The Fabelmans
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Profoundly moving, self-reflective, intricate work of art. |
| This is a filmmaker’s movie, and a cinephile’s movie and an everybody’s movie. The Fabelmans is not just Steven Spielberg’s most personal movie, but also his best movie. Arguably one of the world’s greatest filmmakers has just delivered his greatest work of art. It’s the level of self-reflection and detail in each moment of his 1950s-1960s adolescence that leads to a tale about the power of art in the face of hatred reflecting our modern world. | 2022 Directed by: Steven Spielberg Screenplay by: Steven Spielberg, Tony Kushner Starring: Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Seth Rogen | |
| See full review of The Fabelmans | ||
Dive (AKA: La Caida)
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Captivating, compelling and important. |
| Mariel (Karla Souza) is an Olympic diver. She won the bronze medal when she was 15 and now almost a decade and a half later, she’s trying to get back there for her last chance at gold. Injuries and self-sabotage have plagued her career previously, but now the rest of the world might come crashing down with her. Dive starts with a very minimalistic feel but builds to a compelling and important story. | 2022 Directed by: Lucia Puenzo Screenplay by: Monica Herrera, Samara Ibrahim Starring: Karla Souza | |
| See full review of Dive | ||
All Eyes
Comedic thriller and monster movie that goes for the insane.
| When it starts with a crazy hook, and gives an insane premise, I should not be surprised when it leads to an insane movie, and yet here we are. All Eyes is a comedic thriller turned monster movie; fun at times and crazy all of the time, but sure to be memorable which is a feat on its own. It’s a story of a podcaster who goes in search of a crazy story and finds one. | 2022 Directed by: Todd Greenlee Screenplay by: Alex Greenlee Starring: Jasper Hammer, Ben Hall | |
| See full review of All Eyes | ||
Door Mouse
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| Door Mouse creates a very specific world, but one which is hard to get used to. Mouse (Hayley Law) is a comic book artist and a dancer at a burlesque club. The aesthetic is gritty punk, or neo-noire as marketed. Mouse is poor, lives in the slums, drinks coffee, smokes cigarettes, draws her comics and then goes to work. Rinse and repeat. | 2022 Directed by: Avan Jogia Screenplay by: Avan Jogia Starring: Hayley Law, Keith Powers | |
| See full review of Door Mouse | ||
Accidental Family
Bad premise, awful comedy and misguided romance.
| Accidental Family starts with a bad premise and somehow gets worse. Its morale of uplifting family values doesn’t add any genuine sweetness that it’s supposed to. It’s an over-wrought romantic dramedy that has poorly formed messages on top of bad acting, awful comedy and misguided romance. One shouldn’t be surprised when a story that starts with the idea “I’ll fake being somebody’s family member in order to get them to fall in love with me” isn’t good. | 2021 Directed by: Jason Hudson Screenplay by: Jason Hudson Starring: Kinsey Leigh Redmond, Justen Jones | |
| See full review of Accidental Family | ||
Triangle of Sadness
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Brilliant and entertaining social deconstruction. |
| If you want to summarize Ruben Östlund’s Triangle of Sadness as succinctly as possible, it’s what happens when the rich get bored – disaster. But of course the film is too perfect of a societal skewering to just make fun of rich people. There are three distinct parts. The first focuses on models Carl (Harris Dickinson) and Yaya (Charlbi Dean), two people who didn’t necessarily grow up with wealth but their physical beauty has placed them in a bubble where they have to try to reflect and capture the average person. | 2022 Directed by: Ruben Östlund Screenplay by: Ruben Östlund Starring: Harris Dickinson, Charlbi Dean, Vicki Berlin, Woody Harrelson | |
| See full review of Triangle of Sadness | ||
Top Gun: Maverick
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Nice nods to the original and spectacular action. |
| It has been a long time since I last saw Top Gun but I’ve remembered how much fun it is. The first half of Top Gun: Maverick seems to want to recreate all of the individual elements of the original without capturing any of the movie magic, but don’t worry that changes just as quickly as Maverick can change course in an F-18. The final act, their mission, is dazzling. It’s fun, engaging, breath-taking and just really impressive movie-making. | 2022 Directed by: Joseph Kosinski Screenplay by: Ehren Kruger, Eric Warren Singer and Christopher McQuarrie Starring: Tom Cruise, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller and Glen Powell | |
| See full review of Top Gun: Maverick | ||
She Said
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| In 2017 when the story of Harvey Weinstein broke and #MeToo flooded headlines, I think we all knew that the Hollywood dramatization would soon becoming. It’s finally here. She Said recounts the story of the two New York Times journalists Megan Twohey (Carey Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Zoe Kazan) investigating the decades of abuse by Weinstein and finally getting the ground-breaking article published. | 2022 Directed by: Maria Schrader Screenplay by: Rebecca Lenkiewicz Based on the story by Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor Starring: Carey Mulligan, Zoe Kazan | |
| See full review of She Said | ||
Where the Crawdads Sing
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Stunning visuals and compelling story. |
| Where the Crawdads Sing is an off-the-beaten track movie and not just because the lead character Kya (Daisy Edgar-Jones) lives away from society but also because of the way it lingers on the gorgeous cinematography highlighting the beauty in the natural world, and because to understand Kya in the current moment requires knowing everything that has led her here. It’s a gorgeous combination of past and present, the collaboration of art and science all wrapped up in a murder mystery when society clashes with the unknown. | 2022 Directed by: Olivia Newman Screenplay by: Lucy Alibar Based on the novel by Delia Owens Starring: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith | |
| See full review of Where the Crawdads Sing | ||