The telephone rings at 3 a.m. and a pregnant woman puts on her police uniform to go out into the Minnesota winter and investigate a homicide. “Eggs,” her sleepy husband says. He’ll make her eggs. We see the them eating on a Formica table in the kitchen; steps lead down to the back door. He…

Writer/director Jeremy Saulnier wastes no time getting right into the heart of his excellent new thriller, “Rebel Ridge,” a reminder that the director of “Blue Ruin” and “Green Room” is one of our best working filmmakers when it comes to tense tales of good vs. evil. In the very first scene, Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre, a future…

“The question is, do you have what it takes to make it epic,” says an undaunted Chris Hemsworth. It’s a call to action that comes toward the end of “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga,” George Miller’s apocalyptic epic western prequel to “Mad Max: Fury Road” that could, of course, be directed at Miller himself. Because this film…

Over sixty years ago, directors Henry Hathaway, John Ford, and George Marshall joined forces to tell the story of America’s push toward the Pacific. “How The West Was Won” was a tremendous undertaking. Produced through the three-strip Cinerama process, it featured a deep ensemble of high-wattage stars—James Stewart, Spencer Tracy, John Wayne, Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda, Thelma Ritter, and many, many more—and a canvas…

When many of us think of vacationing on the Mediterranean, the first things that come to mind might be the gorgeous blue-green crystalline waters, the picturesque villages anchored on the shoreline, and the many variations of seafood fare available within walking distance. Perhaps that’s part of what inspired rockstar John Allman (Harry Connick Jr.) to…

With “Maestro,” Bradley Cooper tells the story of a generation-defining artistic innovator in the most traditional way possible: through the familiar tropes and linear narrative of a standard biopic. Directing and starring as the legendary composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein, Cooper has crafted a film that’s technically dazzling but emotionally frustrating. The script he co-wrote with Josh Singer (“Spotlight”) follows…

Damien Chazelle is obsessed with the punishing pursuit of perfection. Whether it’s finding an immaculate tempo, hurtling into space, or making it big in Hollywood, his films feature characters who are willing to endure physical and emotional torture to reach the finish line. If “La La Land” was his wide-eyed, sentimental look at the movie machine,…

The subject matter can be tricky, but Goyo (now on Netflix) seems to handle its romance-with-a-person-on-the-autism-spectrum fairly well. This Argentinian drama from writer-director Marcos Carnevale stars Nicolas Furtado as a neurodivergent museum guide and painter who falls for a woman 20 years his senior, played by Nancy Duplaa. Tripwires abound, but the film pretty much avoids them,…

As mundane as its title, with characters whose color-by-numbers personalities and motivations shift randomly to fit a predictable storyline, “A Family Affair” is a low-wattage rom-com. As with last month’s streaming romance “The Idea of You,” this film features a gorgeous Oscar-winning actress as a middle-aged woman falling for a much younger superstar performer, with…

“Axel F” is a shockingly entertaining diversion, the best in the series since the film that helped make Murphy one of the biggest stars of his generation. Legacy sequels are often cheap nostalgia machines, but there’s been a shift in the subgenre lately with beloved projects like “Creed” and “Top Gun: Maverick.”  “Axel F” may…

Netflix’s new comedic thriller “Bodkin” opens with the show’s protagonist, Gilbert Power (Will Forte), stating, “When I started this podcast, I didn’t expect to solve anything. I didn’t expect it to change my life.” It sets up the characters’ preoccupations well, and also exposes the main problem with the genre their fictional series is embedded…

Whether playing a news anchor in “The Newsroom” or a detective in “American Rust,” Jeff Daniels always carries himself with such studious charisma. David E. Kelley’s “A Man in Full” presents Daniels with a new challenge, tapping into his inner Colonel Sanders meets Logan Roy as Charlie Croker, an Atlanta real-estate mogul with a broken bank account….

Is there a better actor in America than Morgan Freeman?” Pauline Kael once asked, to which one could add, is there one with more authority? Freeman has a rare presence on the screen, a specific gravity that persuades us. He never seems to be making things up. He never seems shallow, facile or unconvinced. You feel…

Xavier Gens is back with his second stateside release of the year in a film that’s already topped the Netflix charts, the defiantly goofy “Under Paris,” a movie that almost feels like it’s paying homage to the master in its nods to Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” before going full “Sharknado” in an insane final act that will be…

This may or may not be one of the best films of 2016, but it’s absolutely one of the most interesting. Or maybe I should say least boring. If I sound puzzled, it’s because I am. Sort of. A little bit. “Nocturnal Animals” is a work of exceptional, undeniable craft, but it’s also a movie…

“Outer Range,” a sci-fi Western and family soap from creator Brian Watkins, concerns two voids. The physical void is a smoke-filled hole in Wyoming located on disputed land that leads to a bottomless chasm. The spiritual void—felt by the severe and brooding patriarch Royal Abbott (Josh Brolin), the kind of silent Western man whose heart…

Godzilla turns 70 next year, and to celebrate, his parent company Toho Studios waited until the end of this year to release the most conventional Godzilla movie in recent memory. Set in 1946, “Godzilla Minus One” follows a spiritually depleted group of ex-military men as they rally to vanquish everyone’s favorite kaiju antihero. Here, Godzilla’s presence is…

“The Iron Claw” inadvertently shares a lot in common with the professional wrestling world it depicts. A lot of energy and passion clearly went into it, and there’s a drive to entertain and thrill, but it ultimately ends up feeling empty and superficial. This is unfortunate, because the true story it tells of the Von…

“There are many stories of chivalry where the heroic knight saves the damsel in distress. This is not one of them.” That is how Millie Bobby Brown’s sumptuous new fantasy film begins, so we know from the start that there will be a damsel, she will be in distress, she will have to get herself out…

This friday I was talking at a meeting for teachers in Eindhoven about ‘What Storyteller are You” as a teacher. Illustrated different kind of storytelling strategies of teachers with movies like “Dead Poets Society” with Robin Williams as Rule Breaker and Jester. ‘American Dreamer’ would have been a great movie to illustrate the archetype ‘Dreamer’…

The opening scene of Tran Anh Hung’s “The Taste of Things” is 38 minutes long. It shows two people, and their two young assistants, preparing a meal in a big country kitchen. The meal is intricate, and multiple courses are being prepared simultaneously. The camera glides through the kitchen, following the characters as they bring a…

Keir O’Donnell’s delightful feature debut “Marmalade” is the kind of comedy that zigs when you expect it to zag, like a carnival ride that catches you by surprise. It’s a story of love and crime, of betrayals and chases, and yet it feels fresh and exciting once the first unexpected dip throws you off-course. This…

A feature length debut, Molly Manning Walker’s “How to Have Sex” is a blisteringly real survey of female coming of age. Tara (Mia McKenna-Bruce), Em (Enva Lewis), and Skye (Lara Peake) are three teen best friends who go on holiday to Crete for what is meant to be the best girls’ trip summer can offer. Partaking…

There have been many films on this horrific chapter in history—from “Night and Fog” to “Schindler’s List” to “The Pianist,” and as recently as “Occupied City”—all asking the viewer to bear witness to unfathomable suffering under a genocidal regime’s brutality. It would be a mistake, however, to interpret Glazer’s adaptation of Martin Amis’ same-titled novel as…

Yorgos Lanthimos seems delighted in depicting extreme behavior within pristine settings, whether it’s the quiet suburbia of “Dogtooth” or the clinical lab of “The Lobster” or the opulent grandeur of “The Favourite.” That glaring contrast between the expectations of decorum and the messy truth of humanity seems to fascinate him endlessly. Nowhere is this conflict more…

In 2014, near-nonagenarian Bernie Jordan (Michael Caine) is sad to miss out on an official group outing to the D-Day anniversary in France. Encouraged by wife Rene (Glenda Jackson), he sneaks out from his care home and goes on one last big adventure to cross the Channel, while reminiscing about his wartime experiences. When 89-year-old…

A northern pub landlord confronts locals’ hostility towards Syrian refugees in Loach’s latest – and possibly last – piece of politically trenchant cinema Adecade or so ago, the rumour was that Ken Loach was getting ready to quit. Then began a new parade of Conservative prime ministers in this country, each shiftier and more mediocre than the…

“The Promised Land” is about ten movies in one. It’s a history lesson with a central figure driven by an impossible quest. There are bands of outlaws, sadistic aristocrats, and downtrodden peasants. There’s a little romance, a lot of torture, as well as a feisty runaway child. Historical epics like this really aren’t made anymore….

Imagine that one of the boiler room scumbags from “The Wolf of Wall Street” bankrupted Jason Bourne’s mother. That’s more or less the starting point of “The Beekeeper,” which stars Jason Statham as a wraithlike ex-commando who metes out Old Testament vengeance against tech bros who use the latest inventions to rob people online. Statham’s character is named…

“In the Land of Saints and Sinners,” directed by Robert Lorenz and featuring Liam Neeson in the lead role, delivers a gripping Irish action thriller that effectively blends Neeson’s signature tough-guy persona with a compelling narrative set against the stunning backdrop of 1970s Donegal. With a solid supporting cast and engaging cinematography, the film stands…