On Movies & Media

Did social distancing influence this Joel Coen production of the Scottish play? It has some great actors in it, but their performances seem strangely separate. And the film's striking images seem more like a gallery of evocative stills than immersive cinema.

This week: Malick's rollercoaster ride through the eons of history. Mia Hansen-Løve's film Bergman Island. All hail U2's The Edge!

Twenty years ago this weekend, I joined a fellowship at the local cineplex to witness an event that would change the art of movies — for better and for worse — for decades to come.

During November's Barnes and Noble Criterion sale, I took a chance on a film I've never seen before. I am so glad that I did. It's one of the great films about the possibilities and the dangers of religious faith.

In a season of sprawling epics and extravagant spectacle, Rebecca Hall's directorial debut is one of the year's finest exceptions: a quiet, focused film that knows exactly what it wants to be and efficiently achieves it.

Wes Anderson's devoting every resource at his disposal to realizing grander visions. The results are more like museums than paintings, more like restaurants than mere meals.

I'm hard-pressed to think of a more difficult conversation I've seen at the movies. Some will discover it, look up the 2021 Oscars, and wonder: Why was this overlooked?

This year's top prize at the Cannes film festival is an audacious, lurid circus that leaves me not only disappointed but actually regretting the experience.

Soderbergh is back doing what he does best — scattering criminals like billiard balls, and then knocking down one strong scene after another. He may not play a perfect game here, but this is one of his best in many years.