predictably in the wake of a debilitating accident, and don't dig too deep below the surface of what it means to be disabled.
Features PSH adds a dose of comedy to a sweetly old-fashioned drama Nobody's Fool features a late-in-his-career Paul Newman at his best, and Bruce Willis when he still cared.
Reviews “Selena + Chef” turns up the charm to high By: Ashley Lara The pop singer's celebrity chef cooking show is surprisingly down to earth and accessible.
Columns Criterion Corner: Luis Buñuel, “Minding the Gap”, “Rolling Thunder Revue” January's Criterion offerings include a box set of Bunuel's final films, Martin Scorsese on Bob Dylan, and Bing Liu's astonishing doc debut.
Filmmaker of the Month “Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love” is Mira Nair’s inane misadventure Mira Nair crafts a messy, regressive tale of sexual liberation filtered through a heteronormative gaze, giving us sex without tempering it with love.
Filmmaker of the Month “Monsoon Wedding” is a warm-hearted ode to family and Indian culture Mira Nair's breakthrough international hit both draws from Bollywood tradition and breaks out of its restrictions, creating something wholly new and endearing in the process.
Reviews You’ll want to get to know “Our Friend” By: Michael Snydel Jason Segel, Dakota Johnson, and Casey Affleck forge a treacly, generous bond in a drama that almost drowns in its own schmaltz.
Reviews “We Are: The Brooklyn Saints” is messy but inspiring By: Lisa Laman This documentary series gives short thrift to its adolescent athletes, much to its own detriment.
Features “Vanity Fair” puts a modern flair on a dusty classic Mira Nair turns a dreary novel into something bright and beautiful, and changed how we looked at it.
Reviews “Psycho Goreman” swings for the fences but misses By: Sean Price The latest Shudder original is a clever homage to movies of the past, but quickly loses its focus.