Attention Must Be Paid
The great Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky invented the modern suspense thriller with Crime and Punishment, the story of a poor college student who murders his … Continue reading
Film: Page 24
Her Own Freedom
A philosophical Things to Come traces a woman’s path
Things to Come is an odd title (translated from the French L’avenir). Is it a threat or a promise? It’s a little of both, and all happening … Continue reading
Being and Becoming
Two new films, Elle and Twentieth Century Women, offer vastly different takes on what makes us who we are
Oddly enough, it was a misguided defense of Elle that made me come around — to some degree — to Paul Verhoeven’s latest Rorschach test … Continue reading
History as Horror Story
Jackie turns the story of Camelot’s first lady into a nightmare from which we haven’t awakened
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in a Dallas motorcade on Nov. 22, 1963 was a national tragedy, but it was also a nightmare, … Continue reading
We’ll Always Have Los Angeles
Starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, La La Land gloriously revamps the golden age of Hollywood musicals
Despite opening to a fairly lukewarm reception in 1943, Casablanca has become one of the most beloved, if not the most beloved, Hollywood films of … Continue reading
Space Garbage
Passengers’ Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt can’t save an excellent premise from lousy execution
For the first 30 minutes or so, Passengers is a decent film. If you like Chris Pratt, you’ll probably raise that decent to a “good” … Continue reading
The Star Wars Machine Rolls On
Although spectacular to look at, Rogue One fails to take on a life of its own
There’s never been a Star Wars movie as simply beautiful to look at as Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Whatever his other flaws as … Continue reading
Stumbling Toward Grace
Kenneth Lonergan’s masterful new film, Manchester by the Sea, grapples with the wages of grief
There came a moment early in Kenneth Lonergan’s new film when I knew I was in trouble, emotionally speaking: Led by the doctor into a … Continue reading
Paper Cuts
A novelist takes revenge in director Tom Ford’s pretty but vacant new film Nocturnal Animals
Tom Ford’s second feature, , is a movie within a movie, and while both are lushly attractive, full of precise light and deep reds, neither … Continue reading
Shine On
Moonlight proves that good art speaks for itself
As a critic expected to say something moderately interesting and revealing about the film at hand, I find myself in a difficult position here. I … Continue reading