Onward contains a number of 1980s movies. It’s part Goonies, a small part E.T., and a big helping of Weekend at Bernie’s.
Movie Review: Parasite
By now in February 2020, Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite is one of the most lauded films of the 21st century. It won the coveted Palme D’Or prize at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. It’s also one of the rare foreign-language films (it’s Korean) to receive an Academy Award Best Picture. With all of that acclaim, you’d think that Parasite would be a stunning masterpiece.
Movie Review: 1917
The most striking aspect of Sam Mendes’ new World War I movie, 1917, is the backgrounds. Rare as it is for the backgrounds to shine brighter than the actors and foregrounds in movies, Mendes has achieved it; I believe that was his goal.
Movie Review: The Rise of Skywalker
“Are you not entertained?” may be a popular meme, but the question frames my own divided feelings on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Movie Review: Ford v. Ferrari
Ford v. Ferrari promises a showdown between car companies. It is, partly, and it fulfills the promise of its title in spectacular fashion, with one of the most spectacular racing scenes I’ve ever seen at the movies. But, it’s really a movie concerned with the ideals that those car companies represent.
Movie Review: Yesterday
If your favorite band were suddenly erased from the memory of the world, could you recall their lyrics accurately enough to do them justice on the world stage—and more importantly, would you dare?
Movie Review: Toy Story 4
There’s no question that whatever emerged from the animators would be good, but could it be great? Did it need to be made, or should the time and talent have been devoted to a new project, a new story?
Movie Review: John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum
This John Wick movie, the third “chapter” in a series that could go on indefinitely, is no different texture-wise than its predecessors. Whatever you thought of John Wick 1 or John Wick 2, you will probably think the same of this movie.
Netflix Review: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
I prefer to see this movie as offering an order; in other words, the sequence of the six stories matters. The six stories seem to move, one to the next, from juvenility to wisdom. A youngster might view art and death in the flippant way that the first story, “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” offers.
Movie Review: Green Book
If you are angry about movies that stereotype race relations in the U.S., you will be angry at Green Book. If you wish for racial and social healing, you will have your wishes come true in Green Book.
Movie Review: Roma
They didn’t title this movie for descriptive purposes. Roma could have been called “Scenes from a Year in a Mexican Maid’s Life.”
Netflix Review: “Bandersnatch”
This is an interactive review of the new interactive film Bandersnatch, which is part of the science-fiction series Black Mirror on Netflix.
Movie Review: Welcome to Marwen
Robert Zemeckis’ “Welcome to Marwen” is like no movie I’ve ever seen before.
Movie Review: “First Man”
For those sensitive to dizziness, Josh Matthews warns of going to see “First Man” in the theaters: “A movie can be about vertigo, but it should not create vertigo.”
Movie Review “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
The nostalgia-oriented documentary, “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”, depicts the unlikely TV personality of Fred Rogers—who created, produced, wrote, and acted in the show—and it answers some of our questions that we, as adults who once watched the show as kids, would now have.
Movie Review “First Reformed”
First Reformed is set in and around the longest continuously operated church in the United States and focuses attention on its pastor Ernst Toller played masterfully by Ethan Hawke.
Movie Review “The Rider”
The Rider uses—so it appears to me—all untrained actors for all of its parts, as untrained as some of the movie’s horses. It seems like a documentary, and parts of it look like a camera crew showed up to film what was already happening in real life.
Movie Review: “Solo”
Has Disney created anything fresh and interesting in its take over and continuation of the Star Wars story?
Movie Review: Chappaquiddick
“Chappaquiddick” probes basic issues about the moral behaviors of American politicians and why voters elect them, even when politicians behave badly.
“A Quiet Place” Review
The great accomplishment of “A Quiet Place” is its own soundscape, which gets us to listen to everything in it.
“Ready Player One” Review
Steven Spielberg’s newest film, “Ready Player One,” misses the mark and leaves much to be desired.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Keeping the Faith
Star Wars: The Last Jedi isn’t about the victory of the faithful, but the kindling of faith.
“The 15:17 to Paris” Movie Review
“The 15:17 to Paris” attempts to deal with the very familiar God-and-Country themes, but doesn’t quite deliver. Instead it succeeds in perpetuating stereotypes.
“Hostiles” Review
“The essential American soul is fundamentally hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer” (D.H. Lawrence). Also charitable. Maybe cruel. Possibly, deeply empathetic. After one viewing of “Hostiles,” anyone might append those qualities to Lawrence’s famous quote, which is the epigraph of the movie.
“Darkest Hour” Review
The Winston Churchill we get in “Darkest Hour” is a flawed human being, one who doesn’t command as much respect as revered historical figures are supposed to.