“These are the unreliable memories of a man who knows he’s damned but is no longer sure for exactly what; an inchoate self-loathing that’s a sure sign we’re in Schrader Country. The film is haunting and elegantly made, if perhaps a bit chilly. It’s a simmering, satisfying cerebral exercise. But the best Schrader movies feel like they’re going to explode.” – North Shore Movies, 12/12/2024

”It’s impossible not to be moved by Pitt playing off the avuncular likes of Buscemi and Perlman, or by watching Joe Pesci level his whole screen presence and legacy into a shattering, wordless cameo in a nursing home. Pitt heartbreakingly holds his own with all of them, reminding us once more that this young actor could have been a contender.” – North Shore Movies, 12/12/2024

”It’s all kind of overwhelming in the way that a child remembers such celebrations — full of family members you’re supposed to know, even if you’re not entirely sure how they fit into the picture. Everything’s a bit larger-than-life, but also a little smaller. The morning after I watched the movie, it already felt like something I’d seen years ago.” – North Shore Movies, 12/06/2024

”The film alludes to the author’s accidental shooting of his second wife, Joan Vollmer, but doesn’t reckon with it in any real way. It’s there for the same reason as the Cobain songs and the bugs from Naked Lunch that turn up from time to time. These are things that people associate with William S. Burroughs, so they’ve got to be in the movie somewhere.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 12/05/2024

“A literary conceit in search of a visual analogue. Heller’s insufficiently stylized direction can’t bear the metaphorical weight. It looks like a cable show. She’s a terribly pleasant filmmaker, and Nightbitch plays things way too safe for its own good, coming close to a couple of uncomfortable realities before sheepishly backing away. She barks, but the movie has no bite.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 12/05/2024

“Norma Desmond as a doomed soprano, a fading legend parading around a Parisian apartment that’s more like a mausoleum. Dictatorial to her staff and zonked on pills most of the time, she’s imperious, insecure, impossible and irresistible. It’s finally a role the right size for its star, and Jolie is more than ready for her close-up. Maria, you’ve got to see her.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 11/26/2024

”The band has been able to transcend generational turf wars for the past 60 years, and we should probably be thankful to have a movie like this available in everybody’s living rooms after such a divisive and exhausting election. To paraphrase Lester Bangs’ obituary for Elvis Presley, we may never agree on anything again the way we agreed on The Beatles.” – North Shore Movies, 11/25/2024

“Pascal barely registers onscreen at all, with a good deal of Gladiator II serving as a cautionary tale about what happens to lightweight TV actors when they come up against a bona fide movie star. It’s like every scene is being acted in lowercase letters until along comes big-D Denzel. He’s an absolute joy to watch, and the film languishes in his absence.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 11/21/2024

“Unlike the Technicolor Oz we grew up with, Chu’s is a land of hazy, low-contrast pinks and faded pastels. The whole movie looks like an Easter basket, which can be tiring on the eyes over such a long haul. Still, it’s an engaging enough half-a-movie, anchored by a sublime comic turn from Ariana Grande as a privileged brat blithely oblivious to her own awfulness.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 11/21/2024

”Such a noisy, witless puddle of CGI puke I can’t believe Ryan Reynolds isn’t in it. I suppose it will be tempting for critics to describe this movie as a lump of Christmas coal. Except that coal can actually serve a purpose, like heating people’s homes, or giving them black lung disease, both options preferable to sitting though Red One.” – North Shore Movies, 11/15/2024