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'Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere': Jeremy Allen White Shines in Otherwise Standard Biopic
PHOTO: 20th Century Studios There are few artists as ubiquitous as Bruce Springsteen. For decades, he has steadily put out hit records and sold out stadiums, earning his place as one of the most legendary figures in the history of rock music. But beyond that, Springsteen has never been afraid to make the music that he wants to, prioritizing music as a means of artistic expression over profit and fame. Case in point, his landmark 1982 album, Nebraska , which represented a depa

Saxon Whitehead
Oct 30, 20258 min read


'Anniversary': A Well-Acted, Engaging Thriller
PHOTO: Lionsgate In a year with other films that have commented on American politics, a film like Anniversary is likely to fly under the radar. It isn’t as in-your-face as something like Eddington , nor is an epic like One Battle After Another . Instead, it is an ensemble film that blends elements of family drama and political thrillers and largely stays contained to one location. While I would argue that the other films I mentioned are more effective in their political comme

Saxon Whitehead
Oct 28, 20255 min read


'After the Hunt': Luca Guadagnino's Latest Aims to be Provocative, But Ends Up Being Hollow and Muddled
PHOTO: Amazon MGM Studios Considering that Luca Guadagnino’s latest film After the Hunt comes with the tagline “Not everything is supposed to make you comfortable”, it is clear that he and screenwriter Nora Garrett hope to deliver something provocative and shocking. That tagline is directly lifted from a scene late in the film where Julia Roberts’s Alma Imhoff is confronting Ayo Edebiri’s Maggie Resnick regarding allegations that have shaken up both of their lives. It is a mo

Saxon Whitehead
Oct 24, 20255 min read


'Black Phone 2': A Chilling Horror Sequel
PHOTO: Universal Pictures When you make a successful horror movie, a sequel is practically guaranteed. But what happens when you make a successful horror movie that doesn’t have a clear path to a sequel? If you’re Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, you lean more into the supernatural and borrow some stuff from one of horror’s most beloved franchises. The Black Phone was a great success at the box office and with audiences, but the film’s ending gave little room to make f

Saxon Whitehead
Oct 20, 20256 min read


'Tron: Ares': Visually Stunning, But Narratively Shallow
PHOTO: Walt Disney Pictures Considering that the Tron franchise already made their big legacy sequel with the aptly titled Tron: Legacy ,...

Saxon Whitehead
Oct 12, 20256 min read


'The Smashing Machine': Dwayne Johnson Gives His Best Performance in Mostly Solid Sports Biopic
PHOTO: A24 No matter how famous Dwayne Johnson has become, he will always be known by many as his ring name, The Rock. Johnson’s...

Saxon Whitehead
Oct 6, 20256 min read


'One Battle After Another': A Timely, Incredibly Crafted Epic from Paul Thomas Anderson
PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures Like other modern auteurs, Paul Thomas Anderson has mostly made period pieces over the past several years....

Saxon Whitehead
Sep 30, 20259 min read


'Twinless': A Disjointed Study of Loss and Companionship
PHOTO: Lionsgate Loneliness and grief are concepts that have been explored in film many times over, but still manage to connect and evoke...

Saxon Whitehead
Sep 18, 20256 min read


'The History of Sound': A Meditative Romance That Feels More Minor Than Major
PHOTO: MUBI As I started watching The History of Sound , I couldn’t help but think of Brokeback Mountain , as the two films share a...

Saxon Whitehead
Sep 12, 20255 min read


'Caught Stealing': Austin Butler Knocks It Out of the Park in Comedic Crime Thriller
PHOTO: Sony Pictures Darren Aronofsky has made a name for himself by making films that could be described as “cerebral” or “bummers”....

Saxon Whitehead
Sep 8, 20256 min read


'Lurker': An Uneasy, Extremely Compelling Exploration of Obsession and Fame
PHOTO: MUBI Anyone who has spent a few minutes on the internet can tell you that modern fandoms are extremely toxic. From gatekeepers to...

Saxon Whitehead
Sep 5, 20256 min read


'The Roses': A Thorny, Yet Heartfelt Satire of Modern Relationships
PHOTO: Searchlight Pictures In theory, a modern take on Warren Adler’s novel The War of the Roses isn’t the worst idea, but it is one...

Saxon Whitehead
Sep 2, 20258 min read


'Highest 2 Lowest': Spike Lee and Denzel Washington Reunite for a Riveting Remake
PHOTO: Apple Original Films It takes a bold filmmaker to attempt to remake a classic like Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low , and Spike Lee...

Saxon Whitehead
Aug 30, 20256 min read


'Honey Don't!': A Sloppy, Mildly Amusing Misfire
PHOTO: Focus Features Since The Coen Brothers decided to part ways and pursue their own projects, we have received one film from each of...

Saxon Whitehead
Aug 29, 20256 min read


'Ne Zha 2': A Stunning, Overstuffed Animated Epic
PHOTO: A24 The average filmgoer might not realize that the highest-grossing film of the year worldwide isn’t a Marvel movie, a Disney...

Saxon Whitehead
Aug 28, 20255 min read


'Weapons': A Twisty, Exciting Blend of Horror and Mystery
PHOTO: New Line Cinema At a time where seemingly every horror movie is seemingly about trauma, it’s hard not to view Zach Cregger’s...

Saxon Whitehead
Aug 15, 20255 min read


'Happy Gilmore 2': A Hit-or-Miss Sequel Filled with Nostalgia
PHOTO: Netflix For someone who has been a star for as long as Adam Sandler has, it’s a little surprising that he has very few sequels on...

Saxon Whitehead
Jul 31, 20258 min read


'Eddington': Ari Aster Revisits COVID-era America with Bleak, Satirical Western
PHOTO: A24 The year 2020 will forever be remembered as the year of COVID-19: a time of masks, lockdowns, and social distancing. It was...

Saxon Whitehead
Jul 23, 202510 min read


'I Know What You Did Last Summer': A Dull, Lazy Legacy Sequel
PHOTO: Sony Pictures Hot off the success of his breakthrough screenplay, Scream , Kevin Williamson was approached to adapt a 1973 novel...

Saxon Whitehead
Jul 19, 20258 min read


'Jurassic World Rebirth': A Frustrating, Occasionally Thrilling Adventure
PHOTO: Universal Pictures When Jurassic World Dominion was released in 2022, it appeared that the Jurassic Park franchise had ended....

Saxon Whitehead
Jul 16, 20256 min read
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