U.S. Release Date: 2021-12-31
MPAA Rating: "R" (Profanity, Sexual Content, Nudity)
Genre: Drama
Director: Maggie Gyllenhaal
Cast: Olivia Colman, Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson, Ed Harris, Peter Sarsgaard, Dagmara Dominczyk, Paul Mescal, Jack Farthing
Uses tone, location, and a string of expert performances to leave an impression, even if the story itself is unremarkable.
U.S. Release Date: 2021-12-25
MPAA Rating: "R" (Profanity, Sexual Content, Drugs)
Genre: Romance/Drama
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Cast: Cooper Hoffman, Maya Rudolph, Christine Ebersole, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, John Michael Higgins, Benny Safdie, Bradley Cooper, Tom Waits, Sean Penn, Alana Haim, Skyler Gisondo
Sweet and romantic with plenty of offbeat quirks and unexpected beats while never becoming saccharine or artificial.
U.S. Home Release Date: 2022-01-18
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Profanity, Sexual Content, Ghoulish Images)
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Director: Edgar Wright
Cast: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Diana Rigg, Terence Stamp, Michael Ajao, Synnove Karlsen, Rita Tushingham, Margaret Nolan
Because "Last Night in Soho" starts out so strongly, it makes the lackluster final act all the more discouraging.
U.S. Home Release Date: 2021-12-14
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Sexual Content)
Genre: Drama/Adventure
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Matt Damon, Adam Driver, Jodie Comer, Ben Affleck, Harriet Walter, Alex Lawther
Scott transforms "The Last Duel" into a deconstruction of chivalry and an exploration of the ugliest aspects of misogyny in the late Middle Ages.
U.S. Release Date: 2021-10-08
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Sexual Content, Nudity)
Genre: Drama/Horror
Director: Valdimar Johannsson
Cast: Noomi Rapace, Hilmir Snaer Guonason, Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson
"Lamb" is very much a visual experience, relying on tone to buttress narrative weaknesses.
U.S. Release Date: 2014-01-17
MPAA Rating: "NR" (Violence)
Genre: Documentary
Director: Rory Kennedy
Cast: Henry Kissinger, Richard Armitage, Frank Snepp, Stuart Herrington, Terry McNamara
This isn’t a “big picture” movie in that doesn’t seek to answer questions that are beyond its limited scope but, within the parameters established by director Rory Kennedy, it leaves few stones unturned.
U.S. Release Date: 2021-06-18
MPAA Rating: "PG"
Genre: Animated
Director: Enrico Casarosa
Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Emma Berman, Marco Barricelli, Saverino Raimondo, Maya Rudolph, Jim Gaffigan
The message is laudable and Luca’s heart is in the right place but its sledgehammer tactics make parts of the movie feel more like a homily than summer entertainment.
U.S. Release Date: 2021-04-30
MPAA Rating: "R" (Profanity)
Genre: Drama/Comedy
Director: Ben Sharrock
Cast: Amir El-Masry, Vikash Bhai, Kais Nashif
What starts out as an exercise in absurdist and surreal comedy turns into a serious examination of the artificial boundaries that divide humanity in the name of nationalism.
U.S. Release Date: 2021-02-12
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Profanity, Adult Situations, Partial Nudity)
Genre: Drama
Director: Robin Wright
Cast: Robin Wright, Demian Bichir, Sarah Dawn Pledge, Kim Dickens
Both a tribute to the triumph of the human spirit and an examination of the difficulties of setting aside modern conveniences for primitive survival.
U.S. Release Date: 2021-01-29
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Profanity, Corpse Nudity)
Genre: Thriller
Director: John Lee Hancock
Cast: Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, Jared Leto, Chris Bauer, Michael Hyatt, Terry Kinney, Natalie Morales, Isabel Arraiza
Works when viewed through the narrow lens of one character’s personal redemption rather than through a wider portal.