Only the Brave movie review: the men who tame wildfires
Familiar in its overall storytelling arcs about risktaking and redemption, but also a sincere tribute to our new firefighting heroes for a warmer planet.
reviews
A Murder in Mansfield documentary review: a reconciliation with tragedy (Doc NYC 2017)
An honest and brave portrait of the trauma and grief of those in the immediate periphery of a terrible crime. A simple, intimate film, and a powerful one.
Paddington 2 movie review: wrap yourself up in this bear hug
There is such kindness here, such humanity, such warmth and optimism. This is a fantasy of unique scope and astonishing emotional depth beneath the silliness.
Lady Bird movie review: flights of adolescent angsty (LFF 2017)
An emotional feast full of humor and pathos about the audacity, the wonder, the horror that is female adolescence. Beautiful, bittersweet, and very generous.
Inconceivable movie review: nanny dearest
This preposterous, stilted, often hilariously terrible domestic thriller twists maternal yearnings into a toxic parody of femininity.
Murder on the Orient Express movie review: strangers on a train
Doubly dated, lacking in humor and subtext, its impressive cast deliberately underutilized, this is little more than an exercise in gorgeous production design.
The Light of the Moon movie review: “victim” is not a dirty word
A tough, uncompromising depiction of a rape and its aftermath that serves as a formidable corrective for how this subject is typically seen onscreen.
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.
A Bad Moms Christmas movie review: cruel coal in the stocking
This rushed sequel is an insult to its progenitor movie. A cheap knockoff that doesn’t understand what made Bad Moms so smart, funny, and feminist-wise.
Bushwick movie review: don’t mess with Brooklyn
There’s fierce tension in this breathless urban survival thriller as anarchy comes to New York streets. Terrific, innovative low-budget action filmmaking.
