Movie Reviews
The Front Row
“ ’Round Midnight,” Revisited: A Feast of Music and Acting
The saxophonist Dexter Gordon has the role of a lifetime in Bertrand Tavernier’s 1986 drama of an American jazz icon in Paris.
The Front Row
“Perfect Days” and the Perils of Minimalism
Wim Wenders’s homage to his beloved Japan is undone by an incuriosity about the country and about his movie’s protagonist.
The Front Row
“All of Us Strangers” Is a Romantic Fantasy About Filmmaking
Andrew Scott stars in Andrew Haigh’s metaphysical melodrama of an orphaned gay screenwriter’s yearnings for love and family.
The Front Row
“The Zone of Interest” Is an Extreme Form of Holokitsch
Jonathan Glazer’s drama, set among the Nazis who ran Auschwitz, turns the horrors of the Holocaust into scenes from a marriage.
The Front Row
The Nineteen-Seventies of “The Holdovers” Is Conveniently Sanitized
There’s something appealing about the nostalgia of Alexander Payne’s film, but also something contrived.
The Front Row
What to See in the New York Film Festival’s Second Week
Hong Sangsoo, Catherine Breillat, and Sofia Coppola deliver three types of intensity.
The Front Row
Concentrated but Far-Reaching, “Civic” Is an Ideal Short Film
Dwayne LeBlanc’s début gives an archetypal tale a boldly modernist form.
The Front Row
What to Stream: Paul Schrader’s “Hardcore” Is About Much More Than Pornography
A cinematic declaration of identity, the director’s blazing second feature set the course of his career.
The Front Row
The Political, Metaphysical Melodrama of “Dragonwyck”
Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s remarkable début contains the seeds of the rest of his career.
The Front Row
Like a Political X-Ray, “Our Body” Exposes the Intrusions of Law in Medicine
Claire Simon’s documentary about a Paris women’s hospital highlights the boundary between the regulations that govern people’s lives and the lives people actually lead.
The Front Row
“Oppenheimer” Is Ultimately a History Channel Movie with Fancy Editing
Christopher Nolan’s bio-pic is so intent on being a morality tale that it misses its protagonist’s complexity.
The Front Row
The Primal Power of “The Sleepy Time Gal”
Christopher Munch’s film about memory, old age, and death should have been a breakout; instead, it became a rarity.
The Front Row
Paul Schrader’s “Master Gardener” Is a Movie Divided Against Itself
It may appear to be a political drama or a redemption arc, but it’s really an erotic thriller.
The Front Row
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” Reviewed: Who’s Restraining Whom?
The third installment of James Gunn’s franchise has little vision or visual interest.
The Front Row
“Renfield,” Reviewed: A Concept in Search of a Movie
The vampire comedy is bouncy, clever, fun, and extremely bloody, but dramatically inert.
The Current Cinema
The Warmth and Weirdness of “Air”
Ben Affleck’s pacy, adept portrayal of Nike’s pursuit of Michael Jordan, co-starring Matt Damon and Viola Davis, kneels at the altar of high capitalism.
The Front Row
“Showing Up,” Reviewed: A Masterwork About an Artist’s Life
The director Kelly Reichardt has made a candid, joyfully inventive drama with her frequent collaborator Michelle Williams.
The Front Row
Hong Sangsoo’s “Walk Up” Signals a Break from Routine
The prolific director’s latest movie relies and reflects on his famously low-budget filmmaking system.
The Front Row
“John Wick: Chapter 4,” Reviewed: A Slog with a Sensational Ending
Keanu Reeves and the viewer alike have sequel fatigue, but the new film’s finale is worth waiting for.
The Front Row
“Pinball,” Reviewed: A Remedy for Your Post-Oscar Hangover
This low-budget indie is attuned to the rhythms and music of its story and performances.