U.S. Release Date: 2021-08-20
MPAA Rating: "R" (Disturbing Images, Profanity, Sexual Content)
Genre: Horror
Director: David Bruckner
Cast: Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Evan Jonigkeit, Stacy Martin
A quietly intense alternative to generic horror movies that provides its share of scares without the need to splatter the screen with blood and viscera.
U.S. Release Date: 2021-07-30
MPAA Rating: "R" (Profanity)
Genre: Drama
Director: Edson Oda
Cast: Winston Duke, Zazie Beetz, Benedict Wong, Tony Hale, Bill Skarsgard, Arianna Ortiz, David Rysdahl
"Nine Days" is a pure allegory; the film works as an extended philosophical rumination but fails as a story.
U.S. Release Date: 2021-07-01
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Profanity, Sexual Content)
Genre: Thriller
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, David Harbour, Amy Seimetz, Jon Hamm, Ray Liotta, Kieran Culkin, Noah Jupe, Brendan Fraser, Bill Duke, Julia Fox, Matt Damon
Soderbergh constructs a masterful tale of escalating crime, filled with anti-heroes, outright villains, and low-key twists at every turn.
U.S. Release Date: 2021-03-26
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Profanity)
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Ilya Naishuller
Cast: Bob Odenkirk, Alexey Serebryakov, Connie Nielsen, Christopher Lloyd, Michael Ironside, Colin Salmon, RZA, Gage Munroe, Paisley Cadorath
Never takes itself too seriously, delivers all the goods one expects from this sort of action-thriller, and doesn’t overstay its welcome.
U.S. Release Date: 2020-12-25
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence, Profanity)
Genre: Western
Director: Paul Greengrass
Cast: Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel
The action-flavored Western elements are handled adeptly but the movie’s strongest suit is the relationship between the veteran and his young traveling companion.
U.S. Release Date: 2020-12-04
MPAA Rating: "R" (Nudity)
Genre: Drama
Director: Chloe Zhao
Cast: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Bob Wells, Swankie
Moody, introspective, and meditative, "Nomadland" makes up for its meandering pace with its insights about human nature and its incisive portrait of indomitability.
U.S. Release Date: 2020-11-17
MPAA Rating: "R" (Profanity, Sexual Content, Nudity)
Genre: Drama
Director: Sean Durkin
Cast: Jude Law, Carrie Coon, Charlie Shotwell, Oona Roche, Anne Reid
This is either a tragedy or horror movie, depending on your point of view. Maybe, in truth, it’s both.
U.S. Release Date: 2020-10-13
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Profanity, Sexual Content)
Genre: Horror
Director: Zu Quirke
Cast: Sydney Sweeney, Madison Iseman, Jacques Colimon, Ivan Shaw, Ji Eun Hwang
Although missing opportunities to present a memorable production, this doesn’t demand much from its audience and, in the process, delivers something unsettling.
U.S. Release Date: 1987-11-25
MPAA Rating: "PG"
Genre: Animated/Fantasy
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Cast: Sumi Shimamoto, Goro Naya, Asbel, Yoshiko Sakakibara, Iemasa Kayumi, Ichiro Nagai, Hisako Kyoda
Although the narrative at times becomes jumbled, many of the individual scenes stand out as outstanding action/adventure pieces with innovative visuals and a breakneck pace.
U.S. Release Date: 2020-04-03
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Profanity, Adult Themes)
Genre: Drama
Director: Eliza Hittman
Cast: Sidney Flanigan, Talia Ryder, Theodore Pellerin
Made with such care and focus on the particulars of the situation that one doesn’t have to agree with Hittman’s perspective to be moved by the film.