Freeze Frame

So, is it true that no good deed goes unpunished? With his latest movie “A Hero,” Oscar-winning Iranian writer/director Asghar Farhadi continues to show why he’s one of the world’s finest filmmakers. This contemporary morality play is about a man serving time in an Iranian debtors’ prison who, while on a two-day leave from incarceration, […]

The fifth installment of the “Scream” movie franchise, simply titled “Scream,” supplies more of the same. And that’s just what many fans expect. This self-referential, tongue-in-cheek slasher movie ups the ante on bashing horror movie cliches while simultaneously embracing them. Expect clueless teens, plenty of blood and plenty of snark.   “Drive My Car” is […]

Happy New Year. It’s time for my annual countdown of the best films of 2021: #10) CODA is a heartfelt comic drama about a hearing teenager whose deaf parents can’t understand why she wants to pursue a career in music. #9) THE MITCHELLS VS THE MACHINES is a funny and surprisingly touching animated sci-fi comedy […]

Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the world’s top filmmakers, specializing in dark, thoughtful dramas like “There Will Be Blood,” “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia.” His latest movie, “Licorice Pizza” is a real departure. It’s a nostalgic coming-of-age comedy and his most audience-friendly work. Newcomers Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim are very appealing as a 15-year-old wannabe actor […]

It’s been 18 years since the last installment of the lauded sci-fi “Matrix” franchise. Is the fourth movie “The Matrix Resurrections” necessary? Not really, but it’s a welcome mind-trip down memory lane. Neo tries to save his beloved Trinity from the conniving puppeteer behind the matrix…but who’s saving whom? The best way to enjoy “The […]

In “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” our hero’s identity as Peter Parker is revealed to the world. He recruits Dr. Strange to employ dangerous magic to conceal the truth, inadvertently unleashing villains from alternate universes. Involving, eye-popping and filled with welcome surprises, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is a super superhero entry.   Guillermo del Toro’s remake […]

The rule should be “Classic movies don’t need to be remade. Remake the bad ones and improve them.” But Steven Spielberg’s new take on the musical “West Side Story” is an exception. It’s better than the 1961 Oscar-winning Best Picture. Pulitzer Prize winner Tony Kushner has made some sly changes in the screenplay that add an extra […]

The gothic arthouse western “The Power of the Dog” is one of those movies that causes critics to flip and general audiences to shrug. Benedict Cumberbatch leads an accomplished cast in director Jane Campion’s adaptation of Thomas Savage’s 1967 novel that tells the tragic tale of a despicable cowboy who makes life miserable for everyone […]

Infidelity, scandal, intrigue, murder. These are the topics of many a soap opera. They also emerge in the true story “House of Gucci,” currently available in theaters only. Lady Gaga gives a wily performance as the ambitious and cunning wife of fashion house heir Maurizio Gucci, played by Adam Driver. Director Ridley Scott has put […]

Time for Will Smith to dust off his shelf and make room for an Oscar. In “King Richard,” he gives a riveting performance as the obsessive and galvanizing Richard Williams, the driving force behind the tennis domination of his daughters Venus and Serena Williams. This wildly entertaining biopic transcends the conventions of the inspiring sports […]

“Belfast” is a dreamily nostalgic tale from filmmaker Kenneth Branagh, loosely inspired by his own childhood in late 60s strife-torn Northern Ireland. Shot in glorious black-and-white, “Belfast” is a loving tribute to Branagh’s family and the denizens of his close-knit neighborhood as they faced “The Troubles” between Protestants and Catholics.  There’s a lot of heart […]

What would an Academy Award-winning director do with a Marvel movie? “Eternals” provides the answer: More of the same. Chloé Zhao, who won the Oscar for the low-key drama “Nomadland,” mounts an impressive two-and-a-half-hour spectacle with all the over-the-top action one would expect from a Marvel opus. The problem with “Eternals” is its big, unwieldy […]

Eccentric filmmaker Wes Anderson’s latest exercise in quirkiness, “The French Dispatch,” is a lightweight but eye-popping homage to personal journalism, especially a nod to the writers and editors of The New Yorker. An all-star cast is featured in an anthology of three stories from a fictional news magazine’s final issue. Although it’s wildly imaginative and […]

If the classic Japanese film “Rashomon” were set in medieval France, it would have looked a lot like “The Last Duel.” Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodi Comer and Ben Affleck star in the true story of knights who battle to the death when one accuses the other of raping his wife. What’s intriguing about this […]

What do you want in a James Bond movie? Great Bond girls, nasty villains, fast cars, cool gadgets, exotic locales and plenty of action? Well, if so, the 25th installment in the franchise, “No Time to Die,” delivers on all counts. It’s a wildly entertaining if overlong saga that showcases a tired and world-weary Bond, forced […]

It’s certainly no surprise when a Marvel movie is a box office hit. But the 2018 action flick “Venom,” featuring a villain from the Spider-Man universe, was universally panned. It still drew big crowds anxious to see the deadly alien parasite’s origin story. But “Venom” was an uneasy and absurd mix of gory CGI action […]

The acclaimed Broadway musical “Dear Evan Hansen” makes a bumpy transition to the big screen. Ben Platt reprises his Tony Award-winning role as a trouble, outcast teen who tries to gain sympathy by pretending to be the friend of a kid who dies by suicide. Oh, what a tangled web we weave. Social media, peer pressure and […]

Although she was often the butt of jokes for critics, the late TV evangelist Tammy Faye Bakker was an inspiration and an icon for many others. With her over-the-top enthusiasm, her warbly singing, her gaudy attire and exaggerated makeup, she became a cultural phenomenon. Jessica Chastain gives an appropriately exuberant performance as Bakker in the new […]

The wacky comedy “Queenpins” is, oddly enough, based on a bizarre true story. Kristen Bell and Kirby Howell-Baptiste star as a couple of Phoenix women who made tens of millions of dollars by counterfeiting manufacturers’ coupons and selling them online. The filmmakers turn the story into an offbeat farce that pokes fun at the inept […]

The Marvel Cinematic Universe just got a bit more diverse. Newcomer Simu Liu stars in the rousing adventure “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,” an impressive visual spectacle that will ultimately tie in with other movies in the ongoing superhero series following the events of “Avengers: Endgame.” Liu plays a martial artist trained […]

Matt Damon (“The Bourne Identity”) and Abigail Breslin (“August: Osage County”) play father and daughter in “Stillwater,” a drama from Oscar-winning filmmaker Tom McCarthy (“Spotlight”).

Who can creep out viewers? The “Candyman” can. Twenty-nine years after the scare-fest “Candyman” dared viewers to “Say my name,” a woke sequel slithers into theaters. This time out, “Candyman” has some social context to go along with the chills, skewering gentrification along with a heap of human bodies. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II plays a painter […]

Maggie Q plays a super-skillful assassin out for revenge in the slick and sleazy action flick. “The Protégé.” Samuel L. Jackson does his usual thing as Maggie’s hired-killer mentor and Michael Keaton goes against type as Maggie’s nasty nemesis. There’s plenty of bloody mayhem under the workmanlike direction of Martin Campbell who cut his teeth […]

The star of “Deadpool” and the director of “Night at the Museum” team up and the results are just what you’d expect. “Free Guy” is a visually elaborate comic fantasy with a snarky PG-13 edge. Ryan Reynolds plays a background character in a violent video game who doesn’t know he isn’t real. Things get tricky […]

“The Suicide Squad” is a reboot and reimagining of the disappointing 2016 DC Comics movie “Suicide Squad,” about super villains manipulated into serving a shady government agency. Writer/director James Gunn of “Guardians of the Galaxy” fame gives this decadent R-rated action flick a wacky, comedic grindhouse edge. Some of the stars from the first film […]