“The Report” explores an alarming period in our country’s recent history: the CIA’s suspect detention and interrogation program following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Writer/director Scott Z. Burns’ intention is clear in illuminating the complicated and covert strategies employed, but the story he’s telling isn’t a naturally cinematic one. In...
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Reviews
RogerEbert.com — Playing With Fire
My kid says this is the worst movie he’s ever seen. When you’ve lost the 10-year-old boy audience in a movie full of poop jokes, you’re doing something wrong. John Cena stars as an uptight firefighter whose orderly world gets turned upside down with the arrival of a trio of...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Terminator: Dark Fate
The latest “Terminator” was wise to pick up where the groundbreaking “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” left off. If only the filmmakers had used that opportunity for more than relentless action and empty fan service. It’s good to see the bad-ass Linda Hamilton again, though, and several of the fights and...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Black and Blue
Deon Taylor’s “Black and Blue” is a B-movie through and through—and that’s actually a compliment. Naomie Harris elevates this tale of a rookie cop who becomes the target of her corrupt colleagues through both her physical strength and emotional subtlety. And veteran cinematographer Dante Spinotti—a frequent Michael Mann collaborator and two-time Oscar...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Harpoon
It’s essentially a play, on film, on a boat. But writer-director accomplishes a lot with a little in a confined space with “Harpoon,” a black comedy that steadily morphs into a horror movie. Three friends go out on a yacht for what seems like an idyllic day trip; eventually, secrets...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Bliss
For better and for worse, “Bliss” truly makes you feel as if you, too, are suffering from a narcotic-induced, hallucinatory freak-out—one that leaves you physically exhausted, mentally spent and ultimately wondering what the hell just happened to you. And this sort of movie is usually my jam — stylish nightmares...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Midnight Traveler
It’s sort of a miracle that “Midnight Traveler” exists. The documentary follows husband-and-wife filmmakers and their two young daughters as they travel over three years and 3,500 miles seeking asylum. The Taliban has put out a hit on Afghan director Hassan Fazili, so he and his family must journey from...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Hustlers
Jennifer Lopez is as electrifying as you’ve heard in Lorene Scafaria’s “Hustlers,” based on the true story of a group of strippers who hunted, drugged and fleeces a bunch of Wall Street jerks for millions. But the whole movie moves with the stomp and swagger of Lopez’s big, opening number,...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — It Chapter Two
“It Chapter Two” is a thrilling, sprawling mess — overlong and overstuffed, but wildly, visually inventive with several moments of greatness. It’ll make you say “wow” over and over again, both when it dazzles and when it just doesn’t work. My mixed/positive review, at RogerEbert.com. Read the review here...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Before You Know It
It’s the end of summer which is not traditionally a great time for movies, But here’s a little gem you’ll enjoy: “Before You Know It,” which you’d never know is the directorial debut of co-writer and co-star Hannah Pearl Utt. The story of thirtysomething sisters shaken from their insular codependence...
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