Science fiction romance Bliss tackles heady themes through a reality warping scope. Owen Wilson and Salma Hayek play strange lovers in a world that may or may not exist. Their mind-bending relationship twists and turns around a central mystery. Are they real people in an elaborate illusion? Or just facades of a troubled existence struggling

Judas and the Black Messiah is a spellbinding true story of betrayal and America’s turbulent racial reckoning during the 1960s. The FBI, under the authoritarian rule of J. Edgar Hoover, launched an illegal clandestine program – COINTELPRO, to infiltrate and subvert political organizations deemed a threat to national security. William O’ Neal was recruited to

There has always been a debate over the essence of human nature. Notorious philosophers such as Thomas Hobbes and Jean-Jacques Rousseau gives us two disparaging views. Hobbes believes that humans are selfish hedonists while Rousseau felt that humans are naturally good and noble savages. While all of us can show off both of these traits

Denzel Washington leads an all-star cast in The Little Things; a slow burn period crime drama that’s heavy on character development, but struggles to be entertaining. The serial killer storyline becomes muddied by secondary subplots. The mystery at the core of the film is overtaken by complex character exposition. The result is a well-acted ensemble

Justin Timberlake gives the strongest performance of his acting career in Palmer. He plays an ex-con that bonds with a transgender child after returning to his rural Louisiana home. Palmer has an exceedingly predictable narrative, but is powerfully dramatic and incisive. The film confronts multiple difficult themes with a thoughtful, sensitive approach. Palmer doesn’t offer

Road thrillers are a fun subgenre with few misses, and while many favor electrifying action sequences and zany charm in their psychotic assailants, recently-released Alone relies on a remote, woodsy setting and an emotionless feel to pull audiences along a grimmer road to survival. Given we’re still sitting deep in the strictly streaming period of

No Man’s Land is a well-meaning, but inherently flawed western drama. A Texas border rancher’s son flees into Mexico after accidentally killing an immigrant boy. The film attempts to humanize the thorny issue of illegal immigration from multiple points of view. Its goals are admirable, but the narrative succumbs to contrivances and simplistic exposition. The

Strap on your bell-bottoms, spin the disco ball, and grab your nunchucks. The Dark Knight returns in a groovy, karate chopping, seventies retro animated adventure. Batman: Soul of the Dragon is an original story that mixes Bruce Lee inspired action with a James Bond storyline. The Caped Crusader is actually a supporting character to the

Addressing sexual assault and rape in a truly unconventional way, Promising Young Woman is a dark tale of revenge, wickedly comedic at times, that pulls no punches confronting the egregious behavior of predators and their enablers. Carey Mulligan is superb as a woman hellbent on righting a cruel injustice. Her journey is both disturbing and

Liam Neeson returns in The Marksman, a simplistic but watchable low-key actioner. A struggling Arizona rancher defends a Mexican boy being hunted by ruthless drug cartel enforcers. The film focuses on the primary characters’ burgeoning friendship as they escape on a long road trip. The chemistry between the leads carries the straightforward narrative. There are