The opening scene of East of the Mountains is not something I will ever be able to forget. Ben Givens, a retired heart surgeon and widower of a year, is in his Seattle home, holding a rifle (a family heirloom, we learn later), determined to end his life.
Category: Reviews
SIFF 2021: Mogul Mowgli
Riz Ahmed’s newest is semi-autobiographical, but it’s also imaginative, sometimes fantastical, and distinctly cinematic.
Voyagers is a trip without a destination
Voyagers, written and directed by Neil Burger, hits wide release this week. For a supposed “adventure” film, it is not particularly adventurous. For a film that calls itself a “thriller,” it is only moderately thrilling. The most compelling part remains the initial inklings of the story, which regrettably does not settle into a satisfying destination.
On Stream: Chaos Walking Expands the Hollandverse
There comes a time in every Spider-Boy’s life when he must hang up his Spidey suit and go off to war, become addicted to opioids, rob a bunch of banks, and fly off to have adventures in space to establish himself as a credible grown adult actor who can do so much more, as if being the far and away best friendly neighborhood web-slinger in Marvel’s history wasn’t enough. Alas, this spring has been that time for young Tom Holland, who did all of those things in two not that good spring releases.
Godzilla vs. Kong is big, dumb, and 100% unnecessary. It also rules.
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021 | USA | 113 minutes | Adam Wingard) This is a snippet of a conversation I had with …
Nobody shows Bob Odenkirk isn’t too old for this shit
An over-the-top action film that plays it all with a knowing wink, Nobody isn’t going to reinvent the wheel of action cinema. It instead opts to blow it to smithereens and have a wicked smile on its face while doing it.
Will your day be enhanced if you watch Enhanced?
Expect some goofy, cheap genre fast food fun, served up with a smidge of polish and not much else, and you won’t be disappointed.
SXSW 2021: The Hunt for Planet B
If you have plans for Halloween cancel them… or at least make sure to leave time to watch the launch of the James Webb telescope. If that sentence doesn’t excite or even interest you, it will after you watch The Hunt for Planet B.
SXSW 2021: The Fallout
Megan Park’s coming-of-age film starts like a typical high school day that takes a dark turn that’s also increasingly tragically common. The result ing story of the aftermath of a school shooting is a nuanced and emotionally riveting piece of storytelling that won audience and jury awards at this year’s SXSW film festival.
SXSW 2021: Ninjababy and Our Father
Each of these films focuses on the relationships we have with our parents: one from the perspective of the parents and the …









