“Nomadland,” director Chloé Zhao’s latest starring Frances McDormand, is a new kind of Western.
Glenn McDonald
Posted inFilm & Television
“The Planters” Is a Character-Driven, Low-Budget Comedy Gem
The offbeat DIY film has an early-release virtual theatrical run via the Carolina Theatre’s website.
Posted inFilm & Television
Relive the Glory Days of Rock N’ Roll in “Creem: America’s Only Rock and Roll Magazine”
The documentary is about as deep as the second half of a “Behind the Music.” That can be fun.
Posted inFilm & Television
A Few Floors in a New York Building Face the Federal Government in “The Fight”
The new documentary about the ACLU centers on four high-profile legal battles fought by the tenacious nonprofit.
Posted inFilm & Television
From Civil Rights to Gun Control, John Lewis Is the Conscience of Congress
Dawn Porter’s excellent documentary about the tireless legislator and civil-rights hero is opening online, but you can support your local theater by watching it.
Posted inBooks
How to See a UFO with David J. Halperin
In “Intimate Alien: The Hidden Story of the UFO,” the Chapel Hill religious studies scholar and ufologist draws out the mythical and psychological threads of sightings.
Posted inFilm & Television
No Campy Universal Creature Feature, “The Invisible Man” Takes Modern Terrors Seriously
The Elisabeth Moss vehicle redirects thriller tropes toward anxieties about amoral technology companies, anonymous online predators, gaslighting narcissist men in power, and sudden gun violence.
Posted inFilm & Television
Ruin Valentine’s Day with Will Ferrell and Julia Louis-Dreyfus
A bleak comedy from a talented team, “Downhill” is a real conundrum, with some things done very well and others completely botched.
Posted inFilm & Television
“The Gentlemen” Is the Guy Ritchiest Guy Ritchie Movie in Years
Action comedy “The Gentleman”turns on an ace Matthew McConaughey performance as a good-guy weed baron, a twisty script, inventive action, and baroque bad-guy dialogue.
Posted inFilm & Television
How to Resist the Dark Lure of Fascism in Terrence Malick’s “A Hidden Life”
Based on the true story of a conscientious objector in WWII Austria, Malick’s latest grand cosmic vision also has contemporary resonance.