new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, US/Can, Jun 05
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, UK/Ire, Jun 01–05
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
The Vast of Night movie review: and vast of perspective
Striking sci-fi mood piece, all eeriness and ookiness, wonder and dread. Explicitly Twilight Zone–esque, summoning a midcentury-America innocence in order to shatter its narrowness (and our own).
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, US/Can, May 25–29
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, UK/Ire, May 25–29
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
The Lovebirds movie review: breaking up on the run (#Netflix)
The hugely appealing Issa Rae and Kumail Nanjiani share terrific comic and romantic chemistry and work their everywoman and -man charm to the max. Go-to goofy escapism for, say, a pandemic lockdown.
$1 and $3 Patreon tiers to be retired on June 1st (but join now and you can stay at that level)
Wouldn’t you like to join my Patreon? I know you would…
flash fiction update: ebook coming soon, free to all Patreon patrons — join now!
And there’s an extra incentive to get you to pledge to my Patreon before June 1st.
Inheritance movie review: ill fortune
Nothing works in this ludicrous thriller, which fails to compel us with its roster of monstrous characters. Lily Collins is woefully miscast; Patrick Warburton and Simon Pegg are criminally wasted.
Lucky Grandma movie review: brittle old lady
Wild sass, gentle comedy, shivs of poignancy, and instantly vivid characters add up to a wonderful riff on mob movies as a Chinatown granny faces off against gangsters. Tsai Chin is an absolute hoot.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, US/Can, May 19–22
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, UK/Ire, May 18–22
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
Scoob! movie review: Scooby dooby don’t
A spectacularly scattershot, pandering mess of pulp junk, cheap-looking animation, and poisonous gender dynamics. A charmless cash-grab that can’t be bothered with the slightest stab at originality.
curated: how we look at art… and how we think about looking at art
I suspect these essays hit me hard because how we see and think about the world is changing rapidly and dramatically as everything pauses during the coronavirus pandemic…
my 2020 film ranking is filling out… even with cinemas closed
A peek at my ongoing ranking of 2020’s new movies — there are plenty! (The full list is now available to all Patreon patrons at all pledge levels. This post is free for all.)
Becoming documentary review: hope floats (#Netflix)
Verges on an ad for Michelle Obama’s memoir, but a sincerely warm one. We glimpse a woman authentically funny, self-aware, down-to-earth. Like spending time with a friend you didn’t realize you had.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, US/Can, May 12–15
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, UK/Ire, May 11–17
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
Spaceship Earth documentary review: under the dome, and under a scrutinous eye
Was Biosphere 2 scientific adventure or eco-entertainment? This is a gripping portrait of the billionaire’s folly/performance-art project, a hippie SF soap opera with unsettling resonance for today.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, US/Can, May 05–08
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
How to Build a Girl movie review: instruction manual not included
The hypocrisy of the world’s expectations of girls gets a gently sardonic knock via an audaciously confident young woman battling to be herself. This is a lovely, goofy movie, easygoing and chaotic.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, UK/Ire, May 04
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
Capital in the Twenty-First Century documentary review: eat the rich (cuz they’re eating us)
Attention, social justice warriors. French economist Thomas Piketty’s howl-of-rage academic treatise is now a hugely engaging documentary, eye-opening and brutally entertaining. Man the barricades!
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, US/Can, Apr 28–May 02
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
Bad Education movie review: school for scandal (#HBO)
A laugh-until-you-cry dramedy burlesque, brilliantly structured and horrifically compelling, about the endless grift that passes for an economy in America. Hugh Jackman is at the peak of his powers.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, UK/Ire, Apr 27–May 02
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
The Assistant movie review: the realities of being a girl
A quietly brutal film that shows the dark underbelly of an industry — of a world — dominated by often predatory straight white men. Could be an eye-opener on a larger scale… if only we listen.
Extraction movie review: meet the sociopathic white savior (#Netflix)
Who are we rooting for in this accidental parody of the empty absurdity of modern action films? Everyone is awful, or a human macguffin. This is soulless technical wankery bereft of humor or humanity.
Planet of the Humans documentary review: we’ve done it, and we’ve been doing it for centuries
From the warnings of the 1950s to the 21st-century corporate takeover of green energy, a grim look at humanity’s fate as the planet heats up. Is there any hope? This feels like only half the story.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, US/Can, Apr 24
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, UK/Ire, Apr 20–24
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
To the Stars movie review: run into the ground
Coming-of-age melodrama about misfit girls is at first passingly diverting, but it whips up mystery and suspense where it shouldn’t be, diminishing and minimizing an already neglected kind of story.
True History of the Kelly Gang movie review: toxic came the masculinity
Revisionist tale of the Australian folk hero rages against the dark forces that shaped him: emotional and economic neglect and abuse forged in patriarchy and colonialism. Electrifyingly punk and vulgar.
Extra Ordinary movie review: oh, the mundanity!
Sly, sharp, and snarkily underplayed, this instant little masterpiece of fantasy comedy is as occasionally shockingly horrific as it is nonstop shockingly funny, peopled with instant fast friends.
Endings, Beginnings movie review: when it ends is the best part
Love this cast, but, my god, I hate these characters. I hate this miserable take on romance, which mistakes wallowing in self-pity for introspection, and people being awful for philosophical depth.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, US/Can, Apr 14–17
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
Beyond the Visible: Hilma af Klint documentary review: still way ahead of her time
Wonder and mystery dwells in the work of forgotten abstract pioneer Hilma af Klint. Sarcasm and side-eye for the male- and money-dominated fine-art establishment dwells in this superb doc about her.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, UK/Ire, Apr 13–18
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
Who You Think I Am movie review: on the Internet, no one knows you’re a sexy French lady
Not even the treasure that is Juliette Binoche can make this cynical romantic thriller palatable. Does not say the things about social media and the lives of older women that it thinks it does.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, US/Can, Apr 07–10
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
Never Rarely Sometimes Always movie review: the secret lives of girls and women
Softly savage, exposing the unspoken subtext of the lives of girls and women: the mundane but covert garbage that gets piled upon us, the knotted existence too many of us are just barely surviving.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, UK/Ire, Apr 06–10
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
Trolls: World Tour movie review: a cinematic Rubicon by dint of pandemic coincidence
As pastel and glittery as its predecessor, with a silliness more glorious and less forced. Sweet, smart, sincere… but it doesn’t deserve to be carrying the future of movies on its little shoulders.
The Perfect Candidate movie review: a woman’s place is everywhere
A young Saudi doctor runs for local political office, finding her courage while more frustrated than usual by the limitations and restrictions placed upon her. Heartening, inspiring, gently ironic.
Tape movie review: her too
Messy, furious, sometimes at odds with itself, this tale of documenting a powerful man’s sexual intimidation of a vulnerable woman is absolutely necessary, full of a rage that is absolutely vital.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, US/Can, Mar 31–Apr 03
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
new and ongoing dvd/blu/vod releases, UK/Ire, Mar 30
A simple listing of new releases and other stuff currently available.
The Platform (El hoyo) movie review: bold and bitter food for thought (#Netflix)
This sci-fi dreadfest immerses you into a shocking mystery, punches you in the gut, then grips you with a wisdom that transcends its obviousness, daring you to deny that its open savagery is our own.
reader Bluejay’s project to help us all stay sane (and I want yours too)
Flick Filosopher reader and commenter Bluejay is recommending “songs for sheltering: music for uplift, every day.” Good stuff.
Bloodshot movie review: bloodshit
Incoherent action sequences and strained sci-fi woo-woo can’t save a clueless mashup of Robocop, The Matrix, and Captain America that makes a mockery of its protagonist. Deeply terrible.
← older posts
login with Patreon
become a patron
please help keep truly independent film criticism alive!
Pledge your support now.
(If you prefer to make a one-time donation, you can PayPal me. But you’ll miss out on the Patreon bonuses.)
FlickFilosopher.com does not accept guest posts, link placements, or sponsored content.
what I’m reading
what I’ve written
shop to support
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.
FlickFilosopher.com does not accept guest posts, link placements, or sponsored content.
