Films

Left to right: Kathy Najimy, Bette Midler, and Sarah Jessica Parker in Hocus Pocus 2. Photo: Courtesy Walt Disney Studios
Films

Screen scares in the air

By Michael Snyder

When autumn starts to creep in and a certain haunt-ridden end-of-October holiday approaches, the movie and television industries invariably roll out the horror. The powers that be... Read More
A scene from Moonage Daydream. Photo: COURTESY OF NEON
Films

Bowie’s stellar trek from Stardust to ‘Blackstar’

By Michael Snyder

David Bowie, the sleek British musician and actor whose prodigious, multifaceted career achieved liftoff with his mid-1970s glam-rock incarnation Ziggy Stardust, left this plane o... Read More
Alan Cumming provides the visuals to the off-camera Brian/Brandon in My Old School. Photo: courtesy Magnolia Pictures
Films

Back to school days

By Michael Snyder

Now that some fall school semesters start in August rather than the traditional post-Labor Day window, it’s fitting that filmmaker Jono McLeod’s clever, creative documentary M... Read More
Mark Rylance in The Phantom of the Open. Photo credit Nick Wall. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.
Films

Biopics: Blithe and biting 

Prestige productions tell human stories worth your time
By Michael Snyder

Two 20th-century sons of England, separated by class and circumstance, make for two wildly different new movies. The contrast between the lives of Maurice Flitcroft and Siegfried ... Read More
Joanna Lumley and Danielle Macdonald in Falling For Figaro. COURTESY OF IFC FILMS
Films

Mostly British Film Festival is back in vogue

By Michael Snyder

Cheerio! Pip-pip! Huzzah! Those joyous expletives may be more than a little out of date in England, but they merit revival in San Francisco this month. The Mostly British Film Fes... Read More
Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim in Licorice Pizza. Photo: Courtesy of Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Inc.
Films

Corralling the best movies of 2021

By Michael Snyder

If action-heavy blockbusters are all that’s keeping theaters on life support, it’s a good thing to also have art houses, video-on-demand, and streaming services providing acce... Read More
There's no such thing as too many Spideys in No Way Home. Photo: Sony pictures
Films

‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ is where the heroic heart is

By Erin Maxwell

Warning: This review contains lots of Spidey spoilers. Spider-Man: No Way Home is the third installment for the Tom Holland-led webslinger saga, but it’s more than just the l... Read More
Films

Six films worth watching right now

Uplifting documentaries to get you through the winter
By Joe Castrovinci

Covid got you down? Not looking forward to winter and — if we’re lucky — lots of rain? Or maybe you’re back in the office and miss the good old days of working from home? ... Read More
Adam Driver and Lady Gaga star in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci. photo: Fabio Lovino © 2021 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Films

Stellar star turns bring real to reel

Recent docudramas and biopics offer impressive performances
By Michael Snyder

It may seem like every other movie released lately is based on a true story, and that perception is not too far off. Even if the industry has become over reliant on such adaptatio... Read More
From left: Podcast (Logan Kim) and Phoebe (Mckenna Grace) fire a proton pack for the first time in Columbia Pictures' Ghostbusters: Afterlife. PHOTO: Courtesy of Sony Pictures
Films

To scream, perchance to laugh

By Michael Snyder

If you happen to be a journalist or critic on the entertainment beat, the imminent arrival of All Hallows’ Eve encourages coverage of scary movies — the classic and the newly ... Read More
Tony Leung and Fala Chen star in Marvel Studios' Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings. Photo: MARVEL STUDIOS
Films

Marvel’s martial-arts legend battles from San Francisco to China

By Michael Snyder

A magical mash-up from start to finish, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings casts a kinetic, jubilant spell. This bright, bold Pacific Rim adventure delivers a high-octane,... Read More
Toni Collette stars as Jan Vokes in Dream Horse. Photo: Kerry Brown / Bleecker Street & Topic Studios
Films

Big screens reopen for business

By Michael Snyder

What a joy it is to be back in theaters for feature films that deserve to be seen on the big screen! Any caveats about representation aside, the movie version of Lin Manual-Mirand... Read More
Timothée Chalamet and Rebecca Ferguson in Dune. Image: Chiabella James / 2020 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Films

Spring awakenings on screen and stage

As restrictions lift, the entertainment venues slowly reopen
By Michael Snyder

It’s been over a year since much of the world locked down, and so many things changed so swiftly in all walks of life — including in the entertainment industry. Movie theaters... Read More
Stanley Tucci and Colin Firth star in Supernova. Photo: courtesy Bleecker Street
Films

The shades of love on screen

By Michael Snyder

Since celluloid began threading through projectors, the movie industry has banked on exploiting our love of love stories. That’s continued today as digital code translates into ... Read More
Carey Mulligan as Cassie, who’s out for revenge in Promising Young Woman. photo: FOCUS FEATURES
Films

Rounding up the best movies of 2020

By Michael Snyder

Despite pandemic-mandated obstacles such as theater closures and postponed blockbusters, there were some excellent movies released in 2020. Here are 10 of my English language favo... Read More


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