Flix At :48

This film does not tell a part of history everyone will like or even a part of history everyone will agree on. But it's not going to be a boring, thoughtless, or forgettable film this year.

This film is one half a plucky coming-of-age story and one half a battle of the sexes musical comedy. This isn't the movie of the year since Barbie was never a part of my childhood but it made me laugh and made me feel like I was part of an inclusive spirited party.

Resurrection is not a flashy or sexy film with a lot of twists or characters, but that doesn't mean it's boring or lacking anything. The artsy lens through which the conclusion is shown might be frustrating for some viewers, because important things are left unexplained. But that's part of the nefarious effect of this film. Just like the main character who fights for her life, even you will start...

Joy Ride follows in the footsteps of the other female-centered comedies released earlier this year Book Club: The Next Chapter and Polite Society. The actual logistics of travel, wardrobe changes, and flawless hair and makeup are not tethered to reality in this film. But that's not a concern for this film, and its four female stars more than make up for it with their distinct charm and commitment.

The philosophical leanings in Asteroid City are not for everyone. But this remains a fun and endearing comedy to brighten anyone's summer visit to the movie theater.

Summertime means one thing for movie lovers like me. It's the season of sequels. But this season feels depressing and monotonous to me.

Of course this film has jump scares and people dying, but it surprisingly doesn't have too much of that, because it remains focused on the psychological horror of grief and how that grief changes the members of this family.

I'm all for films that avoid predictability, try to do something different, and push the artistic boundaries of the medium. But it turns out a film that tries too hard to be an experiment in ideas or transcendence can be just as boring as an ordinary film trying to make some money.

The Mother follows in the footsteps of past Netflix releases The Grey Man from July of 2022 with Ryan Gosling (First Man, 2018) or Lou from September 2022 with Allison Janney (Bad Education, 2019) in that it's not very interesting, fresh, or exciting.

The production design is grandiose and out of this world, and the special effects makeup is mostly impeccable excluding the surplus of animal heads on upright human-like bodies. But all the good things about this film aren't enough to make it terrific.

Beau is Afraid is largely about difficult emotions and how those emotions stay with a person through different stages of life. It's a contemporary odyssey of what the world looks like through a lens of crippling anxiety, doubt, and panic.

Paint ends up being an example of what happens when you don't make enough decisions in a film's focus, its direction, and its identity. Maybe I just have the "wrong" sense of humor for this one.

With an all-star cast, a true story about real people, and lots of sports statistics, the new film Air seems to have it all to be a successful crowd pleaser. I learned many new things about Nike and Michael Jordan's parents throughout this film. Air just doesn't have enough heart or feeling to make it memorable.

Hive is the feature film debut from writer/director Blerta Basholli who presents a realistic, unglamorous, quiet view of her home country Kosovo and the societal effects of war. The narrative is patient and plain, but the emotions it explores are surprisingly complex.

Moments of thrills and moments of calm. The film just doesn't fulfill its possibilities of being a more nuanced or lively version to get more viewers to watch it.

Director Sam Mendes does a diligent and heartfelt job with this love letter to the movies, but he also crams in a lot of other themes with it.

'Bruiser' is not the film of the season for me. But it is good, and it lays the foundation for a promising future with the director and the actors.

Because this film wants the audience to be absorbed in every word, and in every subtext of those words, "The Son" has no flashy cinematography or dynamic editing. It's a film about the words.

The ideas and themes of Infinity Pool have been shown before in other films, like The Ruling Class (1972), Vatel (2000), or Dirty Pretty Things (2002). But the way these ideas and themes are shown made this film disturbingly unique and alluring.

This week, host Casey Allen takes a look at the Oscar nominees.

"The Whale" is a tragic, intimate story of one man's grief and shame and how he fights against those emotions by making a grasp at redemption far out of his reach.

"M3GAN" presents as a mischievous satire on the growing ravenous world of consumerism, and the constant need for new toys, new advances and new ways to be entertained.

Director and writer Scott Cooper ("Hostiles", 2017) creates a sustained melancholy in this 19th century gothic mystery based on the 2006 novel of the same name.

It's PG-13 and visual fun for the whole family, but this sequel is far too much for any science-fiction lover, or movie lover, to take seriously.

In a year when so many American films have famously failed to reach box office glory, filmmakers (and film lovers) need only look to South Korea for new ideas and new methods of cinematic storytelling.