Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is ostensibly a sequel to 2016’s Doctor Strange. But since the first film featuring Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sorcerer Supreme arrived in theaters, a lot’s happened in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to both Strange and the franchise’s many other characters. As a result, the latest MCU film also functions as […]
Author: Cynthia Vinney
Morbius
Every once in awhile a movie comes along that seems so ill-conceived, it’s hard to understand how it managed to get made. Morbius is that kind of movie. From the very beginning, it demonstrates its tenuous relationship with logic when Jared Leto’s Dr. Michael Morbius – who has made it his life’s work to cure […]
Deep Water
It’s been 20 years since Unfaithful, Adrian Lyne’s last outing as a director, but many of the preoccupations featured in that film – as well as some of his other erotic thrillers, such as Indecent Proposal and Fatal Attraction – also drive his latest, Deep Water. With a plot that revolves around marriage, infidelity, and […]
Turning Red
Turning Red focuses on the changes that happen during puberty, which makes it highly relatable. However, while its central metaphor, which sees the 13-year-old main character Mei (Rosalie Chiang) turn into an enormous red panda every time she gets emotional, makes for an adorable dilemma, it doesn’t really hold up to scrutiny. More successful is […]
Big Gold Brick
Flights of fancy, stylistic flourishes, and zany situations abound in Big Gold Brick. But for a movie that so clearly wants to come across as quirky and darkly humorous, it’s shockingly dull. The story centers on Samuel Liston (Emory Cohen), a down-on-his-luck writer who, while drunkenly stumbling down the middle of a road, is hit […]
The Tiger Rising
There are more captive tigers in America than living in the wild around the globe, and a shocking number of those tigers are held as pets in backyards or exploited in roadside attractions. The title tiger in the kids’ drama The Tiger Rising, based on a bestselling book of the same name by Kate DiCamillo, […]
The Kindred
The Kindred starts by putting viewers right into the action. A woman runs frantically out of an apartment building. She continuously glances behind her as if she’s being chased. Just as she makes it outside, a body drops to the ground in front of her. She backs away into the street in horror as she […]
The King’s Man
Love them or hate them, the first two Kingsman movies, Kingsman: The Secret Service and Kingsman: The Golden Circle, reveled in a giddy, stylized brand of hyperviolence that made them stand out from more traditional spy films. However, the third entry in the franchise, The King’s Man, lacks its predecessors’ sense of irreverent fun. Part […]
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Several years ago, when it was announced that Spider-Man would be incorporated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s ever-expanding franchise of superheroes, it was the third time in recent memory that a new live-action version of the wall-crawler was bound for the big screen. Given the circumstances, fans could be forgiven for feeling some Spidey fatigue. […]
Nightmare Alley
Director Guillermo Del Toro is known for building dark fantasy worlds in films like The Shape of Water and Pan’s Labyrinth. His latest, Nightmare Alley, takes him to a place he’s never gone before, a story based entirely in reality. That this is a reality in which characters take advantage of the tendency of suckers […]
Eternals
Marvel Studios has a habit of handing the reins for its latest comic-book franchises to accomplished filmmakers whose previous work is mostly in indie film or TV. From James Gunn with Guardians of the Galaxy to Joss Whedon with The Avengers to Joe and Anthony Russo with Captain America: The Winter Soldier, this approach has […]
Marionette
Marionette has all the hallmarks of a horror movie: a creepy kid, a gloomy setting, and a central character with some serious baggage. Yet, the film is far more interested in psychological chills and philosophical musings than it is in jump scares or gore, an approach that mostly works in its favor. Based on co-writer […]
Ron’s Gone Wrong
Ron’s Gone Wrong arrives wrapped in a shiny package of bright animation and zany humor, but the filmmakers have more on their minds than showcasing the madcap adventures of a defective robot. The story is a combination of very of-the-moment observations about the potentially negative impacts of social media and a timeless message about friendship […]
Needle in a Timestack
Nick (Leslie Odom, Jr.) and Janine (Cynthia Erivo) are deeply in love – or at least that’s what Needle in a Timestack wants us to believe. The couple lives in a near-future where time travel is not only possible but something the rich do for fun. This leads to so-called “time shifts” that change the […]
Mayday
The young women at the center of Mayday lure men to their deaths by broadcasting distress calls over the radio of the grounded submarine they call home. However, when the men set off to save them, they quickly find they’re the ones who need help. Their shouts of terror sound over the radio until there’s […]
Lady of the Manor
Lady of the Manor is the slight but funny feature directorial debut of actor Justin Long (New Girl, Live Free or Die Hard) and his brother Christian Long, who also wrote the script together. A Savannah-set comedy in which willful slacker Hannah (Melanie Lynskey) is forced to change her ways by the ghost of Lady […]
Prisoners of the Ghostland
The work of Nicolas Cage brings to mind a sort of gonzo, off-kilter approach to characters that has solidified him in the hearts of fans everywhere, even when he’s taken parts in movies that aren’t nearly as good as he is. So Cage should be the perfect choice to lead idiosyncratic Japanese auteur Sion Sono’s […]
Queenpins
Based on surprising true events, Queenpins is the story of two women who take control of their lives by launching an illegal coupon scam. It’s a fascinating tale that has compelling built-in themes about the way the system treats average people and wanting more out of life. Unfortunately, the movie, which was written and directed […]
Kate
It seems like almost every other week, a movie about an elite assassin — usually on a mission of revenge — is released. Call it the John Wick effect. Adding to this burgeoning subgenre is an ever-growing set of movies in which the central assassin is female, such as The Protégé, Ava, and Gunpowder Milkshake. […]
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and despite being the 25th film in the franchise, it’s a fresh, exciting introduction to the series’ newest superhero. Unlike the recently released Black Widow, the ostensible kick-off to Phase 4, Shang-Chi feels like it’s all about the future […]