Movies

★★★½ Writer/director Ti West (The Sacrament) presents X, in yet another outing in the horror genre for which he is known. The film is a clever and artsy twist on the serial killer theme with a genuine feel for the time it is set in. It’s 1979, and strip club owner Wayne (Martin Henderson) sees...

★★½ Deep Water is an erotic thriller from director Adrian Lyne. It stars Ben Affleck, Ana de Armas, and has a slew of equally talented actors including Jacob Elordi, Rachel Blanchard, Finn Wittrock, Kristen Connolly, and Lil Rel Howery. The movie itself is a slow burn with tension and intrigue throughout. The state of Vic...

★★★ Director Domee Shi (Bao), writing with Julia Cho (Fringe) and Sarah Streicher (The Wilds), presents a coming-of-age film with a twist in Turning Red. The film has some good ideas and an overall fun script. Still, audiences must first get past an establishing chapter that drags and lacks the entertainment value of most animated...

★★★★ Haruki Murakami is a Japanese writer whose work has won numerous prizes and his stories have been translated into over 50 languages. It’s no wonder a film based on one of his short stories has also won several awards. Drive My Car, which is based on Murakami’s story of the same name and directed...

★★★½ The Batman, directed by Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) from his script co-written with Peter Craig (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay), and despite some hit-and-miss moments in both the story and the acting, the film is macabre but good, solid entertainment. The Batman (Robert Pattinson) watches over Gotham, using fear to keep the pervasive criminal element under...

★★★★½ The Worst Person in the World, directed by Joachim Trier, captures the indecisive millennial experience in all its genuine, yet imperfect ways. It draws on life’s volatility in a way that allows the film to cohesively hit all of its beats no matter what Trier and co-writer Eskil Vogt threw it at it. To...

★★★★ Peter Dinklage leads a talented cast in an exhilarating retelling of Edmond Rostand’s original play in the Joe Wright-directed, Cyrano. Heartfelt performances, stunning cinematography, and a fine musical arrangement catapult this production within the margin of a must-see film. Cyrano (Dinklage) has his physical limitations. But for what he lacks in height, he makes...

★★★ Uncharted, the action-adventure film from director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland), is based on the top-rated video game series of the same name. Despite an extensive track record of such films, the decent script by Rafe Judkins (The Wheel of Time), Art Marcum (Iron Man), and Matt Holloway (Men in Black: International) functions as a good...

★★½ Reid Carolin (Magic Mike) pairs with newcomer Brett Rodriguez for the script and Channing Tatum (who also stars) for directing, and the result is Dog. The film looks at the loyalty, friendship, and overcoming odds for which Army Rangers are famous but falls short of the mark with stunted acting and choppy scenes. Briggs...

★★★★½ Kenneth Branagh (Belfast) directs and stars in Death on the Nile, once again stepping into the world of a classic Agatha Christie mystery novel. While the setting may be old, the script from screenwriter Michael Green (Logan) lends a new and relatively faithful take to this tale of murder and betrayal. Master detective Hercule...