Justin Chang

Emma Thompson, left, and Alisha Weir in the movie" Roald Dahl' s Matilda the Musical.".

‘Matilda the Musical’ review: Never a dull moment amid the Dahl moments

December 23, 2022 at 11:00 a.m.

"Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical" — an unwieldy title but a better one, surely, than "Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical: The Movie" — is an enjoyably bright and chipper adaptation...

Patricia and Lorenzo Fuller watch "Godzilla vs. Kong" at the AMC Ford City 14 movie theater on Chicago's Southwest Side on April 16, 2021. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune/TNS)

7 big lessons I’ve learned from a life of moviegoing — and why I’m overjoyed to return

June 18, 2021 at 4:31 p.m.

Midway through the 1982 screen musical "Annie," the characters stop and do something that's incidental to the plot but essential to their pleasure: They go to the movies. It's the...

I've been rewatching this dramedy that ran for two seasons from 2003 to 2004, and it is as sardonic and easy-to-watch as I remembered. The premise: An apathetic 18-year-old (played by a wonderfully deadpan Ellen Muth) is killed by a piece of airplane equipment falling from the sky — a toilet seat, to be exact — and enters the afterlife equivalent of annoying temp work, helping recently deceased souls leave their bodies to move on to the next realm. She and her small group of "colleagues" (including the marvelous Jasmine Guy) have none of the perks you'd expect: They still more or less have to live on earth, scrambling for housing, but minus any meaningful human connections. Mandy Patinkin plays her boss (of sorts), who calls her "pumpkin" but cuts her zero slack. It might be my favorite (and least-known) show from creator Bryan Fuller, who would later go on to create "Pushing Daisies" and "Hannibal." (Tubi, Amazon Prime, VOD) — Nina Metz

Yes, this Oscar season has no blockbuster contenders. Why that’s a good thing

March 11, 2021 at 5:03 p.m.

In the fall of 2018, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences proposed an idea that was so ridiculous on its face, so transparent in its cynicism, that it...

Even with Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan front and center, little in the trailer of "The Dig" seemed particularly promising, but I gave it a go and it's good. Some of it's true, too: Along the east coast of Britain in 1939, with war clouds looming, self-taught Suffolk archeologist Basil Brown was hired by ailing widow Edith Pretty to discover if anything of value lay beneath the earth mounds on her property. There was indeed, and the remains and artifacts of a sixth-century Anglo-Saxon burial ship stunned the world. Fiennes is Basil; Mulligan is Edith; around the halfway point of director Simon Stone's film, the focus (for better or worse) shifts to others in the orbit of the excavation effort, particularly characters played by Lily James and Johnny Flynn. Based on the 2007 novel by John Preston, "The Dig" freely mixes fact and invention, overloading the crises a bit but generally succeeding. A fair amount of screenwriter Moira Buffini's dialogue plays out as Terrence Malick-styled voiceover, while the camera focuses on the stark beauty of the surroundings, and men and women actually doing the work. The results are trim, well-made and quite moving. So much for my prejudgments. (Netflix) — Michael Phillips

Review: ‘The Father’ showcases Anthony Hopkins at his devastating best

February 26, 2021 at 7:41 p.m.

In "The Father's" house are many rooms, all of them beautifully appointed with details so sharp and precise that you might be startled to find them vanishing a few moments...

Even with Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan front and center, little in the trailer of "The Dig" seemed particularly promising,? I gave it a go and it's good. Some of it's true, too: Along the east coast of Britain in 1939, with war clouds looming, self-taught Suffolk archeologist Basil Brown was hired by ailing widow Edith Pretty to discover if anything of value lay beneath the earth mounds on her property. There was indeed, and the remains and artifacts of a sixth-century Anglo-Saxon burial ship stunned the world. Fiennes is Basil; Mulligan is Edith; around the halfway point of director Simon Stone's film, the focus (for better or worse) shifts to others in the orbit of the excavation effort, particularly characters played by Lily James and Johnny Flynn. Based on the 2007 novel by John Preston, "The Dig" freely mixes fact and invention, overloading the crises a bit but generally succeeding. A fair amount of screenwriter Moira Buffini's dialogue plays out as Terrence Malick-styled voiceover, while the camera focuses on the stark beauty of the surroundings, and men and women actually doing the work. The results are trim, well-made and quite moving. So much for my prejudgments. (Netflix) — Michael Phillips

‘Land’ review: A moving story of grief in the wild, Robin Wright’s directing debut doesn’t fully ‘Land’

February 11, 2021 at 6:06 p.m.

The seasons pass swiftly in Robin Wright's "Land," a visually pristine, emotionally obvious drama in which time flies and heals some but not all wounds. A story of implacable grief...

‘Soul’ review: A jazz-fueled, witty Pixar fantasy of dreams and ambitions

January 5, 2021 at 6:13 p.m.

"Music and life operate by very different rules." Those words are spoken by Joe Gardner (Jamie Foxx), the protagonist of Pete Docter's new animated comedy, "Soul," and as such they...

Amanda Seyfried and Gary Oldman in the movie "Mank."

Why movie fans still have reasons to be thankful this holiday season

November 20, 2020 at 3:13 p.m.

We all know what kind of year 2020 has been, so let's start with a bit of good news: There are some genuinely terrific movies headed our way this holiday...

‘Sound of Metal,’ ‘Collective’ and five other films not to miss at AFI Fest

October 15, 2020 at 6:29 p.m.

Like most film festivals this year, AFI Fest has met the COVID-19 pandemic with an all-virtual program of screenings, panels and conversations. I've seen but a handful of the 54...

ei Fei (voiced by Cathy Ang) and her pet rabbit, Bungee, in the movie "Over the Moon."

Review: The Netflix animated film ‘Over the Moon’ aims high but doesn’t stick the landing

October 15, 2020 at 6:04 p.m.

Near the beginning of "Over the Moon," a strenuously bizarre animated riff on a classic Chinese myth, two characters discuss which ingredients to bake into their next batch of mooncakes...

U.S. President Donald Trump removes his mask upon return to the White House from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Oct. 5, 2020 in Washington, D.C. Trump spent three days hospitalized for coronavirus.

Review: Trump said COVID-19 was ‘Totally Under Control.’ A new documentary unpacks why it wasn’t

October 8, 2020 at 6:46 p.m.

The last thing we see in "Totally Under Control" is a title card noting that President Trump has tested positive for the coronavirus. This will of course not come as...

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