A Songwriter for Earth, Wind & Fire and ‘Friends’? That’s Just the Start.
Culture, November 15
“The World According to Allee Willis” shines a light on a musical artist whose creative spirit wasn’t limited to one genre or even to music.
‘All We Imagine as Light’ Review: Tender Comrades
Weekend, November 14
In Payal Kapadia’s extraordinary drama, three women in Mumbai search for connections amid the city’s vibrant and darkly alienating churn.
‘Bogart: Life Comes in Flashes’ Review: The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of
Weekend, November 14
A new documentary traces Humphrey Bogart’s development from stage actor to the embodiment of brooding cinematic cool.
‘Red One’ Review: Santa’s Helpers Have Been Working Out
Weekend, November 14
Starring Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans, this Christmas offering has the courage to ask: What if the Santa Claus story was like a Marvel movie?
‘Dream Team’ Review: Fax on the Beach
Weekend, November 14
Nothing really makes sense in this homage to ’90s cable thrillers, but that’s sort of the point.
‘Emilia Pérez’ Review: A Crime Boss Who Can Sing and Dance
Weekend, November 13
The star of Jacques Audiard’s showy new musical about a trans Mexican drug lord, Karla Sofía Gascón, adds soul to the melodrama. Zoe Saldaña also shines.
‘Hot Frosty’ Review: The 8 Abs of Christmas
Weekend, November 13
A hunky snowman comes to life in this Netflix holiday rom-com that strikes a certain muscle tone.
‘Larger Than Life: Reign of the Boybands’ Review: The Wrong Stuff
Culture, November 12
The boy band stories in Tamra Davis’s documentary rarely intersect in a way that builds a meaningful or compelling perspective.
‘Hippo’ Review: This Coming-of-Age Tale Can Go
Culture, November 8
Trafficking in irreverence, the film follows a pair of stepsiblings with sexual tension.
A Chinese Homecoming Story That’s Universal
Culture, November 8
In the finale of Wang Bing’s nonfiction trilogy, garment-factory workers return to their families and wrestle with the questions all young people do.
‘The Last Rifleman’ Review: A World War II Veteran Hits the Road
Weekend, November 7
Pierce Brosnan plays a man who sneaks out of his retirement home to attend the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in this charming, but corny drama.
‘Meanwhile on Earth’ Review: Outer Space and Inner Turmoil
Weekend, November 7
A bereaved young woman faces terrible choices in this dreamily uncertain blend of science fiction and moral philosophy.
‘Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point’ Review: Home for the Holidays
Weekend, November 7
Tyler Taormina’s third theatrical feature is a lightly nostalgic ensemble piece set on Long Island.
‘Small Things Like These’ Review: The Fears of a Watchful Father
Weekend, November 7
Cillian Murphy of “Oppenheimer” fame plays an Irishman interrogating a system of abuse and forced labor, despite everyone’s warnings to look the other way.
‘Heretic’ Review: Hugh Grant Puts His Charm to Fiendish Use
Weekend, November 7
In wily, vamping style, the actor plays a friendly neighbor to two missionaries before turning his home into a horror-filled slaughterhouse.
‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ Review: How It Got So Great
Weekend, November 7
The film, based on a 1972 children’s book by Barbara Robinson, tells the story of an unlikely group of kids stunning a small town for the holidays.
‘Bird’ Review: In Search of Safety
Weekend, November 7
Barry Keoghan and Franz Rogowski star in a film about a preteen girl who longs for a stability she’s never experienced.
‘Elevation’ Review: A High Place
Weekend, November 6
Humans flee monsters who refuse to surpass 8,000 feet in altitude in this “Quiet Place” copycat.
‘Meet Me Next Christmas’ Review: An a Cappella Affair to Remember
Weekend, November 6
This Netflix Christmas rom-com inexplicably wants to remind viewers that the group Pentatonix still exists.
‘Pedro Páramo’ Review: A Ghost Story Lacking in Spirit
Weekend, November 6
In this grave adaptation of Juan Rulfo’s surreal novel, the living pray for salvation and the dead murmur regrets, but the filmmaking is oddly orthodox.
A Prickly Martha Stewart Makes for a Bracing Netflix Portrait
Culture, November 1
“Martha,” from R.J. Cutler, argues that she was ahead of her time. But though she sits for a lengthy interview, this isn’t hagiography.
‘Juror #2’ Review: Clint Eastwood Hands Down a Tough Verdict
Weekend, October 31
In his latest (and perhaps last) movie as a director, Eastwood casts a skeptical eye at the criminal justice system in a mystery starring Nicholas Hoult.
‘The Graduates’ Review: How to Move On
Weekend, October 31
In this delicate drama set in Utah, three individuals deal with survivor’s guilt a year after a school shooting takes the life of a loved one.
‘Blitz’ Review: Love in the Ruins
Weekend, October 31
Steve McQueen’s World War II drama may appear conventional on the surface, but don’t miss what it’s really doing.
‘The Gutter’ Review: A Phenom Is Born
Weekend, October 31
This bowling comedy, co-directed by the standup comedian Yassir Lester and his brother Isaiah, has absurdity to spare.
‘Chasing Chasing Amy’ Review: A Fan’s Favorite
Weekend, October 31
Sav Rodgers sets out to define the legacy of Kevin Smith’s “Chasing Amy” in this documentary, which is elevated by one instructive interview.
‘Absolution’ Review: Brain Drain
Weekend, October 31
Liam Neeson plays a regretful gangster with a serious medical condition in this drab, downbeat action movie.
‘Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat’ Review: What Lies Beneath
Weekend, October 31
A passionate and propulsive documentary about the assassination of Patrice Lumumba spins its web in many directions.
‘Youth (Hard Times)’ Review: Working Till They Drop
Weekend, October 31
In Wang Bing’s riveting new documentary about Chinese garment workers, a generation asks: What good is money when you have no rights?
‘A Real Pain’ Review: Mourning as an Act of Survival
Weekend, October 31
Jesse Eisenberg directs and stars in a melancholic yet funny exploration of Jewish loss and belonging, with an outstanding Kieran Culkin.
‘Lost on a Mountain in Maine’ Review: Peak Experience
Weekend, October 31
The true story of a 12-year-old’s survival in a vast mountain wilderness for nine days in the 1930s.
‘Here’ Review: Life Is Like a Box of Regrets
Weekend, October 31
Tom Hanks and Robin Wright reunite onscreen for a drama that showcases generations of existence.
‘After: Poetry Destroys Silence’ Review: A Study in Trauma
Weekend, October 31
Richard Kroehling’s documentary presents a mixture of poets’ responses to the Holocaust and argues for the importance of the form in addressing trauma.
‘Dahomey’: A Daring Meditation on the Painful Legacy of Looted Artifacts
Culture, October 25
Mati Diop examines the fate of 26 treasures — sometimes from their point of view — looted from Benin in 1892.
‘Conclave’ Review: Serpents and Doves Amok in the Vatican
Weekend, October 24
This film, based on Robert Harris’s 2016 thriller of the same title, centers on a British cardinal (a sensational Ralph Fiennes), and a campaign for a new pope.
‘Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’ Review: A Mission
Weekend, October 24
At 75, Springsteen is doggedly committed to live performance. This documentary chronicles how he keeps up on tour, and why.
‘My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock’ Review: Director’s Commentary
Weekend, October 24
A richly detailed essay film imagines Hitchcock commenting on his own oeuvre over a mesmerizing daisy chain of clips.
‘Magpie’ Review: An Unhappily Married Woman
Weekend, October 24
Daisy Ridley plays a time bomb with a simmering fuse in this slow yet gripping adultery thriller.
‘La Cocina’ Review: The Melting Pot Boils Over
Weekend, October 24
This drama by Alonso Ruizpalacios takes a bitter look at the American dream from the perspective of the workers at a fast-paced diner.
‘Your Monster’ Review: Beast Intentions
Weekend, October 24
An aspiring Broadway musical star (Melissa Barrera) taps into her inner anger with some help from the creature who lives in her closet.
‘The Remarkable Life of Ibelin’ Review: More Real Than Reality
Weekend, October 24
An unconventional documentary tells the story of a Norwegian gamer — and of how we live life on the internet.
‘Venom: The Last Dance’ Review: A Long and Winding Tongue
Weekend, October 24
Playing both Eddie Brock and the alien parasite who possesses him, Tom Hardy gives another roiling one-man-band of a performance in this third installment of the franchise.
‘Memoir of a Snail’ Review: Escaping the Spiral
Weekend, October 24
An animated tragicomedy for adults tells the story of a woman breaking out of her shell.
‘Black Box Diaries’ Review: A Public Face for #MeToo in Japan
Weekend, October 24
In a new documentary, Shiori Ito recounts her yearslong crusade for justice in Japan after accusing a powerful journalist of rape.
‘Family Pack’ Review: Trapped in a Game
Weekend, October 23
The beauty of a game of Werewolf lies in the treachery. In this film adaptation, the director focuses on mild comedy and tedious action instead.
‘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.