The hugely successful Marvel Cinematic Universe has continued to inch further and further into comedic territory in recent years; with “Thor: Ragnarok,” it completely passes through the comic threshold. With its laughs-first approach, from start to finish “Thor: Ragnarok” is Marvel Studios’ funniest film. The comedic instincts of director Taika Waititi (“What We Do in […]

“Blade Runner 2049” is not a conventional sequel. The 1982 original failed to reach commercial success despite being a sci-fi film released during the years of the original “Star Wars” trilogy and starring Harrison Ford (and coming from acclaimed “Alien” director Ridley Scott). So there was not a lot of financial incentive to revisit this […]

Imagine interviewing three different soldiers who all survived the same battle but experienced it from different vantage points, and asking them to tell their story. That’s the narrative feel to Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk,” a technical marvel of a war film with one simple aspiration: capture the feeling of helplessness in one of World War II’s […]

The big screen has experienced a burgeoning of “illness movies” in the last few years, and “The Big Sick” isn’t like any of them. Many of these films could be accused of leveraging illness for an emotional punch to the heart, but Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon’s story is not built around a character […]

No Marvel superhero has been through the ordeal of Spider-Man on the big screen. Peter Parker’s first two films practically launched the modern superhero genre, but then after creative issues, Sony rebooted him, and audiences were less than enthused. Probably with much reluctance, Sony and Marvel Studios reached terms on a co- production to let […]

A teenage girl wants nothing more than to remain with her lifelong pet and companion – the super pig Okja – in Korean auteur Bong Joon- ho’s latest film. Everything else is just stuff that gets in the way.

DC Entertainment needed a superhero hit badly, and what better way to make a comeback than with a female heroine? Maybe “Wonder Woman” should be evaluated apart from its exciting feminist energy, but in a prolific superhero movie landscape, individuality matters, and the female star-director duo of Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins is a large […]

Marvel Studios and writer/director James Gunn proved with 2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” that superhero movies don’t need to feature familiar (usually white, male, special suit-wearing) characters saving Earth; they just need to be fun, dynamic and easy to relate to. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” doubles down on its investment in Peter Quill/Star-Lord […]

If someone asked you to describe your country’s cuisine and what makes it uniquely of your country, you might be hard-pressed to provide an answer. Especially for Americans, if you’re country is made predominantly of immigrants and hasn’t been around for even 250 years, that’s a really tough question to answer. For Israel, a country […]

Hugh Jackman’s 17-year ride as beloved “X-Men” hero Wolverine has been full of ups (“X2”) and downs (“X-Men Origins”), but his commitment to the character has never wavered, and that’s undoubtedly a factor in what makes “Logan” a special superhero film.

You know that helplessly choked up feeling you get watching a TV news feature or documentary special about parents and children reuniting after years or decades apart? That’s the fuel that powers “Lion,” a classically emotional story accentuated by astute craftsmanship.

There are some classic Hollywood storytelling molds out there — frameworks that with the right story and the right talents applied, result in a feel-good, crowd-pleasing movie — the popcorn and Coca-Cola of cinema. “Hidden Figures” perfectly encapsulates that type of film. It balances upon a combination of a witty script both humorous and dramatic, […]

“Manchester by the Sea” takes place in the dead of winter in the small Massachusetts coastal town of the title. This bleak setting and the stark, grim imagery that accompany it set the tone for Kenneth Lonergan’s third feature film, which explores grief and our darkest demons in a way so authentic it can get […]

Grief was a prominent theme at the movies in 2016, but no movie has tackled that anger and helplessness quite like “A Monster Calls,” this year, or ever. Using magical realism in familiar but effective ways, “A Monster Calls” breaks down the pain and guilt of loss and suffering in a way that’s accessible for […]

Belonging, love, identity – not everyone grows up a gay black man with a drug addict mother and no father like Chiron, the main character in Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight,” but his struggle to find and be himself resonates across all lines of race, gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation.