Sundance Review: Mind the age gap and narrative cohesion in ‘Palm Trees and Power Lines,’ stay for Lily McInerny’s bracing performance [Grade: C-]
Bored out of her mind, 17-year-old Lea (Lily McInerny) is doing what a normal teenager has to do to fill in the time before her... Read More
Reviews
Sundance Review: Jono McLeod’s doc ‘My Old School’ threads a fine line between humor and pain, truth and lies [Grade: B]
Exactly a year removed from the premiere of the acclaimed documentary Flee at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, comes My Old School, another nonfiction film... Read More
Sundance Review: Julian Higgins’ ‘God’s Country’ is a showcase for a powder keg performance from Thandiwe Newton [Grade: B]
Ashes in the snow. That is what we see in the beginning of Julian Higgins’ slow-burn thriller, God’s Country, as Sandra Guidry (a dynamic Thandiwe... Read More
Sundance Review: Riley Stearns’ sci-fi satire ‘Dual’ gives us a killer double dose of Karen Gillan [Grade: B+]
Riley Stearns was one of my favorite discoveries at SXSW 2019. Nearly every writing and directing decision in The Art of Self-Defense was on my... Read More
Sundance Review: The cute and quirky ‘Cha Cha Real Smooth’ glides right into your heart with pitch perfect performances from Cooper Raiff and Dakota Johnson [Grade: A]
At a certain point in our lives, we’ve fallen in love. Could happen at a young age, as it does for Andrew (Javien Mercado), at... Read More
Sundance Review: In Andrew Semans’ tense and terrifying ‘Resurrection,’ Rebecca Hall gets under your skin [Grade: A]
In an opening scene of Resurrection, a film by writer/director Andrew Semans, premiering at Sundance Film Festival, Margaret, played by Rebecca Hall, counsels a young... Read More
Sundance Review: James Ponsoldt’s ‘Summering’ is an adventurously fanciful but cold tale of childhood [Grade: C]
It begins with a scene akin to a horror film when the protagonist faces the worst nemesis. Three girls are sitting in a bathtub huddled... Read More
Sundance Review: Regina Hall and Sterling K. Brown preach a committed yet familiar gospel in church satire ‘Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul’ [Grade: B-]
“You’ve got to be strong to be a First Lady.” That’s a line stated by Trinitie Childs (Regina Hall) early on in Adamma Ebo’s feature... Read More
Sundance Review: Mariama Diallo’s ‘Master’ balances horrors real and imagined in the world of institutionalized academic racism [Grade: B]
Mariama Diallo’s debut feature Master begins as most coming of age college films do, with orientation and getting to know the place our characters have... Read More
Sundance Review: ‘Sirens’ follows Lebanon’s first all-woman metal band screaming their way to success [Grade: B]
Slave to Sirens only exists at nightfall. When the sun dips over the horizon, Lebanon’s first all-woman metal band emerges from their daytime existence to... Read More
Michigan Movie Critics Guild Nominations: ‘One Battle After Another’ Leads with 12 
31st Critics Choice Awards Nominations: ‘Sinners’ Leads with 17, ‘One Battle After Another’ Earns 14 
‘Jay Kelly,’ ‘Hamnet,’ ‘Pluribus,’ ‘Task’ and More on AFI’s Top 10 Films and Television of 2025 Lists 
‘Frankenstein’ to Receive Visionary Honor from Palm Springs International Film Awards