Search for 2023

It takes about ten seconds to identify Asteroid City as a “Wes Anderson movie” and that’s arguably the movie’s Achilles Heel. Anderson’s style and approach have become so baked-into his projects that they threaten to overwhelm the materi...

For roughly one hour, Barbie is a delightful journey into a satirical world of pastels and fluorescents, where everything is awesome and pink rules. With its Lego Movie inspired approach to bridging the “real world” with that of dolls and toys...

Over the years, there has been no shortage of movies detailing the mysteries and human rights violations taking place inside the secretive world of North Korea. None has achieved the level of access found in Madeleine Gavin’s Beyond Utopia, whic...

The Bikeriders is notable not because of anything in the story but because of the approach to acting embraced by lead actors Tom Hardy and Austin Butler, who have consciously attempted to recreate the essences of Marlon Brando and James Dean in th...

Blackberry is a classic rags-to-riches-to-rags story; a feel-good tale that transforms into a meditation on arrogance and neglect. Director Matt Johnson, working from a screenplay he co-wrote with producer Matthew Millar, brings a light touch ...

Blue Beetle is emblematic of what the superhero movie has become in 2023: an overlong slog through well-worn tropes. Gone are the zest and liveliness that characterized earlier films or the experimental genre-bending of the MCU’s salad days. Put...

For many years, the narrative existed that Hollywood didn’t understand how to make a good Stephen King movie. Oh, there were counterexamples and The Shining has its supporters (the author is not among them) but the prevailing mantra went somethi...

Bottoms exists somewhere in between a satire and an homage to John Hughes-style teen rom-coms, reimagined for today’s LGBQT+ friendly audiences. When it works, which is quite often, it does so for the same reason that Hughes’ best-known offeri...

In 2013, at the time of the release of his eleventh feature film, The Wind Rises, legendary Japanese animated filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement. It wasn’t the first time he had done so and, as on previous occasions, it didn’t s...

The Boys in the Boat is an old-fashioned, uplifting story about the triumph of underdogs. The film radiates the same level of classiness often associated with its director, George Clooney. Sentimental without being saccharine, this based-on-histor...