Reviews
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David Robert Mitchell is easily one of my favorite writer-directors. If you’ve seen Under the Silver Lake, you know why. On the surface, it’s an ode to Hollywood noir—an American black comedy thriller. Beneath that, it’s about the human need to find deeper, secret meaning in our bleak, cookie-cutter perception of a commercialized world. His…
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Streaming culture has a weird effect on the making of a movie and its reception in our modern times. Binge-watching, constant digital connection, and instant access to endless choices present unconventional possibilities for movie makers. Their Netflix Original could be an Oscar winner, like Frankenstein (2025) or Roma, or one of many forgotten about in…
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The Tragic Irony in the Title In Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026), director Destin Daniel Cretton and the film’s writers make one thing clear: isolation consumes. Being your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man means trusting people and believing in community. That’s always been Peter Parker’s greatest strength. But since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home, Peter doesn’t quite…
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A Legendary Writer and Director’s Recipe for Creating Modern Cinematic Classics The detailed story of the fabled Trojan Horse is not actually found in Homer’s The Odyssey; it appears at length in Book II of Virgil’s Aeneid. In the 2026 film The Odyssey, two-time Academy Award-winning director Christopher Nolan boldly blends these myths. As director,…
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Cinema’s New Age of “Smart Horror” Cinema is undergoing a renaissance of intelligence, as sci-fi, horror, and thrillers are no longer mere vehicles for cheap scares or spectacle. Instead, films like Ex Machina and Get Out use these genres to probe the depths of human psychology and society. Before those touchstones, Fede Álvarez’s 2013 reboot…
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There’s something about Spielberg movies, right? For over 50 years, Steven Spielberg has directed almost 40 feature-length films. Giant great white sharks terrorize beachgoers. A mild-mannered archeology professor doubles as a globe-trotting adventurer. A German industrialist saves the lives of Jewish refugees during the Holocaust. Three of Spielberg’s films adapt well-written, cinematic books by my…
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The Wayans Legacy: Masters of Parody The Wayans brothers—Keenen Ivory, Damon, Shawn, and Marlon—are staples in American comedy. Keenen Ivory Wayans is the trailblazer who wrote and directed I’m Gonna Git You Sucka in 1988. He followed up with the hit sketch comedy series In Living Color in 1990. Siblings Shawn and Marlon continued the…
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Questlove’s 25th Tribeca Film Festival opener, “Earth, Wind & Fire” has high Emmy and Oscar winning odds. Read the full review here!
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Defending the Innocence Lost in the Regan Era Masters of the Universe (2026) came out for early access screenings on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. Where I’m from, people say “pause” after a line like that. If my tongue-in-cheek lead already has you ready to debate (pause), this movie might not be your vibe. The film…
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It’s no secret: Gen Z is fascinated by the Y2K aesthetic that defined millennial youth. As a millennial who lived through it, I remember an era that was uncurated, weird, and deeply imperfect. The looming threat of the “Millennium Bug” shaped everything. Fear of a computer glitch upending the world at midnight in 2000 was…