Alci Rengifo
‘Stranger Things 5: Volume 2’: The Final Countdown Continues With Crackling Action Tempered by Genuine Emotion
Caleb McLaughlin • Published on December 2025
“Stranger Things 5: Volume 2” pulls few stops in setting up its legions of fans for the most anticipated series finale in streaming. Creators Ross and Matt Duffer truly begin tying up…
‘Anaconda’: Meta Comedy Coils Around Millennial Nostalgia for Silly Enjoyment
Anaconda • Published on December 2025
Tom Gormican’s “Anaconda” is another slice of millennial nostalgia with the added touch of mocking that very same obsession with the past. If you grew up in the 1990s and watched movies,…
In ‘Song Sung Blue,’ Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson Are a Lovable Neil Diamond Tribute Act Pulling Through Tragedy
Craig Brewer • Published on December 2025
The ongoing renaissance of music biopics continues to deliver cinematic interpretations of legendary chart-toppers. “Song Sung Blue” becomes an engrossing addition by not focusing on some cultural icon. Its subjects are the…
‘Marty Supreme’: Timothée Chalamet Chases After Table Tennis Glory in Josh Safdie’s Electric Portrait of American Ambition
Features • Published on December 2025
Marty Mauser is one of those characters who feels so vivid that you wonder how he could ever be fiction. Timothée Chalamet brings him to gloriously self-assured life in “Marty Supreme,” driving…
‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’: James Cameron Focuses on Pure Spectacle in Third Entry of His Groundbreaking Franchise
Avatar • Published on December 2025
The first two films in legendary filmmaker James Cameron’s “Avatar” saga broke box office records and introduced technological breakthroughs in cinema. While audiences had to wait 13 years between those movies, Cameron now…
‘Is This Thing On?’: Will Arnett Finds Solace Through Stand-Up in Bradley Cooper’s Moving Marital Drama
Bradley Cooper • Published on December 2025
Bradley Cooper takes blending comedy and tragedy quite seriously in “Is This Thing On?” It is a welcome downscaling for the actor-director, whose previous work profiled relationships within the grand world of…
‘Goodbye June’: Kate Winslet’s Directorial Debut Gathers Around a Dying Matriarch With Familiar Family Dysfunction
Features • Published on December 2025
Kate Winslet’s “Goodbye June” is a family affair in nearly every aspect. The plot is one of those recognizable heart-tuggers about a clan of relatives coming together to process their issues while…
‘The End of an Era’ Docuseries Looks at the Human Side of Taylor Swift’s Colossal World Tour
Disney Plus • Published on December 2025
Just two months after the release of “The Life of a Showgirl,” which is now the top-selling album of 2025, pop titan Taylor Swift is releasing even more content for diehard fans…
‘Merrily We Roll Along’ Captures the Emotional Joy of Maria Friedman’s Tony-Winning Revival of Sondheim’s Once Unappreciated Opus
Daniel Radcliffe • Published on December 2025
When legendary American composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along” first opened on Broadway in 1981, the results were quite disastrous. Critics thrashed the production and it closed after only two…
‘Stranger Things 5’ Begins To Bring the Upside Down Saga Full Circle With Large Scale Suspense
Caleb McLaughlin • Published on November 2025
Netflix’s “Stranger Things 5” has finally arrived, three long years after the fourth installment of the hit series. That is quite a stretch of time between seasons, yet fans have remained loyal…
‘The Secret Agent’: Wagner Moura Is a Man on the Run in Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Rich Evocation of Brazil’s Recent Past
‘The Secret Agent • Published on November 2025
The films of Brazilian director Kleber Mendonça Filho are driven by a rich sense of place and time. His stories occupy a space so fully that they truly feel recovered from some distant…
‘Hamnet’: Filmmaker Chloé Zhao on Exploring the Universality of Sorrow in Ethereal Adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s Acclaimed Novel
Chloé Zhao • Published on November 2025
Chloé Zhao is a filmmaker with a particularly special cinematic language. She can capture stark experiences with an almost ethereal glow. In 2020, the Bejing-born director made history by becoming the first woman…
‘Zootopia 2’ Equals Its Predecessor With Heartfelt Lessons and Crafty Social Commentary
Andy Samberg • Published on November 2025
Making a true friend is special. Sustaining that friendship can sometimes be the hard part. Disney’s “Zootopia 2” reminds us that animated family films can still tackle such subject matter with breezy…
‘Eternity’: Elizabeth Olsen Is Caught Between Two Loves in Refreshingly Inventive Afterlife Rom-Com
Callum Turner • Published on November 2025
To truly ponder the possibility of life after death should mean considering a lot of rather inconvenient details. “Eternity” is a romantic comedy that poses a challenge that makes complete sense when…
Chloé Zhao’s Luminous ‘Hamnet’ Is a Devastating Shakespearean Experience of Loss and Resilience
Chloé Zhao • Published on November 2025
Beyond ove, loss and sorrow are the most universal of human experiences. Not even historical giants are immune to them. Chloé Zhao’s “Hamnet” lures us in promising to gaze into a side…
‘Wicked: For Good’: Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande Soar Through the Emotional Heart of Jon M. Chu’s Dazzling and Darker Second Act
Ariana Grande • Published on November 2025
Darker and driven by grandiose feelings, “Wicked: For Good” concludes director Jon M. Chu’s stirring fantasy that, in the end, proves to have always been about the intricacies of friendship. Chu’s adaptation…
Noah Baumbach’s ‘Jay Kelly’ Journeys Through the Perils of Fame With a Contemplative George Clooney
Adam Sandler • Published on November 2025
George Clooney has arrived at the stage where he can now play an aging star reflecting on the tableaux of his life. This particular genre of storytelling is all about time, since being…
Osgood Perkins’ ‘Keeper’ Sets a Bewitching Mood Around a Cryptic Horror Allegory
Features • Published on November 2025
It has been the season of the witch for a while now when it comes to horror films. As if a spell were cast over every development meeting, hyper real versions of paganism…
‘The Running Man’: Glen Powell Rushes Through Dystopia in Edgar Wright’s Eye-Popping Stephen King Adaptation
Edgar Wright • Published on November 2025
Maybe Stephen King was ahead of the curve all along. Famous for his horror novels, King has lately seen a cinematic and TV surge of his dystopias. It could be because they tap…
‘The Beast in Me’: A Searing Claire Danes Brings Powerful Emotional Weight To Netflix’s Compulsively Watchable Thriller
Claire Danes • Published on November 2025
Netflix’s limited series “The Beast in Me” is the latest example of old formulas still working like fine aged wines. Read the plot and it sounds like a scenario that has been…