Whenever a studio releases a sequel 23 years after the original movie, it’s fair to go in with some skepticism about the project, its intentions, and its quality. When Chicken Run was released in the year 2000, there was a farm fresh feel to it that resonated both with its …
Read More »Taylor Swift's 'Eras Tour' Movie Will Make You Sing, Scream, and Sob
The first of many great moments in Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour movie: Right as the lights went down, the girl in Row H spoke up. “Oh my God, I should have asked permission before now, but we’re all gonna sing, right?” she pleaded in the dark. “Because I wanna sing!” …
Read More »'The Burial' Will Remind You Just How Talented Jamie Foxx Is
He’s played superheroic gunfighters, supervillains, cab drivers, NFL quarterbacks, homeless violinists, vice cops, death-row inmates, the President of the United States and, of course, Ray Charles — all of which attests to the range and versatility of Jamie Foxx. But there may not be a role more suited to the …
Read More »He Tried to Convert a Remote Tribe to Christianity and Got Killed
It’s not difficult to scorn John Chau. A 26-year-old evangelical Christian with a taste for outdoor adventure, he undertook a one-man mission in 2018 to North Sentinel Island, an extremely remote and unreached part of India, to bring the gospel of Jesus to the Sentinelese. Even if you don’t know …
Read More »'Anatomy of a Fall' Is the Year's Most Gripping Murder Mystery
Anatomy of a Fall starts out with an extraordinary act of passive-aggressiveness: A German writer, Sandra Voyter (Sandra Hüller) is sitting in her home in Grenoble, a part-cabin, part-winter-getaway mini-mansion tucked away at the snowy foot of the French Alps. She’s being interviewed by a female student (Camille Rutherford) about …
Read More »'The Fall of the House of Usher' Is a Literary Orgy of Death
In many ways, Mike Flanagan is the perfect creator for the current era of Netflix. The streaming giant has moved in recent years to making fewer seasons per series, and frequently canceling shows before they’ve finished telling their respective stories. Flanagan technically doesn’t make an ongoing series, but rather writes …
Read More »'Rick and Morty' Is Back and Doesn't Miss Justin Roiland One Bit
In March of 2014, I met Dan Harmon at Burbank’s venerable Smoke House for a long interview. We were there to talk about his unexpected return to Community, the NBC comedy he created and ran for three seasons, before being forced out for a year. But this was only a …
Read More »'Messi Meets America' Is One Big Marketing Stunt
Messi Meets America, a splashy new docuseries for Apple TV+ about Argentinian soccer god Lionel Messi’s move to MLS club Inter Miami after leading his home country to a dramatic World Cup win, opens with Messi ruminating on his shock decision to leave Paris Saint-Germain and, to quote another all-time …
Read More »'Frasier' Revival Is an Unfunny, Uninspired Dud
There’s a joke in the fourth episode of the Paramount+ revival of Frasier that is not the worst to be found in this new take on Kelsey Grammer’s famous psychiatrist Frasier Crane, because there are unfortunately a lot of bad ones to choose from. But it typifies the biggest problem …
Read More »When a Man Vanishes in a Town of 11 People and Everyone's a Suspect
As you might expect, news travels fast in a town of eleven people. As you also might expect, tensions can run high. Close quarters and all that. And when one of those eleven people (and his dog) go missing without a trace, finger-pointing is inevitable, especially when everyone seems to …
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