T/movie-reviews

‘No Other Choice’ Review: A Company Man Cut Loose
Movies, December 25

Park Chan-wook, the director of “Oldboy” and “The Handmaiden,” brings comedic flair to the cruel tale of an employee pushed to the brink.

‘Marty Supreme’ Review: Timothée Chalamet Sprints to the Top
Movies, December 24

The actor stars as a magnetic, striving table-tennis champ in Josh Safdie’s new movie, one of the most exciting movies of the year.

‘The Testament of Ann Lee’ Review: A Woman Clothed With the Sun
Movies, December 24

In an extraordinary performance, Amanda Seyfried plays the founder of the Shakers in a singular film.

‘The Choral’ Review: Singing to Keep the Fear at Bay
Movies, December 24

As England goes to war, a provincial choir master played by Ralph Fiennes is challenged to find available voices in this poignant drama set in 1916.

‘Song Sung Blue’ Review: A Christmas ‘Caroline’
Movies, December 24

Craig Brewer’s toe-tapping weepie about the triumphs and tragedies of a Neil Diamond tribute band is exactly the movie we need right now.

‘Anaconda’ Review: Back in the Jungle
Movies, December 24

The movie gets at least one thing right: Rebooting the shlocky, widely-panned creature-feature, starring Jack Black and Paul Rudd, is a goofy idea.

‘The Plague’ Review: Pool of the Flies
Movies, December 24

A stunner of a debut film follows a group of boys at a water polo camp, where an outsider is just trying to fit in.

‘Father Mother Sister Brother’ Review: Families, Untied
Movies, December 24

Jim Jarmusch’s uneven triptych, a prizewinner at Venice, saves its best segment for last.

‘Goodbye June’ Review: Terms of Endearment, and Estrangement
Movies, December 24

Kate Winslet directs a formulaic script by her son, Joe Anders, about a dying matriarch and her quarreling adult children.

‘Breakdown: 1975’ Remembers the Distinctive Cinematic Voices of an Era
Movies, December 19

This documentary could be better, but it offers a helpful lesson for film fans new to the movies of that decade.

‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ Review: By Land, by Water, by Air!
Movies, December 18

For the franchise’s third movie, James Cameron throws in new creatures, new landscapes, melodramatic plot lines and big battle sequences. It’s a lot.

‘Cover-Up’ Review: Seymour Hersh, Scoops and Power
Movies, December 18

In their documentary, Laura Poitras (“Citzenfour”) and Mark Obenhaus trace the career highs and lows of the famed investigative journalist.

‘The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants’ Review: Underwater Adventure
Movies, December 18

The latest installment to this entertainment juggernaut relies on a cheap, rote formula and easy gags to keep children engaged.

‘Is This Thing On?’ Review: When a Punchline Becomes a Lifeline
Movies, December 18

Will Arnett and Laura Dern add emotional heft to Bradley Cooper’s intimate comedy about a separated spouse who finds solace in stand-up.

‘The Housemaid’ Review: Dusty Counters, Dirty Secrets
Movies, December 18

Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried star in a thriller that is best seen with a full house.

‘David’ Review: Preaching to the Choir
Movies, December 18

The story of David and Goliath is presented as a feel-good family epic in this animated musical released by the popular religious media company Angel Studios.

‘Counting Crows: Have You Seen Me Lately?’ Review: Becoming Big Stars
Movies, December 18

The band became a major success in 1993 with the hit “Mr. Jones.” Since then, the group has done its best to keep rock music alive.

‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’ Review: When Help Won’t Arrive
Movies, December 17

Kaouther Ben Hania’s dramatized feature about a Palestinian girl who is killed in Gaza City is both powerfully direct and purposefully removed.

‘Dust Bunny’ Review: A World of Wonders, Familiar and Foreign
Movies, December 11

The movie, starring Sophie Sloan and Mads Mikkelsen, is a blast of visual delights.

‘Resurrection’ Review: A Hallucinatory Voyage Into Cinema
Movies, December 11

The Chinese director Bi Gan, who has become a lauded fixture on the festival circuit, conjures a boundary-pushing tale that evokes moviemaking itself.

‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’ Review: A Slasher Gets a Giddy Reboot
Movies, December 11

This delightfully trashy entry in the seasonal subgenre follows a killer Santa with a heart, and a case of blood lust.

‘The King of Color’ Review: He’s Just Into Hue
Movies, December 11

In a new documentary, the creator of the Pantone system explains how he standardized colors across the globe.

‘Ella McCay’ Review: Right Girl, Wrong Time
Movies, December 11

James L. Brooks returns with a lieutenant governor comedy that might leave you more confused than amused.

‘Atropia’ Review: No Escape From Reality
Movies, December 11

Alia Shawkat and Callum Turner fake it so real in this Army simulation exercise in the California desert.

‘Merv’ Review: Not Much to Gnaw On
Movies, December 10

Zooey Deschanel and Charlie Cox play a former couple who share a dog in this shaggy rom-com that fails its titular lead.

The Protesters and the Police Are Both the Focus and the Filmmakers
Movies, December 5

To tell the story of the demonstrations surrounding a World Trade Organization meeting, “WTO/99” assembled scenes shot by the participants themselves.

‘Five Nights at Freddy’s 2’ Review: The Robots Are Malfunctioning (Again)
Movies, December 4

The bigger-budget follow-up to last year’s abysmal cult horror hit about haunted animatronic puppets is, at best, marginally scarier.

‘La Grazia’ Review: Paolo Sorrentino’s Portrait of Waning Power
Movies, December 4

The director reunites with Toni Servillo, casting the astonishingly expressive actor as a fictional Italian president facing the end of his term.

‘Merrily We Roll Along’ Review: It’s a Hit (Reprise)
Movies, December 4

The Tony-winning Broadway revival of the notorious Stephen Sondheim flop, starring Jonathan Groff, Daniel Radcliffe and Lindsay Mendez, gets a live stage recording for the big screen.

‘Rosemead’ Review: A Mother and Her Troubled Son
Movies, December 4

In this drama, Lucy Liu offers a compassionate and grim portrait of the lengths a mother will go to protect — and thwart — her teenage son.

‘Little Trouble Girls’ Review: Teenage Infatuation
Movies, December 4

Despite awareness of taboos, two girls in a Catholic school choir are drawn to each other in this feature debut by the Slovenian director Urska Djukic.

‘Jay Kelly’ Review: All His Memories Are Movies
Movies, December 4

Noah Baumbach’s latest film has George Clooney playing the last of the old-school movie stars.

‘Happy Holidays’ Review: Fissures in a Palestinian Family
Movies, December 4

In Scandar Copti’s film, set in Haifa, Israel, secrets and deceptions strain relationships.

‘Fackham Hall’ Review: Keep Calm and Chuckle On
Movies, December 4

Clever sight gags jazz up this “Downton Abbey” sendup about a bookish aristocrat under pressure to marry her first cousin.

‘Endless Cookie’ Review: An Animated Family History
Movies, December 4

Two filmmaking brothers trade tales in a tonally singular documentary.

‘The Chronology of Water’ Review: Saved by the Pen
Movies, December 4

Kristen Stewart’s feature directing debut stars a riveting Imogen Poots in an uncomfortably visceral tale of abuse and addiction.

‘100 Nights of Hero’ Review: A Feminist Fairy Tale
Movies, December 4

This flawed but endearing film stars Emma Corrin as a protective maid and features Charli XCX as a sister with a secret.

‘The Merchants of Joy’ Review: Cutthroat Christmas Tree Sales
Movies, December 1

A new documentary contains zesty character studies of competing New York City tree vendors as they prepare for the holiday season.

In ‘The Tale of Silyan,’ the Storks Are Watching
Movies, November 28

The birds’ presence lends an otherworldly air to this nonfiction look at a family farm in a dying North Macedonian village.

‘Cirque du Soleil: Without a Net’ Review: How the Magic Happens
Weekend, July 25

This documentary chronicles the reboot and reopening in Las Vegas of the acrobatic show “O,” which shutdown during the pandemic.

‘Fire Through Dry Grass’ Review: Unsafe Space
Weekend, September 28

This enlightening, troubling documentary chronicles life (and death) among residents in a long-term care facility during the heights of the pandemic.

‘Broadway Rising’ Review: Surviving the Pandemic
Weekend, December 27

Stakeholders including Patti LuPone and Lynn Nottage share their real-time reactions to New York theater’s shutdown and reopening in Amy Rice’s documentary.

‘Bad Axe’ Review: A Pandemic Family Portrait
Weekend, November 17

The filmmaker David Siev chronicles his family’s struggle to keep their Michigan restaurant afloat through the pandemic in this hermetic documentary.