“This amusingly brutal sharksploitation cheapie from director Renny Harlin follows stodgy 1970s disaster movie formulas to such a T that the characters crack jokes about The Poseidon Adventure. But it’s got some spirited work from Harlin, who takes delight in devising some truly ghoulish exits for these poor passengers. You can’t help but laugh.” – Spliced Personality Substack, 05/01/2026
“Amid the feel-good, gang’s-all-here trappings, the film flirts with provocative ideas about a culture in decline, where seemingly every institution is being gutted for the sake of the bottom line and the masses are willing to accept ‘good enough’ over excellence. Which is slightly ironic, because ‘good enough’ is an apt description of The Devil Wears Prada 2.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 04/29/2026
“A vehicle for yet another wonderful performance from Willem Dafoe, who plays the sheepish postman like a slowly opening flower. One of our greatest living actors and arguably the most consistent, Dafoe has such range he can play everything from comic book supervillains to Jesus Christ, but he rarely gets to be an ordinary guy the way he does here.” – Spliced Personality Substack, 04/27/2026
“It begins as a highly theatrical, frankly captivating pas de deux in a barn-like studio space where these two extraordinary actresses encircle each other and drop insinuations, wandering in and out of their own flashbacks with astonishing fluidity. Lowery uses stage lighting tricks and flyaway walls so that the past and present are living under the same roof.” – Spliced Personality Substack, 04/24/2026
“An enchantingly raggedy love story about two horny teen witches with a psychic connection and a hunky boy with a very bad tattoo. The movie borrows the language of late ’90s and early 2000s paranormal YA adventures. It’s the same spooky kids’ stuff that made Jane Schoenbrun see the TV glow, only with higher stakes and better sex.” – Spliced Personality Substack, 04/22/2026
“Most movies about musicians follow an artist’s rise, fall and eventual redemption. Partially funded by the Jackson estate, Michael is all rise — the ascension of a holy being to the top of the universe. The movie ends in 1988 with the singer’s triumphant solo Bad tour, which is kind of like ending an O.J. Simpson biopic with him winning the Heisman Trophy.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 04/21/2026
“The existential disconnection of The Stranger is a product of Camus’ flat, affectless prose. So how does one convey this on film? I’m not sure it’s possible. Ozon shoots in a chilly, digital monochrome devoid of emphatic camera movements. The movie is distant and aloof, which is true to the spirit of the material, if something of a drag to actually sit through.” – Spliced Personality Substack, 04/19/2026
“An inert and dispiriting experience, it’s a listlessly stupid movie made by a guy who used to be much smarter about making stupid movies. The Dumb And Dumber director’s latest return to his lowbrow roots follows 2024’s grim Ricky Stanicky as another monkey’s paw situation for any of us who ever expressed a preference for Farrelly’s earlier, funnier films.” – Spliced Personality Substack, 04/18/2026
“‘Movies create community,’ said Campbell. That’s been IFFBoston’s mission from the beginning. As someone who’s been attending the festival for more than two decades, I can’t tell you how many dear friendships started while standing in line at the Somerville, or chatting about movies at an afterparty. It’s a perfect place for folks to come together and make discoveries.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 04/17/2026
“It’s sparse enough to invite all sorts of allegorical readings. At the time, some viewers assumed it was a statement about the HUAC hearings, Alas, the racist bullying and cowardice on display in Bad Day At Black Rock are depressingly applicable to any American era, and I note with a shudder that Ryan’s sneering ringleader is first seen wearing a red baseball cap.” – Crooked Marquee, 04/17/2026
SPLICED PERSONALITY 