Free Solo
Most films are best seen with minimal knowledge of the production's content, and in ignorance of the narrative arc and [...]
A Star is Born
It's yet another remake of "A Star Is Born," but what a remake it is. The first act of Bradley [...]
He did it, but why?
It’s convenient and often useful to classify films: this one’s a buddy film, that one’s a rom-com, another’s a chick [...]
Anxious youth
Director Bo Burnham, in his first feature film, vividly captures the unrelenting anxiety of the early teenage years in “Eighth [...]
BlacKkKlansman
Director Spike Lee brings his narrative genius to the true story of rookie black cop Ron Stallworth (John David Washington), [...]
Black man, white voice
The film's title is “Sorry to Bother You," and that's also the first line of the script that call center [...]
When violence trumps politics
Director Gerard McMurray's "The First Purge” is a prequel in a franchise constructed on a rather silly social science premise [...]
A large and troubled piazza
Piazza Vittorio: an enormous rectangular space not far from Stazione Termini, Rome’s central train station, surrounded by magnificent 19th-century porticoes [...]
La dolce vita is not so sweet
In his latest cinematic effort, the master Italian director Paolo Sorrentino revisits two themes that have dominated his work: La [...]
Black new world
The blockbuster "Black Panther" is both a classic super-hero movie (not meant as a compliment), and an immersion into black [...]
My Cousin Rachel
My Cousin Rachel exemplifies the period drama. In this case it's the 19th century and the dramatic Cornish coast of [...]
Codes of love
Sicilian Luca Guadagnino beautifully captures the implacable oneness of deep feelings in "Call Me By Your Name."