Reviews

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (3 stars out of 4)



Starting with 2019's "Knives Out," director Rian Johnson's series of murder mysteries have taken on a sequence of safe targets. The first movie pointed the finger at the wealthy entrenched aristocracy, where 2022's "Glass Onion" set its sights on the second jet-setting tech bros and online influencers. Now,

Rental Family (4 stars out of 4)



Hikari's "Rental Family" is the kind of movie that makes me grateful to be a movie critic.



"Rental Family" tells the story of a struggling American actor who is forced to reevaluate his life when an unconventional job challenges his moral compass.



Phillip Vandarpleog (Brendan Frasier) relocated to Japan several years earlier to pursue his acting

Edgar Wright returns to theaters this month with his new film “The Running Man,” starring Glen Powell. Wright has made some of the most prolific action-comedies of the century thus far. Wright is best known for his signature style of offbeat humor, quick editing, and fast camerawork. One of the most common tropes of the Wright catalogue is making passionate

The Running Man (2 1/2 stars out of 4)



Many if not most audiences will view Edgar Wright's "The Running Man" in comparison to the 1987 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, even though both films are separate adaptations of a novel by Stephen King. So without having read that novel, this review will approach the new film from the more general perspective,

"Nuremberg" (3 stars out of 4)



James Vanderbilt's "Nuremberg" is the story of a duel. Set during the months that followed the end of World War II, Vanderbilt's film tells the true story of a military psychiatrist who was tasked with treating the captured Nazi officials prior to their trial for war crimes.



At first, Dr. Douglas Kelley (Rami Malek) is given

Bugonia (2 1/2 stars out of 4)



I thought of a line from Shakespeare* while watching Yorgos Lanthimos's "Bugonia:"



"...full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."



The line from "Macbeth" sprang to mind because "Bugonia" is indeed full of sound and fury, including dynamic visuals, dramatic music, strong performances, and lower-case "s" shocking moments. But at the end, you're left with a shrug.



It's

Horror has proven time and time again to be one of the most consistent genres when it comes to box office and audience reception. 2025 continues this trend with several horror films being the top movies at the box office during their opening weekend. A film like Conjuring: Last Rites has not only been one of the most successful films

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (1 1/2 stars out of 4)



Years ago I came across a video called, “How to Irritate People.” It was a collection of comedy sketches penned and performed by John Cleese, so coming from the man behind Monty Python and Fawlty Towers, I figured it was a sure thing. What I found was exactly

Tron: Ares (3 1/2 stars out of 4)



Our modern culture may finally be catching up to the Tron franchise.



When the first film arrived in 1982, computers were a comparatively new thing for the general public, and the idea of personifying programs and other elements of the digital world was largely abstract for most moviegoers. But 43 years and two films

Roofman (3 stars out of 4)



There are two things that make "Roofman" work where it otherwise wouldn't.



The first is casting Channing Tatum in the lead role. Tatum's inherent likability goes a long way toward reconciling an uncomfortable character.



The second is that "Roofman" is based on a true story. As a work of fiction, audiences would be uncomfortable with incoherence and