Movie review: “The Batman” (2022)

It’s dark. It’s gritty. It’s three hours long.  Surprisingly, “The Batman” is also very good. Unlike other attempts DC has made to grittyfiy its already fairly gritty universe, “The Batman”‘s Gotham feels like a genuinely dangerous place, an unhinged crime-a-palooza where the only thing more inevitable than the nightly mugging you’ll get on the subway is […]

Movie review: “Godzilla vs. Kong”

OK so “Godzilla vs. Kong”. Once upon a time in 1970, a young hippie couple made an ambitious list. It was called the “When We Get Rich List”, and the first item—a pair of winter boots—should tell you how extraordinarily and flagrantly broke my parents truly were at that point in their lives. Nevertheless, they […]

Movie review: “WW84”

WW84 poses an interesting dilemma: what to say about a movie with a perfectly serviceable script, excellent performances, a charming and talented cast and a few truly brilliant scenes, that nonetheless leaves you completely cold? It’s a puzzle, a well-built house that nonetheless makes for an awkward home. Any single decision made in construction of […]

Movie review: “Knives Out”

“Knives Out” is a bit like a pyramid scheme: immediately after you enter it, you will begin making a list of friends, family members, and casual acquaintances whom you might be able to cajole, bribe, or threaten into joining you in it. If you have no friends, you may be tempted to start waylaying people […]

Movie review: “Free Solo”

OK so time for a late movie review, courtesy of Jen Ockelmann-Wagner and her Disney+ subscription! (Thanks, Jen!) I’ve finally sat down and watched “Free Solo”, the documentary which follows the mountain climber Alex Honnold from early 2016 through his successful attempt to free solo El Capitan in 2017. Shot by a team of mountain-climbing […]

Retro movie review: “Cutthroat Island”

OK so time for a retro movie review! Today, at Sean Gorman’s request, I’m reviewing “Cutthroat Island”, the 1995 flop which broke loss records ($82 million dollars blown) and nearly sunk director Renny Harlin’s career (he was saved, the next year, by “The Long Kiss Goodnight”). Gorman is a big, and unironic, fan of “Cutthroat […]