Exhibiting Forgiveness ***

There are some challenging things percolating beneath the surface of writer/director Titus Kaphar's movie, which might have made even more of an impact had he not been so...

The Apprentice **1/2

There’s the version of this movie that’s genuinely inquisitive about the circumstances that created Donald Trump, and the version of this movie that exists strictly as an excuse...

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ***

It’s always rough when a favorite artist loses their cool, and director Tim Burton has been living in that sad “remember when” space for years now. But here’s a reminder...

Across the River and Into the Trees ***

This adaptation by director Paula Ortiz and screenwriter Peter Flannery pointedly makes its title card “Ernest Hemingway’s Across the River and Into the Trees”—and...

Alien: Romulus ***

See feature review. Available Aug. 16 in theaters. (R)

Daughters ***

It won the overall audience award for Sundance 2024, and it’s easy to understand why; there’s undeniable...

The Convert **

A little past the half-way point in co-writer/director Lee Tamahori’s period drama, Guy Pearce—as Thomas Munro, a lay minister recently-arrived to serve a British colony in 1830 New...

Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F **1/2

At one point in this latest adventure of Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy), it appears that he’s about to launch into one of his improvised character riffs to secure a room...

The Bikeriders **1/2

Writer/director Jeff Nichols’ feature is based on journalist Danny Lyon’s photo-essay book, so perhaps it’s fitting that it feels more like snapshots than any kind of cohesive...

Force of Nature: The Dry 2 **1/2

As was true in 2020’s The Dry—writer/director Robert Connolly’s previous adaptation of a Jane Harper novel about Australian federal agent Aaron Falk (Eric Bana)—the...

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire ***

The main problem with 2021’s Ghostbusters: Afterlife, aside from digitally desecrating the corpse of Harold Ramis, was that it completely misunderstood the fact that...

The American Society of Magical Negroes ***

Writer/director Kobi Libii concocts the kind of satirical premise that easily could have tipped over into pedantic self-importance, but emerges with a deft...

Dune: Part Two ***1/2

See feature review. Available March 1 in theaters. (PG-13)

Spaceman **

It’s kind of a bad sign when you’re watching what is supposed to be an earnest drama, and all you...

Driving Madeleine **1/2

At the outset, co-writer/director Christian Carion’s drama feels like one of those low-key character studies—and it’s definitely a bit of a surprise when it takes a different...

The Greatest Night in Pop *** [Special Screenings]

If you were there at the time—and perhaps a hipper-than-thou teenager—the 1985 all-star famine-relief hit “We Are the World” was an earnestly...

A Real Pain ***1/2 [U.S. Dramatic]

While it’s far from the most interesting thing about the movie, the double-entendre in the title of writer/director Jesse Eisenberg’s second feature captures...

Hit Man ***1/2 [Spotlight]

Richard Linklater has spent more than 30 years being so good at making risk-taking indie cinema that it’s easy to forget how great he can also be at pure pop entertainment....

Love Me ***1/2 [U.S. Dramatic]

I feel fairly confident that I won’t be the only person short-handing the debut feature from writer/director team Sam & Andy Zuchero as “WALL-E, if instead of WALL-E...

Freaky Tales **1/2 [Premieres]

Sometimes it takes a movie like this one to help you realize how miraculous it is that Quentin Tarantino’s “love letters” to the genres he adores don't seem oppressive...

THE IRON CLAW (Sean Durkin, USA, 2023) 5

"If you walk in knowing the basics of the Von Erichs’ history (and I did as I was a huge pro wrestling fan — a mark probably — at the time and saw them...

MONSTER (Hirokazu Kore-eda, Japan, 2023) 4

"If there’s anything worse than a gimmicky narrative structure that doesn’t work, except as a trick and subterfuge, it’s a film that tells the same...