Category Archives: Movies

NYT Critic’s Pick

I’m Thinking of Ending Things
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Drama, Horror, Thriller | Directed by Charlie Kaufman
Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons play a couple on a trip to some very odd places in Charlie Kaufman’s latest film.


Family togetherness (or is it?) in Charlie Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” with, from left, Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette and David Thewlis.
By A.O. SCOTT

Isadora’s Children
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama | Directed by Damien Manivel
The work of a 20th-century dance innovator inspires four women of the present day in this film, composed like a piece of music by Damien Manivel.


Marika Rizzi, left, and Manon Carpentier, in “Isadora’s Children.”
By GLENN KENNY

Feels Good Man
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary, Comedy | Directed by Arthur Jones
A new documentary looks at how the cartoonist Matt Furie’s creation Pepe the Frog became a symbol of hate.


His frog was stolen: The artist Matt Furie in the documentary “Feels Good Man.”
By BEN KENIGSBERG

— Of Possible Interest —

Mulan
PG-13 | Action, Adventure, Drama, Family | Directed by Niki Caro
In Niki Caro and Disney’s live-action version of the ancient story, a young woman rides off to war and discovers herself.


Going to war for China and Disney: Yifei Liu as the title character in the live-action remake of “Mulan.”
By MANOHLA DARGIS

The New Mutants
PG-13 | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi | Directed by Josh Boone


From left, Maisie Williams, Henry Zaga, Blu Hunt, Charlie Heaton and Anya Taylor-Joy from “The New Mutants.”
This much-delayed “X-Men”-related film from Josh Boone features five teens with not-so-great powers.
By AMY NICHOLSON

Children of the Sea
Animation, Adventure, Drama, Family, Fantasy, Mystery | Directed by Ayumu Watanabe
Exploration is at the heart of the mostly stunning and totally mystifying Japanese anime feature.


In “Children of the Sea,” Ruka, a shy teenage girl, feels a curious connection to water.
By MAYA PHILLIPS

Chuck Berry
Documentary, Biography, Music | Directed by Jon Brewer
Jon Brewer’s documentary about the musical legend is far more traditional than its subject.


The title subject of the documentary “Chuck Berry.”
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

The Personal History of David Copperfield
NYT Critic’s Pick | PG | Comedy, Drama | Directed by Armando Iannucci


Armando Iannucci’s souped-up, trimmed-down adaptation of the Dickens novel is an exuberant, heartfelt delight.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Ghost Tropic
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama | Directed by Bas Devos


Bas Devos captures the sleeping outer portions of Brussels in this drama about a hard-working woman who finds herself stranded.
By GLENN KENNY

Nomad: In the Footsteps of Bruce Chatwin
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary, Biography | Directed by Werner Herzog


Herzog honors the writer and explorer Bruce Chatwin in this stimulating and visually overwhelming documentary.
By GLENN KENNY

— Of Possible Interest —

Bill & Ted Face the Music
PG-13 | Adventure, Comedy, Music, Sci-Fi | Directed by Dean Parisot


Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter travel through time to save reality and redeem the honor of Generation X.
‘That’s too strong a word [genius] to apply to “Bill & Ted Face the Music,” which like its predecessors is winningly modest and harmlessly silly. I don’t know if it made me feel young or old, but it was all in all a most non-bogus experience.’
By A.O. SCOTT

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

Son of the White Mare
NYT Critic’s Pick | Animation, Adventure, Fantasy | Directed by Marcell Jankovics


The film nods to earlier notables of animation: the hallucinatory palette of “Yellow Submarine” and the rich visual storytelling of “Fantasia.”
By MAYA PHILLIPS

Cut Throat City
NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller | Directed by RZA


With his third feature as | Director, RZA, who first rose to fame with Wu-Tang Clan, comes into his own as a filmmaker.
By GLENN KENNY

Coup 53
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary, History | Directed by Taghi Amirani


Taghi Amirani’s documentary is an obsessively detailed dive into the 1953 ouster of Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh of Iran.
By BEN KENIGSBERG

— Of Possible Interest —

Tesla
PG-13 | Biography, Drama | Directed by Michael Almereyda


Ethan Hawke plays the melancholy visionary Nikola Tesla in Michael Almereyda’s meditative anti-biopic.
By A.O. SCOTT

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

A Thousand Cuts
NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Ramona S. Diaz


This documentary profiles Maria Ressa, a journalist who has fearlessly chronicled abuses in the Philippines under the Duterte government.
By BEN KENIGSBERG

An Easy Girl
NYT Critic’s Pick | Comedy, Drama | Directed by Rebecca Zlotowski


An inexperienced teenager and her more sophisticated cousin experience a transformative summer in this smart and sultry coming-of-age story.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Mudar de Vida
NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama | Directed by Paulo Rocha


Paulo Rocha’s 1966 triumph is set in a Portuguese fishing village, where residents live hand-to-mouth.
By GLENN KENNY

— Of Possible Interest —

Sputnik


Unrated | Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller | Directed by Egor Abramenko
This Russian sci-fi horror picture strongly advises that what you find in space should stay there.
By GLENN KENNY

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

She Dies Tomorrow

NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Comedy, Drama, Thriller | Directed by Amy Seimetz


A film made before the pandemic now feels uncomfortably timely.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Sunless Shadows

NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Mehrdad Oskouei


Mehrdad Oskouei’s documentary brings empathy to a tough subject: women and girls convicted of murdering male family members.
By KRISTEN YOONSOO KIM

River City Drumbeat

NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Anne Flatte, Marlon Johnson


At the heart of this documentary from Marlon Johnson and Anne Flatté is a drum line in Louisville, Ky., that offers children a chance to engage with Black art and history.
By TEO BUGBEE

Howard

NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Don Hahn


A new documentary looks at the prodigious talent of Howard Ashman, one half of the musical team behind “The Little Mermaid” and others, before he died of AIDS at 40.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

  • Of Possible Interest —

Pychomagic, a Healing Art

Documentary | Directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky


In this documentary, Alejandro Jodorowsky compares Freud’s “science” to his own “magic” and chronicles aiming for cures with methods resembling performance art.
By GLENN KENNY

Out Stealing Horses

Not Rated | Drama, Mystery | Directed by Hans Petter Moland


But the protagonist of this film, based on a Norwegian novel, would prefer to forget the past.
By GLENN KENNY

NYT Critic’s Pick Movies

Palm Springs

NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Comedy, Romance | Directed by Max Barbakow


Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti star in a fresh and funny comedy that might remind you of something you saw before.
By A.O. SCOTT

The Old Guard

NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Action, Fantasy | Directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood


Charlize Theron leads a group of immortal warriors in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s fresh take on the superhero genre.
By A.O. SCOTT

— See Also —

Finally, a major Hollywood franchise movie with a gay romance
Benjamin Lee

We Are Little Zombies

NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama, Music | Directed by Makoto Nagahisa


Wry humor, absurd dialogue and unflagging energy propel this dazzling, manic debut from Makoto Nagahisa.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Widow of Silence

NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama | Directed by Praveen Morchhale


Praveen Morchhale’s newest drama explores a Kashmiri woman’s desperate quest for freedom and agency.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Relic

NYT Critic’s Pick | R | Drama, Horror | Directed by Natalie Erika James


Natalie Erika James’s arresting debut deftly merges a classic horror genre with an allegory of dementia.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

NYT Critic’s Pick Movie(s)

The Truth

NYT Critic’s Pick | PG | Drama, Family | Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda


Following his Palme d’Or-winning “Shoplifters,” the Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-eda visits some of the glories of France.
By MANOHLA DARGIS

Family Romance, LLC

NYT Critic’s Pick | Drama | Directed by Werner Herzog


This hybrid work of fiction and documentary begins with a creepy feeling that is eventually replaced by an empathetic fascination.
By GLENN KENNY

Denise Ho: Becoming the Song

NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by Sue Williams


This moving documentary profiles a singer who has become an influential activist in Hong Kong.
By LOVIA GYARKYE

Welcome to Chechnya

NYT Critic’s Pick | Documentary | Directed by David France


David France’s documentary follows a group of courageous Russian activists working to rescue victims of an anti-L.G.B.T.Q. crackdown.
By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Hamilton

NYT Critic’s Pick | PG-13 | Biography, Drama, History, Musical | Directed by Thomas Kail


The filmed version of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s founding-father Broadway musical arrives just in time — vital and more challenging than ever.
By A.O. SCOTT

— Of Possible Interest —

Unsettled: Seeking Refuge in America

Documentary | Directed by Tom Shepard


A documentary on L.G.B.T.Q. refugees becomes progressively engaging as its subjects’ paths diverge.
By BEN KENIGSBERG