Prodigy movie review: little girl lost
This low-budget science-fiction film has an ambition that exceeds its reach, and has nothing to surprise the self-respecting geek a movie like this one is aimed at.
science fiction
The Cured movie review: land of the living undead
A slow, mild exploration of guilt, grief, bigotry, and militant sectarianism, all in the context of a treatment for a zombie virus. Tepid and frustratingly underdeveloped, with few surprises.
Black Panther movie review: absolute Marvel
Classic comic-book stuff made fresh by drawing on underexplored mythologies and cultures, yet still deeply resonant and deeply universal. An exhilarating pulp-fiction dream that ups the ante on the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Scorched Earth movie review: there’s still room for feminism at the end of the world
Gina Carano roams a mild yet tedious postapocalyptic wasteland as a bounty hunter, and either you are here for this lady badass of our feminazi dreams, or you are not.
Maze Runner: The Death Cure movie review: cute boys at the end of the world
The Auto-Tuned boy-band version of the apocalypse. You will forgive that every plot point that isn’t a cliché is in fact a plot hole because the hero is so dreamy and impossibly perfect, right?
Attraction (Prityazhenie) movie review: when ET is dreamy
It has a spectacular opening sequence, and features a few minor tweaks to alien-invasion tropes. But the teen romance at its center reduces this to a very inconsequential first contact.
Downsizing movie review: let’s get small (LFF 2017)
Absolutely stupendous: smart, funny, poignant, a true original. A thrilling odyssey of ideas that takes its sci-fi concept to the very edges of extrapolation.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi movie review: a great disturbance in the Force
Upends expectations, demythologizes the mythos, and takes an iconic series in a bold new direction with a story full of humor, courage, and dazzling imagery.
Justice League movie review: grab ’em by the fanboy
The cinematic equivalent of Trump and Brexit as awfulness brought upon ourselves. Incoherent and cheap-looking. There are no heroes, and everything is broken.
It Comes at Night movie review: and it never leaves
A quietly chilling nightmare of human frailty and strength, tense with a nameless disquietude. A supremely accomplished little film.
