Alan Ng

In the end, Past Lives plays with your brain and heart. It’s one of those films that leaves you thinking about and yearning for what might have been.

Whatever bias you may have about Sandler’s comedies fade away here. Sandler gives a genuine and physically brutal performance of a man who’s trying to stay one step ahead of total collapse.

I’m here simply for the brilliant performance of Cate Blanchett. She’s imperfect, incredibly flawed, and a villain who doesn’t know it.

As a fan of stop-motion animation and the works of Ray Harryhausen and Henry Sellick, King Kong will remain the granddaddy of the art form and remains a classic for all generations.

In the end, my question is whether Never Rarely Sometimes Always is meant to be just a story or offer something political to say in the great abortion debate. I’m certain the film exists to highlight the stories of young women forced to travel across state lines for abortions. Either way, there’s not enough of either to make it a compelling movie in the end.

Filho masterfully turns a tale of survival into a deeply human story about love, loyalty, and the cost of integrity under tyranny.

What I love most about Little Women is how Gerwig’s script refuses to turn each character into a stereotype of their time. There is a complexity to each character and a real arc for each.

World War I was a new kind of war, because of its use of planes, tanks, and artillery for the first time. Add in the impossible conditions of trench warfare, where men lived in their own filth and alongside piles of decomposing dead comrades—all brought to you in glorious 3D. Even more haunting is the fact that this is real.

I give Killers of the Flower Moon a mild recommendation. It’s too long and predictable. The saving grace is its performance across the board.

The appeal here is a solid story of an aging mobster with all the charm of indie filmmaking.

In the end, while I did struggle to follow its central narrative, Bi Gan has my admiration as a filmmaker, though I was hoping it would be a little more profound as it was artful in the end. He connects with you from an emotional standpoint

Hamilton is a brilliantly shot and produced performance for posterity of one of America’s best contemporary musicals.

You have to remind yourself constantly, this is real. There are no special effects.

Wolfwalkers is a beautiful movie for fans of animation and families with young children. If you want to ween the little ones off Disney’s overproduced glitz and turn them on to alternative forms of animation and storytelling, Wolfwalkers is a great place to start.

Bushido is an epic story, but instead of warring samurai factions fighting it out on the open plain, the battle takes place on a 19-by-19 lined gameboard. Don’t get me wrong, there is swordplay, but here, even a game of Go has never felt more dangerous.

The description of the actual re-claiming of the prison by the corrections officers and the national guard is told in horrifying detail, and the torture and punishment of the surviving prisoner are much worse. I dare you to watch it today and not get angry about the racial divide that existed in the 70s.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is probably the best-animated superhero tale to do justice to the pulp comic book fan both in style and content. It upholds the spirit of Marvel Comics by juxtaposing the humanity of each hero and villain against the prerequisite kick-ass action sequences. At let’s face facts, the art direction is the true star of the film.

You’ll be holding your breath at times.

The beauty of the film is just how genuine and down-to-earth the performances are and how Gyllenhaal maintains a natural, authentic tone throughout.

American Factory is an example of my favorite type of documentary. It’s one that merely documents. It has no agenda to push, even though one grows organically throughout.

Serious actors will find a whole new respect for these women and their individual contributions to film and theater, who fought through way through a system made for men and blazed a path for those who followed. And fans of one or all the dames will see the object of their fandom be real, open, and honest.

All Speilberg really did was take a masterpiece, keep it a masterpiece, and add a little flair (and backstory). He took gold and made prettier gold.

Its pace is unbearably slow at times and considering we’re watching a woman essentially wasting seventeen good years of her life chasing a man, tragic is the best way to describe the whole experience.

The highlight of Snake Eyes is the action.

It’s a good film…a better version of the Coen Brother’s Hail Caesar! A film that kept popping up in my head.

Farewell My Concubine is a tragic and poignant story in every sense of the world. It’s a tough watch, dramatically, as there is darkness in this classic film.

Michael B. Jordan and Miles Caton deliver incredible performances in this soulful, bloody tale that masterfully marries blues, vampires, and the vibrant spirit of New Orleans.

Beauty aside, Toy Story 4 captures the heart of the entire saga in its own way.