Marina Times

André Holland knew he had to land the role of Paul Cole, the mysterious, debonair, multifaceted man without a past at the heart of The Actor, the film based on Donald E. Westlake... Read More

Films

Matthew Rankin’s ‘Universal Language’ implores us to love thy neighbor

By Kalyn Corrigan

It’s a chilly Tuesday morning, and director Matthew Rankin hasn’t slept in over twenty-four hours. “I feel like I’m going totally insane,” he admits as we sit down to di... Read More

Films

Cameron Diaz returns to screens in ‘Back in Action’

By Erin Maxwell

Netflix’s Back in Action is the whimsical tale of a super spy couple who leave behind their thrilling lives of espionage when an unexpected pregnancy steers them toward parentho... Read More

Films

The best films of 2024

By Michael Atkinson

So, let’s be consumer-forward: Year-end lists aren’t about critics planting their flags in the media moment’s lunar surface and declaring ownership of the Zeitgeist, however... Read More

Films

‘All We Imagine as Light’ casts fleeting shadows

The award-winning film focuses on the wary, the reticent, and the repressed.

By Michael Atkinson

A Grand Prix winner at Cannes, Payal Kapadia’s second feature, All We Imagine as Light, is constitutionally such a restrained, temperate, no-feelings-hurt movie it’s a wonder ... Read More

Films

Mati Diop’s ‘Dahomey’ focuses more on art than on people

Artifacts speak for themselves as they embark on a long journey home.

By Michael Atkinson

Mati Diop’s new documentary, Dahomey, is a dreamy little piece of observation, quietly brimming with old-school Negritude and faith in the power of objects. Her ostensible prota... Read More

Films

‘Conclave’ examines the machinations – and scandals – surrounding a papal election

Just in time for the election season, Hollywood delves into the secrets and lies behind the Vatican’s closed doors.

By Nathaniel Bell

It’s a shrewd move to release Conclave, a slick drama about the election of a pope, less than two weeks before the most contentious U.S. election in recent memory. Edward Berger... Read More

Films

Review: ‘Between the Temples’ goes from the head to the heart

Nathan Silver gives his actors plenty of room for wit, pain and surprise.

By Chuck Wilson

A film as eccentric as its main characters, director Nathan Silver’s Between the Temples offers perennial scene stealers Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane the lead roles they’v... Read More

Films

Review: ‘Kinds of Kindness’ Does Not Live Up To Its Title — and That’s a Good Thing

By Michael Atkinson

Despite the global success of Yorgos Lanthimos’s “Poor Things” last year, I don’t think we are all quite yet full-on Lanthimosians, and his new film, the tripartite stealt... Read More

Films

Review: ‘Kidnapped’ sees empire-toppling history through a child’s eyes

Director Marco Bellocchio feasts on Papal skullduggery, but the meal could use more spice

By Michael Atkinson

One of the last surviving red-hot ’60s New Wavers, Marco Bellocchio has had a sine wave of a career, now in its sixth decade — fresh out of the gate with Fists in the Pockets ... Read More

Films

February film festival fever

By Michael Snyder

Say what you will about San Francisco these days, but the city is one of the truly classic settings for movie and television projects, and the local love of cinema is ongoing — ... Read More

Films

Ten movies that mattered in 2023

By Michael Snyder

Like the winds of winter and solstice celebrations, an annual best-of-the-year list from movie critics is inevitable as the calendar flips to January. So here’s a survey of my T... Read More

Films

The indomitable boldness of Indy

By Michael Snyder

More than 40 years after the release of the initial Indiana Jones movie, 1981’s Raiders of the Lost Ark, a fifth and presumably final installment in the beloved adventure series... Read More

Chris Briney and Suki Waterhouse in Daliland. Photo: courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

Films

Hello, Dali — Farewell, Jean

By Michael Snyder

When the past — recent or distant — is recreated on screen, nostalgia could come into play for moviegoers who either lived through the time evoked or wished for the opportunit... Read More

Chloe Coleman Michelle Rodriguez, Chris Pine, Justice Smith, and Sophia Lillis in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves from Paramount Pictures and eOne. Photo: © 2023 Paramount Pictures

Films

Of dungeons, dragons, and doctors

By Michael Snyder

When it comes to the all-important bottom line, a successful movie or television franchise is a golden goose. Studios and networks and cable channels and streaming services seek o... Read More

Films

André Holland lights up ‘The Actor’ in the role he was born to play

Matthew Rankin’s ‘Universal Language’ implores us to love thy neighbor

Cameron Diaz returns to screens in ‘Back in Action’

The best films of 2024

‘All We Imagine as Light’ casts fleeting shadows

Mati Diop’s ‘Dahomey’ focuses more on art than on people

‘Conclave’ examines the machinations – and scandals – surrounding a papal election

Review: ‘Between the Temples’ goes from the head to the heart

Review: ‘Kinds of Kindness’ Does Not Live Up To Its Title — and That’s a Good Thing

Review: ‘Kidnapped’ sees empire-toppling history through a child’s eyes

February film festival fever

Ten movies that mattered in 2023

The indomitable boldness of Indy

Hello, Dali — Farewell, Jean

Of dungeons, dragons, and doctors

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