‘Dead Talents Society’ Stream it on Netflix. The Taiwanese director John Hsu’s rollicking horror-comedy raked in awards, raves and strong box-office numbers last year for very good reason. Set in a world where ghosts compete to get haunting licenses, which allow them to stay on among the living and avoid permanently fading away, “Dead Talents … Read more
Hey, this is Jared Hess, director of “A Minecraft Movie.” OK, in this scene, our main character is Jack Black. Jason Momoa and Sebastian Hanson are on a dangerous detour in Steve’s diamond stash. But they’ve got to get away from this big, gnarly biological superweapon, the piglin. Henry hit it. We had an amazing … Read more
A documentary subject like the comic Andy Kaufman, who died in 1984, has got to be both a dream and a nightmare for a filmmaker. Archival footage is usually used to suggest a glimpse into who someone “really” was, but Kaufman’s public appearances almost always involved him playing some kind of character, like the sweetly … Read more
Based on Judith Viorst’s beloved children’s book “Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day,” this new iteration of the tale centers on Alexander Garcia (the adorable Thom Nemer from FX’s “Snowfall”) and a road trip gone, of course, horribly wrong. Alex’s mother, Val (Eva Longoria), wants to inspire some family bonding by … Read more
So dumb it’s sorta fun. ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Jack Black and Jason Momoa star as gamers who find a portal into a virtual world made of blocks in this wacky video-game adaptation directed by Jared Hess. From our review: This retro sensibility might, on paper, make for an out-of-touch comedy, but there’s something almost refreshingly … Read more
In “Anatomy of a Scene,” we ask directors to reveal the secrets that go into making key scenes in their movies. See new episodes in the series on Fridays. You can also watch our collection of more than 150 videos on YouTube and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Redstone and piglins and creepers, oh my! … Read more
And yet in “Good Night, and Good Luck” — the title is taken from Murrow’s sign-off — Murrow comes off as a model of effective restraint, easily threading the needle of a debate that continues today. Though the Air Force’s case against the reservist sounds trumped up, Murrow merely says, “We do not know.” (The … Read more
For “When Fall Is Coming,” the French filmmaker François Ozon has cooked up a little mystery and an enigmatic heroine. A sleek, modestly scaled entertainment about families, secrets and obligations, it features fine performances and some picture-postcard Burgundian locations. It’s there in the heart of France, in a picturesque village in a large, pretty house, … Read more
Crammed to the margins with peaceable punks, vicious skinheads, ambitious rappers, racist police — oh, and a green supernatural whatsit — Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s “Freaky Tales” is a nostalgic homage to the music, movies and personalities of the 1980s. Set in 1987 in Oakland, where Fleck grew up, this revenge-of-the-underdogs picture unfolds through … Read more
Henry Fonda was inarguably one of the greatest actors ever produced by the United States. The Austrian filmmaker Alexander Horwath pushes this self-evident truth further in his purposefully expansive documentary “Henry Fonda for President.” The movie convincingly posits that Fonda was, cinematically, the embodiment of America itself. Horwath has gathered a vast amount of archival … Read more