A tough, queer teenager leaves Brooklyn for the first time to spend the summer with her estranged, struggling composer father in Los Angeles. The two are forced to reconnect over a used refrigerator, that nearly upends and further strains their father-daughter relationship in the process.
A lonely little Hawaiian girl and her mischievous blue alien friend form a bond that heals both of their hearts, as well as ours. This live action version adds emotional nuances—notably in the sisters’ dynamic—while preserving the charm of the original.
Dune has stunning visuals, a striking soundtrack, and great performances. But it has issues everywhere from its pacing, to its story, to its diverse representation.
The Gates, John Burr’s new thriller film, is a disturbingly realistic portrayal of three Black twenty-somethings - Derek (Mason Gooding), Kevin (Algee Smith), and Tyon (Keith Powers), as they accidentally take a wrong turn into a gated community that’s more like a modern-day sundown town. The three friends witness a variety of crimes in their new surroundings, including an attempted homicide and an attempted rape. As they attempt to alert the authorities and do the right thing, they are thwarted at every turn by the worst horror stories of American conservatism - racist white suburbanites, reckless gun violence, corrupt police, religious mania, and a megalomaniacal pastor.
I’m disappointed in The Woman in Cabin 10, but that’s at least in part because of my love of Ruth Ware’s novel.
In a film where a Black couple is framed to be the lead characters, they still managed to get shuffled off to the sidelines. The enthusiastic cast delivers well on goofy bits- but can only go so far before they begin to fall flat.
