Papi Chulo movie review: can’t buy him love
An uncomfortably clueless portrait of societal privilege taking advantage of financial desperation. Matt Bomer is very effective as a man truly heartbroken, though.
reviews
Free Trip to Egypt documentary review: busting through bigotry
An emotional roller-coaster ride as bigoted Americans find common ground with the people Fox News has told them to hate and fear. I laughed and cried, found myself full of despair and full of hope.
Late Night movie review: walking the talk (show) (Sundance London 2019)
The deliciously entertaining Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling take center stage in a comedy about women in a male-dominated world. Laugh-until-you-cry and witheringly funny, often even keenly skewering.
Gloria Bell movie review: an (extra)ordinary woman
Julianne Moore pulls off the small miracle of tamping down her own intense charisma while still imbuing the ordinary, unglam Gloria with lively verve and a dynamism of low-key resilience personified.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix movie review: dark matter, done way too light
A lazy treadmill of a sci-fi morality play that wastes a terrific cast. A numbingly dull game of mutant checkers that has no idea how to tell a woman’s story except filtered through the eyes of men.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters movie review: gives new meaning to the phrase “disaster movie”
An absolute mess, and nowhere near enough monster action. Does not give good disaster. No fun at all. Makes me long for guys in rubber monster suits awkwardly sparring. At least you could see them.
The Secret Life of Pets 2 movie review: gone to the dogs
Underwhelming: episodic, a random collection of unconnected vignettes rather than one cohesive story. Inoffensive, but missing the first movie’s fantastical animals’ perspective on the human world.
Ma movie review: revenge is sour
A bargain-bin cockadoodie pseudo-Misery, a disgraceful waste of the brilliant Octavia Spencer. Has no interest in women’s pain and trauma even as it appropriates it for entertainment purposes.
Rocketman movie review: what makes a rock star, and what unmakes him
Joyful and rowdy, self-deprecating and vulnerable, absolutely electrifying as it deconstructs the sex-drugs-and-rock’n’-roll story. Taron Egerton is chills-inducingly good. Sheer cinematic magic.
XY Chelsea documentary review: the truth will out
Pensively melancholy, this jagged, humane portrait of US Army whistleblower Chelsea Manning is a massive challenge to the notion of soldiering as a good way for a lost young person to find oneself.
