review
‘Whalefall’ is more of a whale fail
⭐⭐ Rating: 2 out of 4. A strange “Jonah and the Whale” concept that’s even stranger in execution. It’s got incredible talent too, but none of that can save this cinematic miscue from submerging in banal blubbering. It’s essentially a one trick pony — make that “a one bubble guppy”—that lacks character development or even […]
Outrage and scandal: “The Devils” is back in theaters
⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3.5 out of 4. Ken Russell’s cult-classic “The Devils,” which comes to the Somerville Theater this week for a limited re-release, remains a glorious cinematic affront: one part historical drama, one part political horror flick where the monsters wear vestments and call their cruelty salvation. Its graphic sex and scenes of torture earned […]
Affleck’s ‘Animals’ is a dog
⭐⭐ Rating: 1.5 out of 4. Ben Affleck made it in Hollywood as an actor and Oscar-winning screenwriter, then proved to be a more-than-reliable filmmaker, with credits including “Gone Baby Gone,” “The Town” and the true-story espionage thriller “Argo” (2012), which won the Oscar for Best Picture. Unfortunately, that’s not the case for “Animals,” the […]
‘Verity’is lifeless on page and on screen
“Verity” ⭐⭐ Rating: 1.5 out of 4. The movie version of “Verity,” Colleen Hoover’s hackneyed page lift of Daphne du Maurier’s great 1938 Gothic psycho thriller “Rebecca,” has an all-star cast that may not be enough to give the romance novelist a fourth box office success. Read more Community, developers have mixed response to new […]
When everyone lies, does it create a truth of its own?
“The Award,” by Matthew Pearl Harper, 2025 Stories generally draw us in when we can identify with main characters or the problem they face. “The Award,” Matthew Pearl’s December 2025 novel, focuses on an ambitious but self-doubting writer trying to make it in Cambridge, a promising subject for someone like me. Read more Deaton has […]
“Mighty Mary” and the all-woman team that cannonballed America’s Cup
Most of the action in “Mighty Mary,” the new documentary about the first all-woman yachting team to vie for the America’s Cup in 1995, takes place in San Diego, where the women train and race. But the film also has plenty of Cambridge connections. Director and former Olympic rower Mary Mazzio lived in Cambridge in […]
An intimate documentary, a kidnapping rescue and a black comedy debut
“Remake” ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3.5 out of 4. Ross McElwee’s “Remake” opens with a wry proposition: a Hollywood producer wants to turn McElwee’s 1986 documentary, “Sherman’s March” — the filmmaker’s meandering meditation on love, Southern culture, and romantic rejection — into a conventional scripted feature, perhaps even a comedy. Questions abound: Who would play McElwee? How […]
Cape Cod environmental crime drama has local flavor, minimal thrills
“The Scallop Plot” by former Boston Globe health columnist Judy Foreman seems like an ideal choice for a Cape Cod guest house bookshelf, a thriller to flip through idly on a rainy day. It’s full of immersive descriptions of Provincetown and vicinity, with plenty of local landmarks and restaurants namechecked. And it leaves the reader […]
A mishit and a backfire from two new movies
“The Dink” ⭐⭐ Rating: 2 out of 4. What if a top tennis player faltered in their career and had to slum it on the pickleball circuit? That’s kind of the loose “Happy Gilmore”—esque concept behind this not quite pickled-enough comedy that stars Jake Johnson (“New Girl,” “Drinking Buddies”) as said fictional tennis star Dustin […]
This film about dinner with the neighbors is a winner
“The Invite” ⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3 out of 4. Questions of happiness and fulfillment take center stage in “The Invite,” a barbed comedy about a couple at a bitter crossroads in their marriage. Angela (Olivia Wilde) and Joe (Seth Rogen) are further challenged by their upstairs neighbors who, over the course of a single dinner, amplify […]