Benny Safdie’s “The Smashing Machine” sets out to break a few rules. It wants to be an arthouse drama that doubles as a sports biopic. At the same time, it seeks to…
After working 30 years as an actress, it would take a special screenplay to lure Scarlett Johansson to the other side of the camera, and she found it in “Eleanor the Great,”…
There is little doubt we are living in increasingly tumultuous times where amid all the socio-political discourse and clashing, some individuals are choosing to exist in the extreme. Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One…
It is rare to start a new chapter at age 94, but actress June Squibb did just that last year with her first-ever lead role in “Thelma,” a heartfelt and hilarious comedy…
Kogonada’s “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” is a big, beautiful piece of photographic eye candy. Turn off the sound and you can admire the framing and lighting as if you were walking…
The world of sports is a corporate behemoth that turns players into commodities while feeding Americans’ leisurely obsessions. Why do we take football so seriously? These are themes and questions ripe for the…
In “Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale,” the final saga in the beloved “Downton Abbey” franchise, the Crawley family find themselves in a period of transition. While “Downton Abbey” has always been a…
The human component of Stephen King’s best stories is the real secret behind their appeal. Monsters, ghouls, psychics and gruesome moments may get all the pop culture fame, but buried in the formulas…