Tony Sokol
‘Fargo’ Season 5 Leans Into the Coen Brothers’ 1996 Film but Politely Avoids a Head-on Collision
Coen Brothers • Published on November 2023
Joel and Ethan Coen have a love-hate relationship with America’s Midwest. They could never come out and say it, however. The fifth installment of FX’s “Fargo” is set in Minnesota and North…
‘Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story’: A Long-Form Recap of Perry’s Success Story That Never Dispels the Myth
Amazon Prime Video • Published on November 2023
Armani Ortiz and Gelila Bekele’s “Maxine’s Baby: The Tyler Perry Story” is touted as a love letter to Willie Maxine Perry. Tyler Perry’s mother is his greatest influence. He lives her values,…
In Aki Kaurismäki’s ‘Fallen Leaves,’ Two Lonely Workers Circumvent Romance in a Bleak Helsinki
Aki Kaurismäki • Published on November 2023
Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves” is the fourth film in the Finnish director’s “Proletariat” series following “Shadows in Paradise,” “Ariel,” and the 1990 film “The Match Factory Girl.” Set against the war in…
Director Conor Allyn Empathizes With the Devil, but Throws Amber Heard ‘In the Fire’
Amber Heard • Published on October 2023
“I’m a fraud,” psychiatrist Grace Burnham (Amber Heard) tells Martin Marquez (Lorenzo McGovern Zaini), the mysterious boy she is treating for an undiagnosed and as-yet unexplored dissociative disorder. “I repeat the teachings of great men,…
‘Joan Baez I Am a Noise’ Is a Revelation to the Casual Listener, and a Breakthrough for Longtime Fans
Features • Published on October 2023
The title of “Joan Baez: I Am A Noise” comes from a teenaged Joanie Baez’s notebook. The future folk icon claims she wanted to be the center of attention and was, even…
‘The Royal Hotel’: Kitty Green and Julia Garner Reunite for a Different Kind of Toxic Workplace Nightmare
Features • Published on October 2023
American tourists Hanna (Julia Garner) and Liv (Jessica Henwick) run out of money on the flip side of the world, bounce deeper into the Australian Outback to earn their way back, and fight…
‘Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein’ Is a Tongue-in-Cheek Peek Into the Mind of a Notorious Killer
Ed Gein • Published on September 2023
If ever there was a notorious character worthy of sensational coverage, it is Ed Gein. The 1957 execution of Albert “The Lord High Executioner” Anastasia barely got noticed outside of New York City…
Chris Rock Hits Back at Will Smith, Takes Aim at Meghan Markle in ‘Selective Outrage’ Netflix Special
Chris Rock • Published on March 2023
Chris Rock’s Netflix special, “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” was technologically historic as the first-ever live global streaming event for Netflix, airing a week before the 2023 Oscars, and a year since Will…
Stephen King’s Classic Horror Tale Gets Creamed in Kurt Wimmer’s ‘Children of the Corn’
Children of the Corn • Published on March 2023
“Nothing ever really dies in the corn,” a troubled young teen says at the beginning of writer-director Kurt Wimmer’s “Children of the Corn.” But the husk of Stephen King is left…
Netflix’s ‘Day Shift’ Wastes Jamie Foxx in an Action Comedy That Doesn’t Need Vampires
Day Shift • Published on August 2022
As fun as it is to watch from an ultraviolent horror perspective, “Day Shift” is a cookie-cutter action movie where vampires lock and load, and Jamie Foxx might as well be…
‘Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head’ Keeps Its Sense of Humor Grounded in the Present Without Missing a Beat
Beavis and Butt-Head • Published on August 2022
Beavis and Butt-Head’s perennially favorite band, the metal horror ensemble Gwar, doesn’t make an appearance in “Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butt-Head,” but the reboot keeps everything else. It also has a little…
‘Clara Sola’: Subtly Evocative Horror Alternative Brings Natural Magic to Miracles
Clara Sola • Published on July 2022
Nathalie Álvarez Mesén’s “Clara Sola” is spellbinding and sorrowful, perplexing and subtle, but it begs questions of the purest faith, and its most tortious acts of selflessness. Is it blasphemy for…
‘Flux Gourmet’ Gives Food and Fringe Film Aficionados Something to Chew On
Features • Published on June 2022
On any standard table, “Flux Gourmet” would be labeled an acquired taste, but this would be a misnomer. David Cronenberg’s recent “Crimes of the Future” presented major surgery as a public spectacle,…
‘Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe’ Brings the Slacker Icons Into Modern Society Without Changing a Thing
Beavis and Butt-Head • Published on June 2022
“Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe,” the new feature film debuting on Paramount+, is an extended episode of the cartoon series, blasted into space, jettisoning the music video, and unwarped by time.
‘Brian and Charles’ Is as Delightfully Quirky as the Robot at Its Center
Brian and Charles • Published on June 2022
“Can birds do what they like?” robot Charles Petrescu (Chris Hayward) asks his friend, housemate and creator, Brian Gittins (David Earl), at the midway point of “Brian and Charles.” Written…
‘Jerry and Marge Go Large’ Gives Tips for a Caper So Clean, You’ll Want to Try It at Home
Annette Bening • Published on June 2022
You gotta be in it to win it, and “Jerry and Marge Go Large” proves the biggest payouts come when more are merrier. While most lotteries favor the house to win, the…
‘Good Luck to You, Leo Grande’ Gives Emma Thompson Emotional Relief in a Coming-of-Age-With-Interest Story
Daryl McCormack • Published on June 2022
Embracing all the stereotypes, “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande” is a British sex comedy, meaning it has a lot of comedy and very little sex. Even oral gratification is performed with…
‘Dashcam’ Unmasks Horrors of the Pandemic Era in a Livestream Shot From the Right
Dashcam • Published on June 2022
It’s never been so easy to root for the monsters as it is in writer-director Rob Savage’s iPhone livestream footage film, “Dashcam.” Even when they’re bleeding and worse in the back…
Amazon’s ‘Kids in the Hall’ Breaks the Curse, Crushes Heads in a Reunion of the Comedy Punks
Amazon • Published on May 2022
If we’d only known how unprotected the earth is in this galaxy, we never would have unplugged the last fax machine. The resuscitated “Kids in the Hall” series comes as a new…
‘Firebird’ Goes Behind the Iron Curtain for a Steamy Cold War Romance
Features • Published on April 2022
The cold war has never been so hot as in the steamy soldier story “Firebird,” an adaptation of “The Story of Roman,” a memoir by Russian actor and former Soviet soldier Sergey…