Author: Derrick Murray

Though it was a hard and tumultuous time in Hollywood, 2023 actually proved to be an incredible year for films. Almost every major director working today released a new film. From Martin Scorsese to Michael Mann, Christopher Nolan to David Fincher and beyond; there was an influx of first timers and newcomers that really brought their A game. Admittedly this was one of the hardest years to pick a top 10-15. Some of that is because I saw almost 365 new films in a single year, a feat I wouldn’t recommend to any cinephile. But there was just simply more…

The Toronto International Film Festival may have concluded nearly 3 months ago from the time of this writing, but we are still trying to catch up on some last minute stragglers. Even the best festival planners can’t catch everything the festival has to offer, and though we made a pretty sizable dent in the slate there we still some casualties of time that we were unable to see. Thankfully, many of them had limited theatrical releases, allowing us to seek them out and add them to our very long list of TIFF viewings. Many of these late films are international…

We’ve reached that pivotal part of the year where it seems every single film that’s been sitting on the shelf or awaiting a release after its festival run suddenly floods the theaters. December is almost always catch up time for cinephiles and critics. Rushing to the theaters (sometimes far far away) to catch limited releases, pouring through a backlog of screeners, and preparing for the Oscar predictions and nominations that follow shortly after the year completes. It’s essentially hell week for critics, and this December is no exception. 2023 has been a great year for movies, and while I would…

“Rebel Moon” is diet “Dune,” sugar-free “Star Wars,” splenda “Seven Samurai,” the “Jupiter Ascending” for Snyderbros.

“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” may be lost at sea, but if the voyage itself doesn’t make sense and we’re happy to put this all behind us and start fresh, it is at least having fun as it stares its own death in the face.

There are so many layers to peel back in Todd Haynes “May December” that it can be difficult to extrapolate everything and understand each new revelation. It is even more difficult to summarize it all into a single review. Not only are its themes, narrative, tone and cultural critiques deeply affecting and profound, but its characters are equally as complex and complicated. “May December” is such a character driven piece of work that both the characters and performances themselves require a deeper dive, particularly because many of the leads are delivering some of their best work in years. There are…

“Poor Things” is a wonderful world of weird, packed to brim with stunning production design, laugh out loud humor, an odyssey of self reclamation and a sexual awakening with lots and lots and LOTS of sex.

“Our Son” layered emotional characters get more arresting, mixed with queer overtones that give the film its unique heart at the core.

“Silent Night” feels regressive in the most disappointing ways, delivering a few action set pieces that are decent enough but don’t wow and are surrounded by dull, muted (literally) melodrama that, when you strip away the shtick of silence, becomes no more than the sum of its redundant and uninspiring parts.

“American Fiction” is a can’t miss comedy and one of the best films of the year.