Weekend Film Reviews
664 episodes - English - Latest episode: 8 days ago - ★★★★ - 149 ratingsThe best film reviewers in the business give you recommendations on what to see and what to skip each week.
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Episodes
Logan
March 04, 2017 02:44 - 3 minutesThe slashing starts early in Logan – no surprise, since it's an R-rated action thriller about Wolverine, also known as Logan, the "X-Men" character with the tortured psyche and retractable claws.
Get Out
February 25, 2017 02:44 - 3 minutesThere's a terrific horror flick opening this week. Jordan Peele's debut feature scrupulously honors the genre's conventions. Get Out never strays from the path of entertainment, yet the horrors of racism lurk in every gleefully lurid frame.
The Great Wall
February 18, 2017 02:44 - 3 minutesThere is no lack of spectacular sequences in The Great Wall. It's the most expensive movie ever produced in China, with fancy weaponry that's meant to show how technologically advanced the Inner Kingdom was.
The LEGO Batman Movie
February 11, 2017 02:44 - 3 minutesThe LEGO Batman Movie targets the familiar universe of superheroes and extravagant villains, with a subplot reminiscent of The Incredibles -- society has come to see Batman and his ilk as vigilantes who need to learn the value of teamwork.
The Space between Us; I Am Not Your Negro
February 04, 2017 02:44 - 3 minutesSometimes movies are just plain bad, but sometimes they're distinctively bad. The Space between Us takes a delicious cake for stupidity – it's a sci-fi romance for young adults.
The Salesman
January 28, 2017 02:44 - 3 minutesArthur Miller would have admired writer-director Asghar Farhadi's drama The Salesman for its intensity and moral depth.
The Founder
January 21, 2017 02:44 - 3 minutesMichael Keaton plays Ray Kroc, the entrepreneur who gave the world McDonald's -- and Keaton does it with panache.
The Crash
January 14, 2017 02:44 - 3 minutesThe opening frames of The Crash promise a thriller about cyber warfare...
A Monster Calls
December 24, 2016 02:44 - 3 minutesWhen a monster shows up at a young boy's bedroom window one night...
Fences
December 17, 2016 02:44 - 3 minutesDenzel Washington and Viola David recreate their roles in a 2010 Broadway revival of the August Wilson play, and we're the beneficiaries.
La La Land
December 10, 2016 02:44 - 3 minutesWEB BONUS: La La Land is a crowd-pleaser if ever there was one and Joe Morgenstern couldn't be more pleased to be part of the crowd.
Jackie
December 03, 2016 02:44 - 3 minutesIn Jackie, Natalie Portman's portrait of Jacqueline Kennedy during and immediately after JFK's assassination rises above impersonation to an eerie kind of incarnation.
Lion
November 26, 2016 02:44 - 3 minutesJoe Morgenstern says Lion in narrative form is about the randomness of adoption, but in substance it’s about the mystery of identity.
Manchester by the Sea
November 19, 2016 02:44 - 3 minutesJoe Morgenstern calls Manchester by the Sea is the best movie he's seen so far this year, "a quiet masterpiece that eggs and flows at the rhythm of life."
Arrival
November 12, 2016 02:44 - 3 minutesWe yearn to believe what Arrival has to tell us -- that life on earth isn't all there is, that we're connected to the cosmos, that time flows more mysteriously than we can fathom.
Loving
November 05, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesLoving, a new movie by Jess Nichols about a landmark civil rights case, is new in style too -- calm, human, deeply moving -- one of the best movies of the year.
Fire at Sea
October 29, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesFire at Sea is Gianfranco Rosi's profoundly moving documentary on the migrant tides transforming our wold, and the connections in it are as revelatory as they are mysterious.
American Honey
October 01, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesJust when you think you know what's going to happen, American Honey serves up one more surprise.
Queen of Katwe
September 24, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesA poor Ugandan girl's chess skills take her around the world.
Hell or High Water
August 20, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesHell or High Water is one of the most enjoyable films I've seen in a very long time, following two brothers on a bank-robbing spree in a desolate part of west Texas where the banks themselves are seen as robbers.
Florence Foster Jenkins
August 13, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesIt's not exactly breaking news, but Meryl Streep is remarkable, and her latest showcase is Florence Foster Jenkins.
Suicide Squad
August 06, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesSuicide Squad amounts to an all-out attack on the whole idea of entertainment.
Jason Bourne
July 30, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesJason Bourne used to be an amnesiac. Now he remember who he is, but this latest episode of the franchise forgot to make him human.
Star Trek Beyond
July 23, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesIt looks big, with plenty of cosmic battles, but it feels smallish, a congenial adventure with familiar friends.
Captain Fantastic
July 09, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesCaptain Fantastic is a terrifically accomplished and enjoyable film about a singular household.
The BFG
July 02, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesSpielberg uses digital wizardry to throw spectacular dreams of friendship and adventure on the big screen.
Hunt for the Wilderpeople
June 25, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesIn Hunt for the Wilderpeople, a goofball preacher tells a tiny group of mourners that sometimes in life we may feel "like a sheep trapped in a maze designed by wolves."
Finding Dory
June 18, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesFinding Dory can be touching, sweet and tender, but it's preposterously and terrifically funny.
The Music of Strangers
June 11, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesMorgan Neville's documentary is a joyous revelation, a group portrait of superb musicians from all over the world offering music as an emblem of what people can do in these troubled times when they live in concert with one another.
The Fits
June 04, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesA wonderful little movie, The Fits opens on an 11-year old doing sit-ups -- 25 in all, hands clasped behind her head, radiant face to the camera.
X-Men: Apocalypse
May 28, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesEnormous going on keep going on, and on, in X-Men: Apocalypse. It's a collection of explosions, eruptions and conflagrations that looks like the implosion of a franchise. This is disappointing, but also surprising.
Weiner
May 21, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesDisgraced New York politician Anthony Weiner has been memorialized in an extraordinary documentary called...yes, Weiner.
Money Monster
May 14, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesIn Money Monster, George Clooney plays a TV personality -- a medium-manic version of Jim Cramer, the host of NBC's Mad Money.
Viva
April 30, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesViva is another retelling, though a particularly affecting one, of a classic tale -- the struggle to discover and assert one's authentic identity.
A Hologram for the King
April 23, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesA Hologram for the King was based on the novel by Dave Eggers.
Sing Street
April 16, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesNine years ago American audiences discovered the Irish film Once, and took it to their hearts. The magic is back in Sing Street, a coming-of-age comedy that's also concerned with making music, and downright lovable in its evocation of young love.
Louder than Bombs
April 09, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesLouder than Bombs is very much a movie about memory. It lives and breathes with a lovely intimacy and density of detail that we associate with fine independent features from Europe.
Everybody Wants Some
April 02, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesRichard Linklater calls the semi-autobiographical Everybody Wants Some! a "spiritual sequel" to his 1993 Dazed and Confused.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
March 26, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesBatman v Superman is an underdeveloped, overlong and stupendously dispiriting duel of unlikely antagonists.
Midnight Special
March 19, 2016 01:44 - 3 minutesMidnight Special is a beautifully strange and stirring sci-fi adventure about a boy with special powers.
Marguerite
March 12, 2016 02:44 - 3 minutesLike lots of movies these days, Marguerite tells us that "it was inspired by a true story." That usually means the story's truth was buried beneath layers of rubbish. But the key word here is "inspired" -- the film is a wonderfully imaginative work of fiction.
Zootopia
March 05, 2016 02:44 - 3 minutesIf you're looking for joyous fun, Disney's Zootopia is Yootopia.
Triple 9
February 27, 2016 02:44 - 3 minutesThe title of Triple 9 comes from a police code, 999, that means an officer is down and urgently in need of help.
The Witch; Race
February 20, 2016 02:44 - 3 minutesThe Witch's psychodynamics may be familiar, but Robert Eggers makes them seem newly discovered with the intensity of his writing and direction. Race is a saga of unquenchable spirit and fast-twitch muscles shot in slow-twitch style.
Mojave
January 23, 2016 02:44 - 3 minutesLike the high desert that provides its main setting, Mojave is dry, often windy and full of hot air...
Remembering Alan Rickman
January 16, 2016 02:44 - 3 minutesJoe Morgenstern remembers British actor Alan Rickman, who died this week at 69. His voice made him instantly recognizable; his iconic roles and acting prowess made him memorable.
Anomalisa
January 09, 2016 02:44 - 3 minutesAnomalisa takes its title from combining "anomaly" -- something that deviates from the standard -- and Lisa, the name of the woebegone anti-heroine.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
December 19, 2015 00:44 - 3 minutesThe Star Wars franchise has roared back with full force.
The Big Short
December 12, 2015 00:44 - 3 minutesWhat gives The Big Short its surprising resonance is the breadth of its comic vision, which makes room for collateral tragedy.