|
3/4
|
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Setting aside its predictable sequel structure and tired multiverse milieu, Across the Spider-Verse offers a wealth of energy, humor, well-drawn characters, and inspired animation.
Posted Jun 01, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
The Boogeyman
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
One of those horror movies where characters seem allergic to light, even though it should be a protective shield. Assuming you can accept that the movie requires the characters to behave irrationally, you’re bound to have a spooky good time.
Posted May 29, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
The Little Mermaid
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
It’s better than most of these Disney cash grabs and worth seeing to witness the emergence of Bailey as a new star.
Posted May 26, 2023
|
|
4/4
|
You Hurt My Feelings
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Holofcener accesses moving material that will make you laugh, possibly cry, and come away feeling a little wiser for it. Such modest pleasures at the cinema feel rare but vital.
Posted May 20, 2023
|
|
1.5/4
|
White Men Can't Jump
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Shelton’s original was hardly perfect, but comparing the 1992 movie with the remake leaves the viewer with a sense of the new version’s empty, commercial artlessness.
Posted May 18, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Sisu
(2022)
|
Brian Eggert
|
The heightened quality of everything onscreen hopes to evoke gleeful and shocked laughter over the nonstop procession of stabbings, explosions, and dismemberments. And it mostly works.
Posted May 18, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Master Gardener
(2022)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Although one might wish the narrative were as passionate, it’s easy to admire Schrader’s thematic concerns and see him working through his own obsessions to a rare, hopeful conclusion.
Posted May 16, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
Carmen
(2022)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Millepied’s thin narrative lining makes Carmen feel like an extended music video, which is not to disparage music videos but to stress the lingering desire for more than Millepied has given us.
Posted May 13, 2023
|
|
1.5/4
|
Hypnotic
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Despite its overly familiar story, Hypnotic could have been an entertaining B-grade movie with an A-list star; instead, it’s a forgettable, flat experience that lost its fizz at the scripting stage.
Posted May 11, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
BlackBerry
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
While all of these brand biopics have an underdog quality to them, only Johnson’s film has a handmade appeal to the proceedings that remind us these people started from nothing, made millions, and then faded into obscurity.
Posted May 10, 2023
|
|
1.5/4
|
Peter Pan & Wendy
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
There’s not much here besides something to keep the kids out of your hair for a couple of hours.
Posted May 10, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
A Life on the Farm
(2022)
|
Brian Eggert
|
The experience is sort of like opening someone else’s diary and recoiling over what they’ve written, before ultimately recognizing that a fellow human being put their heart into this.
Posted May 06, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Gunn’s work registers as that of a filmmaker with a personal vision for his comic book universe and the freedom to explore it.
Posted May 05, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
The Devil's Advocate
(1997)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Although Pacino’s wily and delicious performance eventually leads to an over-the-top climax that threatens to derail the entire picture, The Devil’s Advocate develops patiently and effectively over 143 minutes.
Posted May 04, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
Beau Is Afraid
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Whatever he’s working through with Beau Is Afraid, Aster’s unmistakable personal vision is on display and, refreshingly, leaves much to interpretation and much to be appreciated/
Posted May 04, 2023
|
|
4/4
|
Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Unlike so much teenage fare, it never talks down to its audience, young or old; it never resorts to schmaltz or an unearned emotional payoff; it never takes the easy way out.
Posted Apr 28, 2023
|
|
4/4
|
Millennium Mambo
(2001)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Hou’s poetic style registers as a glossy, alluring daze upon first look, yet the film's temporal conceit and states of reflection remark on the then-present Taipei from a fictional but optimistic tomorrow.
Posted Apr 26, 2023
|
|
4/4
|
R.M.N.
(2022)
|
Brian Eggert
|
With discerning observations and intricately conceived analogies involving atoms and Animalia, R.M.N., one of the year’s best films, uses specific ethnic divides to expose raw and universal truths about humanity.
Posted Apr 26, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
Polite Society
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Here’s a film about a distinct culture that, while supplying an uproariously fun time, manages to comment on women having control of their bodies and futures in a terrifically accessible and unpreachy way.
Posted Apr 23, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
Evil Dead Rise
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Evil Dead Rise is a movie made by someone who grew up watching Evil Dead movies and not the Three Stooges.
Posted Apr 23, 2023
|
|
1/4
|
Ghosted
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
The kind of empty Hollywood product that makes you wonder whether screenwriters are already using artificial intelligence to write their scripts.
Posted Apr 21, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Chevalier
(2022)
|
Brian Eggert
|
However heavy-handed the film can be about characters who telegraph its themes through their overstated dialogue, the sense of revolution and inclusive history remains impassioned.
Posted Apr 18, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
Dreamin' Wild
(2022)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Dreamin’ Wild avoids the typical musician biopic structure that has grown so tiresome in recent years, as seen recently in Bohemian Rhapsody (2018) and I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022). For that, we should be thankful.
Posted Apr 18, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Judy Blume Forever
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
If you love her books, it reminds you what you love about them. And though it’s a basic approach, the difference is that Blume is an earnest interviewee, speaking from 83 years of life experience from a place of honesty and openness, just like her fiction
Posted Apr 18, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
The Tank
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
There’s enough to be savored in Walker’s modest, hand-crafted execution to earn a mild recommendation as late-night fare.
Posted Apr 17, 2023
|
|
4/4
|
The Fall
(2006)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Mostly eschewing the digital effects that most filmmakers rely on today, The Fall presents a love letter to visual storytelling and, in its use of a stuntman as a protagonist, the tactile potential of cinema in the hands of dreamers and fabulists.
Posted Apr 13, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
Renfield
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Unsatisfying as a whole and downright disappointing for wasting a terrific Cage performance on a lackluster movie.
Posted Apr 13, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
How to Blow Up a Pipeline
(2022)
|
Brian Eggert
|
An exceptional thriller—fast-paced and burning with the fire of revolution.
Posted Apr 06, 2023
|
|
4/4
|
Showing Up
(2022)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Some might call the story slow, except those who can relate to Lizzy’s fixation on her artwork might find the proceedings urgent and comically nerve-racking—Reichardt’s equivalent to the tortured anxiety seen in Joel and Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man (2009).
Posted Apr 06, 2023
|
|
4/4
|
The Princess Bride
(1987)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Few films have ever walked the thin line between earnestness and irony so flawlessly.
Posted Apr 06, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Air
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Affleck’s film enlivens what could have been a series of dry marketing pitch conferences into a high-stakes affair performed by a terrific cast.
Posted Apr 03, 2023
|
|
4/4
|
Gone Baby Gone
(2007)
|
Brian Eggert
|
An affecting morality play that leaves us pondering the movie for days.
Posted Apr 02, 2023
|
|
1/4
|
Children of the Corn
(2020)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Aside from Moyer’s presence, every intentionally scary flourish proves unintentionally funny.
Posted Apr 02, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
A Thousand and One
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
A Thousand and One portrays motherhood, family, and home as complex and uneasy concepts, and it’s told with such authenticity and passion that the film’s power is impossible to deny.
Posted Mar 30, 2023
|
|
1.5/4
|
Green Lantern
(2011)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Overcoming a personal tragedy, defeating various villains, and discovering his powers with a trendy soundtrack to guide his way, Reynolds’ Hal Jordan is plain as can be, even offensive in an age where this genre has elevated itself with dynamic films...
Posted Mar 29, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
Quarantine 2: Terminal
(2011)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Worth a casual viewing for horror fans looking for a mindless diversion.
Posted Mar 29, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Cars
(2006)
|
Brian Eggert
|
This is a very good piece of animation, but given the source, it’s not unreasonable to expect better.
Posted Mar 29, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
Rye Lane
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Although the story goes exactly where one might expect, Allen-Miller’s direction makes her film feel like something altogether new.
Posted Mar 26, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Goldstein and Daley are gifted filmmakers and imbue this well-worn genre material with the same energy and spirit that makes their Game Night such a joy to revisit.
Posted Mar 26, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
Tetris
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Even though the film remains simplemindedly capitalistic and limited in its characters’ ambitions, Tetris is fast-paced and deliriously watchable.
Posted Mar 26, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
A Good Person
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
For most of the film, I watched with a lump in my throat and tears welling up in my eyes—largely despite my awareness of Braff’s manipulations—because Pugh and Freeman make every dramatic beat more compelling than it might be with other actors.
Posted Mar 23, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
The Lost King
(2022)
|
Brian Eggert
|
It’s a story about an average woman finding her passion and happiness, all while overcoming prejudices and long-held assumptions until she literally changes history. What could be more thrilling?
Posted Mar 21, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
Missing
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
An offshoot of found footage, the setup feels less spontaneous and more manufactured by comparison, leaving the viewer to feel pushed and pulled through the ensuing suspense by the editing, sometimes in clumsy ways.
Posted Mar 21, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
John Wick: Chapter 4
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
It’s a long and exhausting—but refreshingly never dull—spectacle of violence that’s easily the most ambitious and visually accomplished entry yet.
Posted Mar 16, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Boston Strangler
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Whether viewed as a serial killer yarn or an inspirational story about women overcoming gender biases, the film remains close to its antecedents but delivers a solid drama that will appeal to today’s amateur sleuths and true crime enthusiasts.
Posted Mar 16, 2023
|
|
2.5/4
|
Inside
(2023)
|
Brian Eggert
|
Few actors have the presence to command an entire film on their own like this, and Dafoe is uniquely suited to stories about isolation, interiority, and psychological decline.
Posted Mar 14, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Confessions of a Nazi Spy
(1939)
|
Brian Eggert
|
It continues to be a telling historical marker and evidence of a Hollywood studio taking a moral and political stance when it was unpopular to do so.
Posted Mar 14, 2023
|
|
3/4
|
Cars 2
(2011)
|
Brian Eggert
|
It may not live up to the usual sophistication associated with the animation studio, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad film.
Posted Mar 12, 2023
|
|
2/4
|
Bad Teacher
(2011)
|
Brian Eggert
|
The filmmakers play it safe, which is exactly what anyone seeing this movie doesn’t want.
Posted Mar 11, 2023
|
|
3.5/4
|
The Trip
(2010)
|
Brian Eggert
|
A showcase for two performers who bring a sense of humor and rumination to the gorgeous scenery on display, the outcome proves deceivingly simple and yet one of the funniest films of recent memory.
Posted Mar 11, 2023
|
