After 8 1/2 years, we’ve had to say goodbye to What the Flick?!, as you may have heard. But for the time being, at least, we’re reincarnating our YouTube film review show as a podcast. This week, Matt Atchity and I talk the historical thriller “Operation Finale,” the completely...
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What the Flick?! Podcast
RogerEbert.com — Searching
“Searching” is predicated on a central gimmick — it takes place entirely within the screens of electronic devices — but it pulls it off in exciting and inventive ways. John Cho gets to show great range — and is often shot in close-up, so there’s nowhere to hide — as...
Read moreChristy by Request — The Vanishing
It should have been a romantic escape — a chance to get away from the crowds and the heat of summer and ride bicycles through the French countryside. Instead, it ended before it even began, with the wife disappearing and the husband searching frantically for her, a quest that would...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — The Wife
Glenn Close is subtly devastating in “The Wife,” indicating a lifetime of repression and resentment in just the slightest wry smile or withering glance. Close and Jonathan Pryce have crackling chemistry with each other, the two veteran actors enjoying snappy banter and enduring lacerating battles. But while Pryce’s character remains steady in...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — The Swan
“The Swan” is a coming-of-age drama that’s equal parts beautiful and brutal, similar to the rugged terrain of northern Iceland where it takes place. I mean, look at that photo — doesn’t it make you want to hop on a plane to Reykjavik right now? The debut feature from writer-director...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Puzzle
Kelly Macdonald gets a rare chance to shine in a leading role as a wife and mother who reaches her 40s and finally figures out what she wants from life. Watching her blossom is sheer joy. And while solving jigsaw puzzles may not sound like the most cinematic pursuit, “Puzzle”...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
The sequel to the 2008 schmaltzy smash “Mamma Mia!” features even more characters and more subplots and more romantic entanglements. But it’s also less entertaining, the stakes are lower, and despite its frantic energy, it goes absolutely nowhere. It has its moments, though, so if you want an empty summer...
Read moreChristy by Request — The Lives of Others
“The Lives of Others” is about the transformative power of the human connection — its capacity for opening even the most calloused and closed-off hearts and minds. That may seem like a quaint concept in these contentious times, but it’s certainly a welcome one. I hadn’t seen writer-director Florian Henckel...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Damsel
Mia Wasikowska may be a damsel but she’s certainly not in distress in the Zellners brothers’ quirky, revisionist Western. “Damsel” is a sly feminist manifesto disguised as a shaggy, amiable hangout movie. And it features another wonderfully weird performance from Robert Pattinson, who continues to take chances post-“Twilight.” My review, at...
Read moreChristy by Request — Body Double
“Body Double” is Brian De Palma’s Alfred Hitchcock movie, with clearly affectionate references to “Rear Window,” “Vertigo” and other classics scattered liberally about. But it’s also every bit a De Palma film in the vein of the director’s “Carrie,” “Dressed to Kill” and “Scarface,” with all of its fascinating contradictions....
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