Reviews

Twisters (2 1/2 stars out of four)



1997’s “Twister” is a great disaster spectacle, a true summer popcorn movie. I’ve returned to itnumerous times over the years, and as a result I had reasonable hopes for this summer’ssequel, “Twisters.”



My hopes were only partially realized.



On the surface, Lee Isaac Chung’s “Twisters” is a fun action piece that is light on brains andheavy

Fly Me to the Moon (3 stars out of 4)



The Space Race of the 1960s has delivered some fantastic movies over the years. Based on theexcellent Tom Wolfe novel of the same name, “The Right Stuff” was the first one I remember,tracing the story of the Mercury Astronauts in the aftermath of Sputnik. 2019’s “Apollo 11” wasa fascinating documentary, built

Inside Out 2 (3 ½ stars out of 4)



I noticed something while watching “Inside Out 2” that I hadn’t quite picked up on before. We all know Pixar puts out films that are enjoyable for parents as well as their presumed adolescent target audience, and the new sequel to Pete Docter’s 2015 original maintains that standard. But like that film,

The Bikeriders (3 stars out of 4)



2024 is shaping up to be a good year for movies about photography. “Civil War” already showed us a potential American conflict through the eyes of a photojournalist, and now “The Bikeriders” brings, of all things, a coffee table book to the big screen.



Jeff Nichols’ film is based on the real-life efforts of Danny

Furiosa (3 ½ stars out of 4)



As I approached the end of “Furiosa’s” two and a half hour run time, I recalled one of the few complaints about 2015’s “Mad Max: Fury Road,” that it was little more than a 120-minute there-and-back road chase. In some ways, George Miller’s fifth entry into the “Mad Max” universe feels like a direct

IF (2 ½ stars out of 4)



The best family movies usually find a way to appeal to both kids and the adults taking them to the theater. In the case of John Krasinski’s “IF,” you could almost make the argument that in this case, the movie’s primary audience is actually the adults. It’s hard to say if that’s a good

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (3 stars out of 4)



“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is perfectly good B-list movie filler. It isn’t “turn off your brain” shlock, like a lot of recent franchise offerings, but it isn’t the kind of film that’s going to stick with you, either. It’s not the kind of movie that will

The Fall Guy (3 stars out of 4)



“The Fall Guy” is the early front-runner for “Most Meta Movie Experience of 2024.” There’ssomething odd about watching a movie about stuntmen, knowing the stunts you are seeing arebeing performed by stuntmen who are protecting actors who are playing stuntmen. Also, thedirector is a former stuntman himself.



David Leitch’s love letter to his former

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (3 stars out of 4)



“The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” is fun and stylish, but it feels like it should have been more fun and stylish.



Based on a 2014 account of declassified British intelligence archives, director Guy Ritchie’s film follows a kind of “Dirty Half-Dozen” on a secret mission to cripple the German U-Boat offensive during

Hard Miles (3 stars out of 4)



As spring bridges the gap into the summer, R.J. Daniel Hanna’s “Hard Miles” may be just the thing to get you geared up for the great outdoors.



Inspired by the true story of a man named Greg Townsend, who founded the successful Ridgeview Academy cycling team, “Hard Miles” follows a group of troubled teens on