Movie Reviews

Juliette Binoche and Vincent Lindon play a couple whose relationship is threatened by another man in Both Sides of the Blade.

Arts

'Both Sides of the Blade' is a French melodrama about intimacy and illicit desire

1:28pm July 08, 2022

by Justin Chang

Juliette Binoche is a woman whose life is disrupted by the return of a former lover. Both Sides of the Blade sounds like soap-opera material, but nothing about the film feels trite or predictable.

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Arts

In 'Thor: Love and Thunder,' Waititi's familiar strains feel familiar and strained

9:00am July 05, 2022

by Glen Weldon

Director Taika Waititi goes back to the Thor: Ragnarok well for another sprawling romp starring Chris Hemsworth's pompous thunder god. The water's still thirst-quenching, but not as fresh.

Aris Servetalis plays a man who inexplicably loses his memory in Apples.

Arts

In the Greek film 'Apples,' a mysterious condition leaves people without memories

1:06pm July 04, 2022

by Justin Chang

An unnamed man inexplicably loses his memory in this strange and singular film. Apples is about how we deal with grief and loneliness, especially when memory becomes more of a curse than a blessing.

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Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù plays Mr. Malcolm, the most desirable bachelor in 1818 London.

Ticking down a checklist of qualifications in 'Mr. Malcolm's List'

2:44pm June 30, 2022

by Bob Mondello

A 19th-century British gentleman's requirements for his bride lead to a scheme with many complications in Mr. Malcolm's List, a Bridgerton-like romance based on Suzanne Allain's 2020 novel.

Arts

Baz Luhrmann's gaudy 'Elvis' is a shapeless blur of a musical biopic

1:25pm June 24, 2022

by Justin Chang

Elvis' longtime manager Col. Parker plays an oversized role, but that's not this film's only problem. There may be a great movie hiding in Elvis, but it's buried under an awful lot of visual clutter.

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Austin Butler brings the King's moves, mannerisms and voice in 'Elvis'

5:25pm June 23, 2022

by Bob Mondello

Baz Luhrmann's musical biopic, Elvis, stars Austin Butler as a hip-swiveling Elvis Presley and Tom Hanks as his devious, exploitive manager "Col." Tom Parker.

Arts

In 'Elvis,' an icon remains an icon, and little else

12:30pm June 23, 2022

by Aisha Harris

Baz Luhrmann's latest spectacle tackles the life of Elvis Presley, as filtered through his shady longtime manager.

Movie review: Pixar's 'Lightyear'

5:09pm June 18, 2022

by Bob Mondello

Buzz Lightyear flies to infinity and beyond in Lightyear, the fifth film in Pixar's Toy Story saga.

'Cha Cha Real Smooth' is a great calling card for actor-writer-director Cooper Raiff

4:27pm June 17, 2022

by Bob Mondello

Cooper Raiff's Cha Cha Real Smooth had to play at the Sundance Film Festival virtually because of the pandemic, so he hasn't heard the applause critics are showering on his bittersweet dramedy.

Daryl McCormack plays a sex worker, and Emma Thompson is a retired schoolteacher in the Hulu film, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande.

Arts

Age is just a number in Sundance hits 'Leo Grande' and 'Cha Cha Real Smooth'

5:00am June 17, 2022

by Justin Chang

Emma Thompson stars as an older woman who hires a younger sex worker in Good Luck to You, Leo Grande. Dakota Johnson is a single mother who's wooed by a recent college grad in Cha Cha Real Smooth.