By John Corrado Disney’s Moana became a box office hit when it was released eight years ago in 2016. The film has enjoyed a strong shelf life with audiences since then, so it was inevitable that, for better or for worse, the studio would want to do more with these characters. Enter Moana 2, which began life as… Read More Movie Review: Moana 2
By John Corrado Ridley Scott’s Gladiator, the filmmaker’s Oscar-winning modern classic from 2000, is remembered for many things, including star Russell Crowe throwing his arms open in the arena and asking the immortal question, “are you not entertained?” It’s a moment that has become somewhat of a meme, but it’s impossible not to think about… Read More Movie Review: Gladiator II
By John Corrado Payal Kapadia, the filmmaker behind the 2021 documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing, makes her narrative feature debut with All We Imagine as Light. Kapadia’s film, which was awarded the Grand Prix at Cannes earlier this year, is a touching and very heartfelt slice-of-life portrait of women in modern India. The film mainly focuses… Read More Movie Review: All We Imagine as Light
By John Corrado Disney has just debuted a new poster and teaser trailer for Pixar’s Elio, which was initially supposed to be released in theatres this past March, before being pushed back until next year. This is the first new footage of the film since the original teaser trailer that was released back in 2023… Read More New Teaser Trailer for Pixar’s Elio
By John Corrado In 2009, director Adam Elliot, the Australian animator behind the 2003 Oscar-winning short film Harvie Krumpet, released his debut feature Mary & Max. The excellent claymation film had a lovingly hand-crafted feel to it, and told the tender story of the pen-pal friendship between a girl and an autistic man, which Elliot explored with… Read More Movie Review: Memoir of a Snail
By John Corrado Paramount has just released the teaser trailer for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, which is being pitched as the concluding chapter in the saga of Tom Cruise’s special agent Ethan Hunt. The film serves as a direct continuation of the 2022 film Dead Reckoning (which has since dropped “Part One” from… Read More Teaser Trailer for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
By John Corrado In A Real Pain, his sophomore feature as writer and director, actor Jesse Eisenberg crafts a sensitive, richly textured character study of two cousins reuniting for a Holocaust tour in Poland. This unlikely premise paves the way for a dramedy that takes the bones of a mismatched buddy comedy, as Eisenberg graciously shares… Read More Movie Review: A Real Pain
By John Corrado Distributor NEON has just released the first trailer for The End, aka the narrative feature debut of documentary filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer (The Act of Killing, The Look of Silence). The film is an ambitious apocalyptic character drama set in an underground bunker at the end of the world, that also happens to… Read More Trailer for Joshua Oppenheimer’s The End
By John Corrado Adapted from the 1972 children’s novel by Barbara Robinson, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever tells the story of a town’s Christmas pageant that gets upended when the local outcast kids audition for roles. In the hands of director Dallas Jenkins (creator of the Bible-based TV series The Chosen), Robinson’s book is turned into a charming… Read More Movie Review: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
By John Corrado Thirty years after Forrest Gump, director Robert Zemeckis reunites with stars Tom Hanks and Robin Wright as well as screenwriter Eric Roth for the ambitious drama Here. An adaptation of the 2014 graphic novel by Richard McGuire, Here is built around the conceit of watching life unfold in a single location across millions of years, from… Read More Movie Review: Here
By John Corrado The first trailer has just been released for Luca Guadagnino’s Queer, which A24 acquired out of Venice. The film is an adaption of the William S. Burroughs novel of the same name, and stars Daniel Craig in the leading role as a gay man roaming about Mexico after the war. I wasn’t… Read More Trailer Released for Luca Guadagnino’s Queer
By John Corrado A24 has released the first trailer for The Brutalist, director Brady Corbet’s three-and-a-half-hour post-war epic shot on VistaVision that first drew raves at Venice. I saw the film at TIFF, presented in 70mm, and it’s a staggering achievement. This is a great first trailer that gives viewers a glimpse at Lol Crowley’s… Read More First Trailer for Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist
By John Corrado The film Goodrich opens with protagonist Andy Goodrich (Michael Keaton) being awoken by a phone call from his younger wife Naomi (Laura Benanti), who tells him that she has just checked herself into a rehab facility for the next ninety days. Unbeknownst to Andy, Naomi was dealing with a prescription pill addiction,… Read More Movie Review: Goodrich
By John Corrado The 2022 horror movie Smile rode the wave of a concept ready-made for viral marketing campaigns to become a hit at the box office. Add in the fact that the film’s premise basically allowed for near-endless follow-ups, and a sequel was an inevitable case of not if, but when. Writer-director Parker Finn (who expanded… Read More Movie Review: Smile 2
By John Corrado The horror film Longlegs, directed by Osgood Perkins, is one of the biggest success stories of the year, with distributor Neon turning the indie movie into a box office hit. Neon is now re-teaming with Perkins for The Monkey, an adaptation of an old Stephen King short story, and they have just… Read More Teaser Trailer for Osgood Perkins’ The Monkey
By John Corrado The choice to make a Donald Trump biopic at this point in time, when the man himself is already so ubiquitous and overexposed in our media landscape, is both an obvious and somewhat curious one. In our polarized age, the mere presence of a film like this raises questions about what audience… Read More Movie Review: The Apprentice
By John Corrado Searchlight Pictures has just released the full “official trailer” for A Complete Unknown, director James Mangold’s (Walk the Line) upcoming biopic of Bob Dylan starring Timothée Chalamet. The film charts his rise from folk singer in New York’s Greenwich Village to infamously “going electric,” as we see a bit in this trailer… Read More Full Trailer Released for A Complete Unknown
By John Corrado How the heck do you even begin to approach making a sequel to the 2019 smash hit Joker? You know, the R-rated comic book villain origin story from the director of Old School and The Hangover, that was inspired by the films of Martin Scorsese, somehow won the Golden Lion at Venice,… Read More Movie Review: Joker: Folie à Deux
By John Corrado Saoirse Ronan takes on the role of a young alcoholic in The Outrun. It’s a role that allows the actress to deliver an incredible performance showcasing her full depth and range, as the drama depicts the addiction and recovery process as an ongoing journey. It’s based on author Amy Liptrot’s memoir of the… Read More Movie Review: The Outrun
By John Corrado Paramount Pictures has just released the first teaser trailer for Better Man, which played at TIFF and Telluride. Directed by Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman), this is a musical biopic of British pop star Robbie Williams, that portrays him as a realistic, CGI monkey. Yes, you read that right. I was curious… Read More Teaser Trailer Released for Better Man
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