Search for 2020

In the marketing material for Sonic the Hedgehog, Paramount’s synopsis begins with the following words: “Based on the global blockbuster videogame franchise from Sega…” Little more needs to be said. In the grand tradition of other moti...

Is Soul a Valentine to rhythm-and-blues? Yes. Is it an unconventional buddy movie? Yes. Is it a mentor/student tale in which both individuals learn from each other? Yes. Is it an excursion into a realm where the existential has been anthropomo...

Spenser Confidential is a perfect Netflix movie – a mid-budget action/thriller featuring a recognizable star and not requiring much in the way of attention or dedication from a viewer. It’s the kind of film people might not feel compelled ...

Summerland, the directorial debut of playwright Jessica Swale, tells the familiar story of the spinster who has an unwanted ward thrust upon her and, despite initially resenting him, comes to care for him. Swale’s screenplay deflects some cr...

Christopher Nolan loves playing with time and the fabric of reality. A majority of his non-Batman films have featured mind-bending excursions through the fourth and fifth dimensions and Tenet is no exception. In fact, despite downplaying the s...

Two things become apparent when watching writer/director Michael Almereyda’s chronicle of the life of inventor Nikola Tesla. The first is that Almereyda wasn’t interested in making a straightforward, by-the-numbers biopic. By employing a c...

The events depicted in The Trial of the Chicago 7 occurred in 1968-69. Aaron Sorkin began working on the screenplay in 2007. But, oh how relevant the story chronicled in this movie feels today... What is it that George Santayana wrote in The L...

2016’s Trolls, an animated confection based on the toy line, was a pleasant surprise, both in terms of its appeal and its box office prowess. The latter (as much as the former) determined that there would be a sequel. At one point, distribut...

Underwater is all adrenaline and claustrophobia – a 95-minute non-stop excursion to the bottom of the sea where human beings are aliens and monstrous creatures haunt the depths. Director William Eubank (The Signal) understands that for a mov...

Valley Girl is a re-imagination of the 1983 film for a generation raised on Baz Luhrmann films and Glee. It’s a celebration of kitsch and of the ‘80s as they’re remembered (not as they actually were). Everything about director Rachel Le...