What could possibly go wrong? Two low-level crooks, both near strangers to each other, are asked to “babysit” a man’s family while he retrieves some documents for their employer. Well… everything; everything can go wrong, and did, in this maze-like crime drama about the mob, murders, lies, and corruption. A couple of infamous criminals, Curt Goynes (Don Cheadle) and Ronald Russo (Benicio Del Toro), in 1950’s Detroit fall deeper and deeper into a scandal as they uncover the layers of a well-hidden secret. Attempting to use it to their advantage and up their payout, both try to double-cross their employer, the other players, and each other to come out on top. Based on a true story surrounding the automotive industry at Detroit’s height of success, No Sudden Move proves what a scuzzy industry it really was (and let’s be honest… still is).
Summer of Soul is a gift of a music documentary that saves the Harlem Cultural Festival from being lost to time
A cultural artifact, a historical document, and a musical masterpiece, Summer of Soul is truly a documentary we are lucky to get to see. When considering how there is a world where we may never have gotten the chance to lay eyes upon any of the footage of the once in a lifetime musical event, that only makes the experience all the more special to witness it now.
Boss Baby: Family Business introduces the next ruling class trend: the girlboss baby
No one’s hyper-online bingo card includes a square for “Almost eighty year old economist talks about a Boss Baby movie with smartass podcasters.” Yet, here we are and I eagerly accepted the chance to write about the lessons of late capitalism we can learn from the second Boss Baby movie, Family Business. And there are some!
The Forever Purge marks the end of the world as we know it
A combination of halfhearted attempts to make a transient political statement about the nature of power and lackluster action that never takes hold, The Forever Purge is a fundamentally flawed attempt to reinvent the series.
If only time travel could prevent you from having to watch a movie like The Tomorrow War
I wish I could go back in time to stop myself from watching The Tomorrow War. Better yet, I wish I could go back in time to stop the film itself from existing.
Based on the best story ever told on Twitter, the electrifying Zola is now the absolute best film of the summer
A film that, true to its origins, is “full of suspense” while also being remarkably well crafted on all levels, Zola is without a doubt the best film of the summer thus far.
LFG is a documentary by and for the casual women’s soccer fan
The new documentary LFG (which every sports fan that’s ever been on Twitter understands to mean “let’s fucking go!”) tells the story of USWNT’s fight for equal pay. It’s a well-made film that gives ample screentime to the remarkable Megan Rapinoe (a huge reason why I had been a season ticket holder for her club team OL Reign for many years). For those that followed USWNT’s fight for equal pay prior to 2019, it’s infuriating. At least it was for me.
Flawed yet fascinating despite itself, False Positive sees Ilana Glazer fully committing in pregnancy horror
A film that works better in theory than in execution, False Positive is still an often unsettling examination of the unexpected horrors of what can happen when you’re expecting.
Harvey Keitel shines in Lansky, a dull and inert portrayal of a retired gangster’s legacy
A biopic that chooses to make use of a framing device that removes all engagement and immersion, Lansky is a massive misuse of an interesting story with strong talent.
F9: in the latest chapter of the Fast & Furious saga, the “F” is for “Family, Family, Family, Family, Family, Family, Family, Family, and … Funny?”
The latest entry in the globe-spanning multi-billion dollar Fast and Furious Saga is the most hilariously stupid thing I’ve seen by a hundred dozen carlengths. Whether you see this as awesome or awful will almost certainly depend on the expectations that you bring to the racetrack.