Reviews

The Mandalorian and Grogu, or “This Is not The Way”.

A long time ago, on a streaming service too not far away from your couch, Disney+ brought live-action episodic Star Wars content onto your television. The Mandalorian was initially a simple Space Western about a bounty hunter named Din Djarin roaming the galaxy taking prisoners for cash in the topsy-turvy aftermath of reconstruction that occurred after the Rebels blew up the Death Star (the second one), killed the Evil Emperor (the first time), and everyone waking up with a Yub Nub dance hangover to piece together a New Republic. Now, after several seasons of increasingly complicated lore involving cults, factions, conspiracies, and space swords, the pair have made the leap from streaming to the big screen, but unfortunately it’s hard to call the result a movie.

Festivals Reviews SIFF

SIFF 2026 Northwest Connections Notebook: Assets & Liabilities

I guess this is growing up? Set in Tacoma, Zach Weintraub’s tightly scripted feature finds his fictional counterpart “Zach” settling into the realities of adulthood: making uncomfortable calls to his property management company to weasel his way into having his starter house sold out from under his renters, spending days jockeying his tech job from home, taking care of his young daughter, noticing gray hairs and fine lines around his eyes. It happens to the best of us, gradually and then all at once.

Reviews

For better and worse Billie Eilish’s new concert film with James Cameron brings fans into the arena tour

What a time it is to be a pop star. When the arena tours have done a year of sales, you can share the experience with fans who couldn’t score a ticket via the magic of the multiplex. Taylor did it with Eras, Beyonce did it with Renaissance, immortalizing their mega-shows and collecting some extra cash. Between concert films and jukebox biopics, movies that feature familiar music have become one of the surer things in a shaky industry.  Now, curiously enough, it’s Billie Eilish’s turn and she’s doing so by sharing co-directing credit with none other than James Cameron and in 3D, no less. The experiment and its result is mildly perplexing. 

Reviews

With stunning performances, Mother Mary conjures visions of a pop star in crisis

David Lowery’s latest, Mother Mary, shares with his filmography an openness to the surreal as well as the ability to give main character energy to bolts of fabric. Bolstered by two entrancing performances from Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel, it joins his others as deeply fascinating and surprisingly revelatory examinations of humanity.