27 Nov 2023

What a Dic(tator): “Napoleon,” “Saltburn,” and “Wish”

By Mike Schulz

Walking into our auditorium for Ridley Scott's Napoleon and not entirely looking forward to the experience, I half-jokingly told my brother and sister-in-law that we were at least catching the two-hour-40-minute version, and not the promised four-hour director's cut that will at some point stream on Apple+. But while I had more than my fill of turkey over Thanksgiving weekend, I'm happy to now eat a little crow, because Scott's historical epic is utterly sensational – bold, thrilling, unusual, and frequently very, very funny.

19 Nov 2023

Snow, the Frosty Man: “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,” “Trolls Band Together,” “Rustin,” “Next Goal Wins,” “Thanksgiving,” and “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life”

By Mike Schulz

The rare prequel that actually makes a solid case for its existence, director Francis Lawrence's terrific dystopian thriller kept me invested for the entirety of its two-and-a-half hours – even if it was slightly odd that this big-budget, large-scale return of cinematic YA lit is wholly stolen by its grown-ups.

13 Nov 2023

Student-Teacher Confluence: “The Holdovers,” “The Killer,” “Journey to Bethlehem,” and “The Marvels”

By Mike Schulz

While experience tells me that I should already be leery of whatever Alexander Payne does for a followup act, I sure did enjoy his latest a lot.

06 Nov 2023

Graceland Under Pressure: “Priscilla,” “Nyad,” “The Marsh King's Daughter,” “What Happens Later,” and “Fingernails”

By Mike Schulz

If you know in advance that writer/director Sofia Coppola's latest film is going to cover the life of Priscilla Presley from the week of her introduction to Elvis to the day she walked out of Graceland for good, and also know that only one performer is going to play the role from ages 14 through 27, your first sight of Priscilla lead Cailee Spaeny might come as a shock.

30 Oct 2023

Grin and Fazbear It: “Five Nights at Freddy's,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” and “After Death”

By Mike Schulz

While I didn't share my nine-year-old friend's enthusiasm, writer/director Emma Tammi's outing just may be the ideal horror-movie introduction for pre-teens – though if you catch it at our local cineplex, I might advise skipping the trailers.

23 Oct 2023

Quoth the Ravenous “Evermore”: “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour”

By Madeline Dudziak

Move over, Gilligan: There’s a new three-hour tour that’s more popular than yours.

22 Oct 2023

Bubble Bubble Oil and Trouble: “Killers of the Flower Moon”

By Mike Schulz

It's routinely said that what matters isn't the actual length of a movie, but rather how long a movie feels. Killers of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese's genre-blending tale of systemic murder set in early-20th-century Oklahoma, runs just slightly under three-and-a-half hours. Unlike Scorsese's 2019 The Irishman, however, which lasted about five minutes longer, his latest epic crime drama feels like three-and-a-half hours.

16 Oct 2023

The Ballad of Sugar and Poison: Wes Anderson's Roald Dahl Shorts, “Fair Play,” and “The Burial”

By Mike Schulz

I never imagined that the sensational Asteroid City would merely rank as Wes Anderson's fifth-finest achievement of 2023.

09 Oct 2023

Beelzedud: “The Exorcist: Believer,” “No One Will Save You,” “Flora & Son,” and “Stop Making Sense”

By Mike Schulz

I so should've known better, but I was really looking forward to The Exorcist: Believer, and for the simple reason that the trailer creeped me the eff out.

02 Oct 2023

Crossed Wires: “The Creator” and “Saw X”

By Mike Schulz

For a movie plastered wall-to-wall with visual effects, writer/director Gareth Edwards' The Creator pulls off a feat only a few futuristic science-fiction films have managed over the decades: It makes you completely forget about the visual effects.

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