Movie Reviews
Movie Reviews

We Relate: Andrew DeYoung on “Friendship” | Interviews

For comedian Tim Robinson, doubling down is almost always an unforced error, the kind of bad instinct that can escalate one fleeting social faux-pas into something far more catastrophic.  Across his absurd and hilarious sketch-comedy series “I Think You Should Leave,” the character type he excels at playing is that of an initially nice-enough guy—a

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Movie Reviews

Cannes 2025: Eagles of the Republic, Once Upon a Time in Gaza | Festivals & Awards

The relationship between art and power—and, more specifically, cinema and power—is the subject of “Eagles of the Republic,” showing in competition. Tarik Saleh, who wrote and directed, won the festival’s screenplay prize in 2022 for “Cairo Conspiracy,” then titled “Boy From Heaven.” The actor Fares Fares, who in “Cairo Conspiracy” played a shadowy colonel who

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Movie Reviews

Lookin’s Free: Joe Don Baker (1936-2025) | Tributes

Joe Don Baker was one of the first to teach me what screen acting was. As a kid, I was a “Mystery Science Theater 3000” obsessive, wearing out our VHS collection, buying the DVDs, taking near the entirety of my life to work out what every joke meant. As any other diehard will tell you,

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Movie Reviews

Cannes 2025: Left-Handed Girl, Sirât | Festivals & Awards

Sean Baker, the winner of last year’s Palme d’Or (and four Oscars) for “Anora,” already has a new film at Cannes—sort of. “Left-Handed Girl,” in Critics’ Week, was directed by Shih-Ching Tsou, Baker’s collaborator of more than two decades. Together, they wrote and directed their first feature, “Take Out” (2004). Tsou has produced several of

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Movie Reviews

Cannes 2025: Leave One Day, The Gold Rush | Festivals & Awards

The 78th Cannes Film Festival kicked off on Tuesday with two films—one that’s 100 years old, and another that seems likely to be forgotten by the end of the week. The official opening-night selection was “Leave One Day,” which on paper was a bold choice. It’s unusual for the festival to hand over this marquee

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Movie Reviews

Movies without Tariffs: A Preview of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival | Festivals & Awards

In the run-up to the 78th Cannes Film Festival, which takes place May 13-24, Donald Trump issued an executive order requiring a multiplex that only shows 100% American films be erected on Alcatraz. Okay, I made up the part about the multiplex on Alcatraz (it’ll probably be one free-standing theater) but as seen by my European

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Movie Reviews

Short Films in Focus: Margie Soudek’s Salt and Pepper Shakers | Short Films in Focus

It’s time to take a break from the kinds of social injustice movies covered in this column for the past few months and, instead, shift to more pleasant fodder, like a lovely grandmother with a salt and pepper collection. Meredith Moore’s “Margie Soudek’s Salt and Pepper Shakers” is the kind of Mother’s Day offering that

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Movie Reviews

What to Watch on Netflix: May 2025 | TV/Streaming

The weather may be getting better in most of the country, but that doesn’t mean you want to stop watching movies! And Netflix has a strong slate of new offerings today, accompanied by a few of the more popular horror films of the last few years sprinkling through the rest of the month. Horror never

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Movie Reviews

April 2025 Blu-Ray Guide: “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “Heart Eyes,” “One of Them Days,” More | DVD/Blu-Ray

10 New to Netflix “About Schmidt““American Sniper““Chicken Run““Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon““Dear White People““How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies““How to Train Your Dragon““Jurassic World““Night on Earth““The Room Next Door“ 14 New to Blu-Ray/DVD “Anora” (Criterion) Criterion and Neon’s collaboration has paid off in the past, but never quite as quickly as releasing a bonus-laden edition

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Movie Reviews

The Florida Film Festival: An Oasis for Creative Souls | Festivals & Awards

Every April, artists and art supporters gather at the 40-year-old Enzian Theatre in North Orlando (and a nearby multiplex), a place of great comfort in troubling times. It’s tempting to call the beloved Florida Film Festival an oasis, given the increasingly anti-art era in which we find ourselves in the 2020s, but one should really

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