Glenn Heath Jr.
‘Beautiful Boy’ is a glorified PSA
Compared to Half Nelson, a brave 2006 indie starring Ryan Gosling as a high school teacher being obliterated by drugs, Van Groeningen’s film is, in many ways, a perfectly calibrated movie-of-the-week. more
‘The Guilty’ is a cat and mouse game of telephone
In The Guilty, a single-location thriller from Denmark, hearing something doesn’t necessarily make it true. more
‘First Man’ is a propulsive, enigmatic biopic
Still, First Man remains mostly a deeply complicated affair with an enigmatic streak. Once admitted into NASA’s burgeoning astronaut program, Armstrong pivots from active participant to passive observer multiple times throughout the film’s decade-lon more
Robert Redford says so long (maybe) with ‘Old Man and the Gun’
The Old Man and the Gun (opening in wide release Friday, Oct. 12) is easily Lowery’s (who directed the underrated Pete’s Dragon remake) breeziest and most enjoyable film to date. more
Magali Bragard
‘The Sisters Brothers’ takes no prisoners
Two different partnerships—one fortified by blood and the other friendship—explore the fundamental western motif of trust through unique prisms. more
‘Mandy’ unleashes Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage has made a career of going nuts onscreen, but in the last decade he’s become far less discerning about which loony roles to accept. more
‘I Am Not a Witch’ stands up for the voiceless
Films with titles that double as declarative statements are typically overt in nature. Not so in the case of I Am Not a Witch, Rungano Nyoni’s striking debut feature, which packs a subtle gut punch. more
‘Blaze’ is an enigmatic portrait of an underappreciated musician
At its core, Blaze (opening Friday, Sept. 21, at Landmark’s Hillcrest Cinemas) portrays unchecked regret with yearning soulfulness best signified by the fable of the songbird that croaks while performing for an uncaring bullfrog. more
‘Lizzie’ chops down domineering patriarchy
Nothing scares a domineering man quite like a strong woman. This is why almost all of Lizzie Borden’s (Chloë Sevigny) interactions with her wealthy father Andrew (Jamey Sheridan) and seedy uncle-in-law John Morse (Denis O’Hare) are so contentious. more
Randall Christopher brings ‘The Driver is Red’ home
The Driver is Red deftly balances the imposing weight of historical trauma with the immediacy of procedural tension. more
2018 Fall Movie Preview
Those in desperate need of a cinema fix this fall won’t be disappointed. more
Rousing ‘Madeline’s Madeline’ destroys conventional notions of authorship
Madeline’s Madeline begins with what feels like an out-of-body experience. During the woozy opening moments of the film, an unnamed nurse peers deeply into the camera as if conducting last rites on a patient. more
‘Good Manners’ updates and complicates the werewolf film
All monster movies are outcast stories on some level. more
‘Searching’ and the ultimate screen saver
Searching (opening in wide theatrical release Friday, Aug. 31) ambitiously updates the worst nightmare scenario for parents in intriguing ways. more
‘Cuban Food Stories’ is a tourist trap
Cuban Food Stories begins with an introductory voiceover so obvious it’s like listening to a lazy high school student spell out their argument in a bad term paper. more
Enter the void
How does a local event like the San Diego Underground Film Festival, which specializes in showcasing such challenging and potentially alienating works of art, continue to grow past a niche audience of cinephiles? more
‘Support the Girls’ confronts bro culture on its own turf
As a gleefully unpretentious ode to the importance of respecting women, Support the Girls is the spirit animal to Gregory Jacobs’ Magic Mike XXL. more
Rose Byrne and Ethan Hawke charm in ‘Juliet, Naked’
Juliet, Naked, provides Rose Byrne a much-deserved leading role as Annie, a community-minded museum curator who lives on the English coast with her pretentious academic boyfriend Duncan (Chris O’ Dowd). more
Identity and glamor collide in ‘Crazy Rich Asians’
By the end, Crazy Rich Asians (opening wide on Wednesday, Aug. 15) becomes less concerned with rote plot machinations than ensuring its effervescent style will live on. more
Judgment days are long in ‘The Miseducation of Cameron Post’
The Miseducation of Cameron Post (opening Friday Aug. 24, at Landmark Cinemas) provides Cameron with the obvious clues to better understand the faith-based immorality that drives religious fear mongering more