Whoever imagined this match-up certainly had nerds like me in mind. Do you like baking shows? Check. Do you like Harry Potter? Check. Well, Warner Bros. has managed to eke another production out of the magical series while putting the London set to use. Hosts James and Oliver Phelps, who played George and Fred Weasley […]
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Train Dream is a poetic rumination one life’s ups and downs
Train DreamsWhat’s it rated? PG-13What’s it worth, Anna? Full priceWhat’s it worth, Glen? Full priceWhere’s it showing? Netflix Co-writer and director Clint Bentley and his screenwriting partner Greg Kwedar (Jockey, Sing Sing) adapt Denis Johnson’s novella of the same name to the big screen. The film debuted at Sundance in January and had a two-week […]
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The Beast in Me is a twisty mystery
The Beast in MeWhat’s it rated? TV-MAWhen? 2025Where’s it showing? Netflix Aggie Wiggs (Claire Danes) is a reclusive author, walled into a world of her own making. New neighbor and billionaire Nile Jarvis (Matthew Rhys) and his wife, Nina (Brittany Snow), move in and soon disrupt Aggie’s solitude, and Nile comes to Aggie with an […]
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Playdate is dumb, lightweight fun
PlaydateWhat’s it rated? PG-13When? 2025Where’s it showing? Amazon Prime If you’re looking for a silly, lightweight 90-minute diversion, director Luke Greenfield’s Playdate fits the bill. The absurdist mismatched buddy action comedy follows recently laid-off forensic accountant and new stepdad, Brian (Kevin James), who’s struggling with his father figure role to Lucas (Benjamin Pajak). Brian wants […]
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The Running Man is funny, action-packed romp
Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Scott Pilgram vs. the World, Baby Driver) directs and co-writes this dystopian sci-fi thriller based on Stephen King’s 1982 novel The Running Man (published under his pseudonym Richard Bachman), about a televised gameshow in which contestants are allowed to go anywhere as they’re pursued by “hunters” hired to kill […]
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Death by Lightning chronicles the assassination of President James Garfield
Death by LightningWhat’s it rated? UnratedWhen? 2025Where’s it showing? Netflix James Garfield is a name you’d expect to find as the answer to lightning trivia, and as a decidedly non-history buff, I could have told you he was president—but not when or for how long. Also, I’d probably have said Andrew Garfield—another person altogether. Point […]
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A House of Dynamite is an all-too plausible nuclear war scenario
A House of DynamiteWhat’s it rated? RWhen? 2025Where’s it showing? Netflix Kathryn Bigalow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty) directs Noah Oppenheim’s script about a missile launched at the U.S.—but by whom and why? Told from three different perspectives, the story depicts the various governmental elements scrambling to determine how to respond. As political drama […]
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The Perfect Neighbor holds a mirror to American entitlement and tribalism
Geeta Gandbhir (Katrina: Come Hell and High Water) directs this documentary composed almost exclusively of police bodycam footage about the Ocala, Florida, neighborhood where Susan Lorincz shot neighbor Ajike Owens through a closed front door. The shooting highlighted Florida’s controversial “stand your ground” law. (96 min.) The Perfect NeighborWhat’s it rated? RWhat’s it worth, Anna? […]
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Season 2 of Nobody Wants This follows the complicated romance between an agnostic podcaster and a rabbi
Nobody Wants This (Season 2)What’s it rated? TV-MAWhen? 2025Where’s it showing? Netflix This show was a smash hit as soon as the first season came out, and in this second season, we dive deeper into the complications of religion and relationships. Noah (Adam Brody) is in line to be head rabbi of his temple, something […]
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A missing children mystery unfolds in Weapons, a psychological horror film now streaming on HBO Max
WeaponsWhat’s it rated? RWhen? 2025Where’s it showing? HBO Max Writer-director Zach Cregger helms this psychological and supernatural horror story about insular Maybrook, Pennsylvania, which suffers the traumatic and inexplicable shock of losing 17 children from a single third grade class who all simultaneously leave their houses at 2:17 a.m. and disappear. Suspicion immediately falls to […]
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Bugonia is a paranoia-fueled black comedy about misinformation and conspiracy
Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Killing of the Scared Deer, The Favourite, Poor Things, Kinds of Kindness) directs Will Tracy’s screenplay loosely based on South Korean writer Jang Joon-hwan’s screenplay for Save the Green Planet! (2003). The story follows conspiracy theorist—Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis)—who believe Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), the […]
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The Hand that Rocks the Cradle remake isn’t as good at the OG, but it has its moments
The Hand That Rocks the CradleWhat’s it rated? R When? 2025 Where’s it showing? Hulu The 1992 original was a chill-inducing affair starring Rebecca De Mornay as Peyton, the new nanny for the Bartel family. For my money, I’ll watch the original over this remake, but this new version also packs a punch. This time, […]
