David Fincher's 2008 film Zodiac has grown to be one of his best, if not one of the best cinematic offerings of the century. Zodiac strikes the perfect balance between engrossing police procedural, atmospheric horror, and compelling character study to be one of the best movies of the century. To fully appreciate Zodiac, you have to watch it…
A man attempts to bring his wife back from the dead with the help of his sister-in-law in An Unquiet Grave A movie that feels like a campfire ghost story is oddly comforting. It's the type of story that isn't too complex but is told with a vigor that makes it so engrossing. Such is…
Apollo 11 assembles incredible unseen footage — from Earth and into space — of the mission to put man on the moon. 30-second review: It's almost unbelievable that Apollo 11 is made solely of archive footage. Every shot and camera move feels so intentional. It's been 25 years since Hoop Dreams became the first and only documentary to be nominated…
Ad Astra follows an astronaut as he goes on an interstellar mission to undo the effects of his father's failed mission 30 years earlier. Quick cut review: Ad Astra isn't the thrilling space adventure it's being marketed as — for good reason — and is instead a deepl moving meditation on emotional repression and the…
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a quiet period drama that follows an artist as she attempts to paint her enigmatic subject in secret Quick review: Quiet yet filled with intensity, Portrait of a Lady on Fire nails the physicality and emotions associated with mutual unspoken attraction — the glances, the awkwardness, the frustrations.…
Host, billed as the first movie filmed and released during quarantine, follows a group of friends staging a Zoom seance with an uninvited guest Quick cut: At just 57 minutes, Host is far from overly long. Although it certainly stretches its interesting premise to the max. Still, it achieves an anxiety-inducing atmosphere coupled with genuinely…
Project Power takes place in a world where an illegal drug gives its user superpowers for five minutes—three strangers team up to stop it Quick cut: Project Power loses steam almost as quickly as the drug at the center of it. Though it's visually dazzling, its paint-by-the-numbers plot is exacerbated by hamfisted political commentary and…
The Rental follows two couples who get more than they bargain for when they Airbnb a beautiful oceanside house for the weekend Quick cut: Dave Franco's directorial debut isn't a groundbreaking slow-burn thriller, but it is a competently made, supremely acted, and satisfyingly effective one. ★★★ Unlike many other feature debuts, especially those from actors…
In Anything for Jackson, a couple of elderly Satanists try to bring their grandson back from the dead and instead unleash horrifying spirits into their home Quick cut: Anything for Jackson doesn't take its premise of Satanists performing a reverse exorcism as far as it could go, however its complex protagonists make it a devilish…
Joker is an example of the mental toll that the struggle to adequately perform emotional labor can have on a person who is already struggling. In The Managed Heart: Commercialization of Human Feeling, by Arlie Russell Hochschild, (1983) Hochschild defines emotional labor in the following way: "This labor requires one to induce or suppress feeling…
