“These Skinemax After Dark specials all seemed to feature the same Pacific Coast Highway vistas, blue moonlit mansions and cherry red sportscars. Then come the gruntless, un-sweaty sex scenes in front of a fireplace or in the bathtub, typically surrounded by billowing drapes and candles. Lord, so many candles. Cue the cheesy synthesizers and sax solos.” – North Shore Movies, 09/01/2023

“An impressively acted, downbeat mystery with a strong sense of place, The Good Mother is initially more observant than one might expect from a potboiler at this budget level, grounded in reality with well-researched details about safe-injection sites and the depressing state of the newspaper industry. Then the story decides to become breathtakingly stupid.” – North Shore Movies, 09/01/2023

“Co-scripted with star Sennott while they were working on Shiva Baby, Seligman’s shockingly violent, wildly raunchy follow-up overflows with insane comic conceits and random, fourth-wall-breaking asides. At once a horny high school sex comedy and a self-aware deconstruction of the same, Bottoms feels unhinged, in ways both productive and puzzling.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 08/31/2023

“Fran Rubel Kuzui’s newly restored 1988 debut is short on story and long on charm, genial in that hangout-movie manner that rewards repeat viewings. Tokyo Pop captures the city’s dreamy, discombobulating energy in ways that clearly made an impression on a young Sofia Coppola. It’s an awfully sweet picture, welcoming and easy to watch.” – North Shore Movies, 08/26/2023

“Alien meets Master And Commander is a hell of a hook for a horror film, which leaves one wondering how they managed to screw it up so badly. The Last Voyage Of The Demeter sucks all the fun out what should have been a tight little fright flick about Dracula snacking on sailors and leaves us with a dour, turgidly paced two hours of maritime monotony.” – North Shore Movies, 08/11/2023

“The point is not to play peek-a-boo with people’s private parts but rather to show how these characters communicate during their most intimate moments and the shifts in power dynamics that take place therein. Some people like to complain that sex scenes in movies don’t advance the story, but in the case of Passages, the sex scenes are the story.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 08/10/2023

“Christian Petzold’s dryly funny comedy of (bad) manners changes tones abruptly, like those suddenly shifting winds. This sneakily profound picture throws into stark perspective just how fleeting are the opportunities for simple pleasures that our work won’t allow. Take a swim. Talk to the pretty girl selling ice cream. Enjoy yourself. It’s later than you think.” – North Shore Movies, 08/04/2023

“There’s not a lot of overt drama in the picture, which is better acted than directed and better directed than written. These are hearty, Northwestern folk who tend to internalize their emotions. But Goggins’ wide, friendly smile can’t hide the sadness behind his eyes, and things weigh heavily very well on Casey Affleck. No actor these days aches quite so eloquently.” – North Shore Movies, 08/04/2023

“Glum and lumbering. There’s no energy to the picture. It’s abysmally directed, relying on clumsy handheld camerawork that’s presumably intended to goose along the action but mostly just obscures it. Cinematographer Nick Matthews seems especially averse to lighting people’s faces. When Travolta and Dorff finally square off in a barn, we can barely see them.” – North Shore Movies, 08/04/2023

“Is representation alone enough to merit recommendation? In the summer of 2018, while trying to stay out of the Crazy Rich Asians debate that animates the first and best part of Park’s film, I meekly noted that in a perfect world, people of all races and backgrounds would have their own mediocre romantic comedies. Shortcomings suggests we’re well on our way.” – WBUR’s Arts & Culture, 08/03/2023