Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts (88th Academy Awards) review
The wonderfully weird, hilariously morbid “World of Tomorrow” crams in more disturbing, sinister science-fiction ideas than a decade’s worth of blockbusters.
2016 theatrical releases
Oscar Nominated Live-Action Shorts (88th Academy Awards) review
“Day One” is a wartime drama the likes of which we have not seen before, with a marvelous Layla Alizada as an interpreter with U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi movie review: American mercenary
Michael Bay propagandizes for a right-wing idea of “true America,” seething with disdain for anyone who isn’t a former elite soldier turned mercenary.
The 5th Wave movie review: disaster movie, in more ways than one
Lazy and trite, with a passive protagonist. It’s as if no one here understands the appeal of the postapocalyptic YA genre it is attempting to piggyback on.
Ride Along 2 movie review: don’t get in this car
Dubious police procedures, by-the-numbers buddy-cop-comedy shenanigans, and characters who hate one another, none of which is as fun as it sounds.
Lost in Karastan movie review: lost indeed
Snarky humor and a wonderfully put-upon Matthew Macfadyen are the best reasons to see a satire that ultimately seems to forget where it was heading.
Synchronicity movie review: wormhole of the heart
If you could slap a dudebro fedora on Blade Runner, you’d get this ridiculous attempt at a mind-blowing sci-fi drama. Pretentious yet accidental silly.
Naz & Maalik movie review: best friends, and more
The stakes feel lower than they should, but as a portrait of youngsters in a tough familial and social position, this is compassionate and engaging.
A Perfect Day movie review: war is hellacious
This compact little satire — set in 1990s Balkans — is a small, personal story about huge unfairnesses and injustices. Bleakly, bitterly, blackly funny.
Anesthesia movie review: getting unnumbed to pain
The beautiful performances and raw intimacy are definitely worth your time, but its wispy good intentions ultimately dissipate into thin air.
