Film Reviews

On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Mary Pat Treuthart and Nathan Weinbender discuss Spike Lee’s newest film “Highest 2 Lowest,” which is his version of Ed McBain’s 1959 novel “King’s Ransom,” as well as take a look back at another McBain adaptation, Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 film “High and Low.”

"Caught Stealing" stars Austin Butler as a regular joe pulled into a criminal conspiracy in 1998 New York. Nathan Weinbender says the latest from director Darren Aronofsky plays like the cartoon version of a gritty thriller.

On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Nathan Weinbender, and Mary Pat Treuthart discuss two films that offer chance to enjoy the kind of intensity that comes from indulging in a fictional world. The first is “Weapons,” a box-office-busting exercise in horror, and “Cloud,” a psychological thriller from Japan.

“Nobody 2” proves that when it comes to any offbeat action venture, once is usually enough, says Dan Webster.

Ethan Coen’s "Honey Don’t!" stars Margaret Qualley as a P.I. caught up in a series of murders. Nathan Weinbender says that, like last year’s “Drive-Away Dolls,” it doesn’t meet the standards of the director’s past work.

On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Nathan Weinbender, and Mary Pat Treuthart discuss a trio of films, all of which are either sequels or reboots and all of which—like their earlier counterparts—test the limits of farcical comedy. They start off with “The Naked Gun,” followed by “Happy Gilmore 2” and then end with “Freakier Friday.”

Among the many recent remakes, or reboots, of popular franchises, is “Freakier Friday” even necessary? Dan Webster asks.

Spike Lee’s latest joint "Highest 2 Lowest" is out, and Nathan Weinbender says it’s an uneven but thought-provoking redo of an Akira Kurosawa classic. It’s now playing at the Magic Lantern and is streaming on Apple TV+.

On this week’s show, Dan Webster, Nathan Weinbender, and Mary Pat Treuthart discuss a pair of streaming documentary features that focus on well-known public figures from the past—TV host Ed Sullivan in Netflix’s “Sunday Best: The Untold Story of Ed Sullivan,” and Jayne Mansfield in HBO Max’s “My Mom Jayne.”

Zach Cregger’s latest film "Weapons" is an unruly horror-comedy epic about the disappearance of small children in a small town. Nathan Weinbender says it’s strange, sick, funny and mostly surprising.