Take Two

A dark social satire from South Korea, “Parasite” was the winner of this year’s top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Director Bong Joon-ho (“Okja”) is a leader of the Korean New Wave. Susan and Russ let us know if the film lives up to the hype.

Joaquin Phoenix portrays Batman’s mad nemesis in “Joker,” undoubtedly one of the more controversial and provocative movies of the year. This character study serves as an ultra-violent origin story. Writer/director Todd Phillips, who is best known for his broad comedies like “Old School” and the “Hangover” trilogy, makes an unorthodox approach in this drastic change […]

Fans of the PBS TV series “Downton Abbey” finally have a big screen to get their fix. In this episode that picks up where the series ended, the King of England travels to Downton to pay a visit. Most of the cast members have returned, including Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern and Maggie Smith. […]

Jennifer Lopez (TV’s “World of Dance”) and Constance Woo (“Crazy Rich Asians”) play strippers who rip off their Wall Street clients during the financial crisis of 2008 in the drama, “Hustlers.” Based on a true story, “Hustlers” was written and directed by Lorene Scafaria (“The Meddler”).

Renée Zellweger gets the role of a lifetime in “Judy,” the story of the last sad months in the life of entertainment legend, Judy Garland. The movie is an adaptation of the  Broadway play End of the Rainbowby Peter Quilter. The film also features Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Rufus Sewell and Michael Gambon in supporting roles and is directed by Rupert Goold (“True Story”).

Susan and Russ take a look at a documentary focusing on one of the most popular recording artists of all time. “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice” is a musical overview of the singer whom Bonnie Raitt described as “the Beyonce of her day.” Talking heads include Raitt, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Peter Asher, […]

Comedian Jillian Bell (“Sword of Trust”) gives an impressive performance as an overweight Manhattan party girl who makes some dramatic lifestyle changes in the comic drama “Bittany Runs a Marathon.” The cast also includes Michaela Watkins (TV’s “Transparent”) and Lil Rel Howery (“Get Out”).

Two of America’s finest actresses offer an English language remake of an acclaimed 2006 Danish film, “After the Wedding. Michelle Williams (“Fosse/Verdon”) and Julianne Moore (“Gloria Bell”) star in the gender-flipped adaptation directed by Moore’s husband, Bart Freundlich (“The Myth of Fingerprints”).

Shia LaBeouf (“Transformers”), Dakota Johnson (“Fifty Shades of Grey”), Bruce Dern (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), John Hawkes (“Winter’s Bone”) and Thomas Hayden-Church (“Sideways”) are the ‘name’ cast members of “The Peanut Butter Falcon,” an indie drama from newcomers Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz. But the title role belongs to Zack Gottsagen, a newcomer […]

“Maiden” is a documentary about Tracy Edwards and the first all-female crew to enter the harrowing and dangerous Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race in 1989. Many thought they wouldn’t survive, let alone finish the grueling race.

Trouble among some snake-handling Pentecostals in Appalachia is the subject of the unsettling drama “Them that Follows.” Walton Goggins (“Tomb Raider”) plays a strict pastor of a small mountain flock. His daughter is portrayed by Alice Englert (“Beautiful Creatures”) and other members of the flock include Olivia Coleman (“The Favourite”), Jim Gaffigan (“Super Troopers 2”) […]

Awkwafina (“Crazy Rich Asians”) stars in the comic drama, “The Farewell,” inspired by the true story of the filmmaker Lulu Wang and her ailing grandmother. A young woman travels to China when she learns her beloved grandmother is terminally ill. Problem is, the family has decided to hide the truth from the elderly lady and […]

“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” the latest effort from writer/director Quentin Tarantino (“Django Unchained”), is an homage to the city and art form he loves. Leonardo DiCaprio (“The Revenant”) plays the former star of a TV Western who tries to navigate the changes going on in Tinsletown in 1969. His best friend is a […]

Andrew Garfleld (“The Amazing Spider-Man”) stars in a neo-noir mystery, “Under the Silver Lake.” Garfield plays a paranoid man whose beautiful neighbor goes missing. As he tries to solve the puzzle of her disappearance, things get weirder and weirder. The film was written and directed by David Robert Mitchell (“It Follows”). The cast also includes […]

The drama “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2019, where it won awards for Best Directing and a Special Jury Prize for Creative Collaboration. It marks the debut of writer/director/producer Joel Talbot, based on the true story of his childhood friend, Jimmie […]

In “Yesterday,” Himesh Patel from the BBC TV series “Eastenders” plays an unsuccessful musician who, through a cosmic fluke, becomes the only living person to know the songs of The Beatles. This high-concept romantic fantasy also features Lily James (“Mama Mia: Here We Go Again”), and Kate McKinnon (TV’s “Saturday Night Live”). The film was […]

That bad ‘you-know-what’ Shaft has returned to the big screen. Samuel L. Jackson (“Captain Marvel”) is the titular private dick hero, John Shaft…or does the title also refer to his son JJ Shaft (“Jessie T. Usher from “Ride”) and John Shaft, Sr. (Richard Roundtree from “Seven”)? This action comedy was directed by Tim Story (“Barbershop”).

The new film “Ophelia” is a fan fiction-style bit of conjecture based on Lisa Klein’s novel that reworks Shakespeare’s “Hamlet,” but from Ophelia’s point of view. Daisy Ridley (“Star Wars: The Last Jedi”) takes on the title role with George MacKay (“Captain Fantastic”) as Hamlet, Naomi Watts (“Insurgent”) as Gertrude and Clive Owen (“Children of […]

“Late Night” is a social comedy from writer Mindy Kaling (“The Office”) about an aging talk show host played by Emma Thompson (“Howard’s End”) who faces forced retirement while her young protégé (Kaling) battles sexism and racism in the writers’ room.

Kenneth Branagh (“Murder on the Orient Express”) takes on the role of the aging Bard of Avon in “All is True.” Judi Dench (“Red Joan”) plays his long-suffering wife and Ian McKellan (“The Lord of the Rings”) portrays his benefactor, the Earl of Southampton.

Actor Taron Egerton (“Kingsman”) portrays pop superstar Elton John in this full-blown musical about the singer’s personal and professional ups and downs. Jamie Bell (“The Fantastic Four”) plays lyricist Bernie Taupin and Bryce Dallas Howard (“The Help”) is John’s unsympathetic mother.

Actress Olivia Wilde (“Her”) makes her directorial debut with “Booksmart,” a raunchy comedy starring Beanie Feldstein (“Lady Bird”) and Kaitlyn Dever (“Detroit”). They play well-behaved, high-achieving high school seniors who decide to cut loose on the night before graduation. Susan and Russ are on the same page on this whip-smart farce.

Actor Dennis Quaid (“A Dog’s Journey”) takes a turn to the dark side in the throwback thriller, “The Intruder.” Michael Ealy (“Think Like a Man”) and Megan Goode (“Shazam!”) play a young couple who buy Quaid’s home and get more …

Actor Dennis Quaid (“A Dog’s Journey”) takes a turn to the dark side in the throwback thriller, “The Intruder.” Michael Ealy (“Think Like a Man”) and Megan Goode (“Shazam!”) play a young couple who buy Quaid’s home and get more than they bargained for. “The Intruder” was written and directed by Deon Taylor (“Traffik”).

Dame Judy Dench takes a supporting role in “Red Joan,” an adaptation of a novel loosely based on the true story of a woman who gave British nuclear secrets to the Soviet Union. Sophie Cookson plays the character in flashbacks. …