The Lion King reimagines the 1994 classic animated film of the same name in "live-action" with Donald Glover, Beyoncé, and James Earl Jones. 90-second review: For a remake to be successful it has to have a reason for existing. And having the technology to make photorealistic animals and environments is almost reason enough for a…
John Cho shines in Searching, an engaging and suspenseful thriller that takes place completely on a computer screen Searching begins with a very familiar landscape with rolling hills, a blue sky speckled with clouds, and mountains in the distance. This vista is the desktop of a computer. That's where the entire running time of Searching, like the film Unfriended before it, takes place.…
Suspiria, a remake of the 1977 classic, gets an upgrade in plot and horror. 30-second review: Suspiria doesn't feel at all tamped down by the 1977 original Dario Argento film. If anything, it feels more like it is inspired by it rather than remaking it. However, that's what director Luca Guadagnino—his last film was the Oscar-winning Call Me By…
You Were Never Really Here is a hypnotic and thrilling crime drama that doesn't let you go until the credits begin to roll. A third of the way through the breezy 90-minute running time of You Were Never Really Here, essentially director Lynne Ramsey's arthouse version of Taken, Joe (Joaquin Phoenix) lays down next to a hitman he…
Halloween (2018) is a product of the original film it's following up and the long-changed slasher genre that it spawned. Where to watch Halloween (2018): Streaming on HBO platforms. Available to buy or rent on Prime Video. Halloween (2018) is the eleventh entry in the long-running franchise that stemmed from John Carpenter's 1978 film of the same…
A Simple Favor is a darkly funny and campy mystery thriller anchored by stellar performances by Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick. 30-second review: So much of the plot of a simple favor is melodramatic and ironically plays off like an episode of a CW primetime soap opera. But it works. That's thanks to director Paul Feig's…
Vox Lux has an interesting story and visuals, but its lack of focus and uneven characters leave it little more than a hollow pop musical drama. Where to watch Vox Lux: Streaming on Hulu. Available to buy or rent on Prime Video. Vox Lux has too many ideas it’s trying to grapple with that it…
Gwen follows a young girl must keep her family from falling apart as her community turns against them for mysterious reasons. 60-second review: Dark storm clouds seem to be rolling into the small Welsh village where Gwen takes place constantly — both literally and figuratively. The film is relentlessly dark as the family of women…
The Farewell follows a New Yorker as she travels to China to say goodbye to her sick grandmother — who doesn't know she's dying. 30-second review: The Farewell is a movie of dichotomies — Chinese culture and American culture, parents and children, mourning and celebrating, youth and old age — that appropriately straddles the line…
Piercing is a twisted watch that will completely satisfy genre fans and polarize mainstream audiences — but that's why it works (mostly). Piercing — based on Japanese novelist Ryū Murakami's book of the same name — feels so familiar. It has story elements of American Psycho and tinge of Phantom Thread while boasting stylistic flourishes reminiscent of 70s horror movies like Carrie and Suspiria—…
