Film/TV

James Le Gros (left) and Lily Collias in writer-director India Donaldson's "Good One." (Courtesy Metrograph Pictures)

Fantastic film 'Good One' captures the disappointments of adulthood

Writer-director India Donaldson's deceptively simple debut feature sees a 17-year-old girl on a weekend camping trip in the Catskills with her controlling father and his shambling wreck of a best...

Arts & Culture

Aug 15, 2024

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively in "It Ends with Us." (Courtesy Nicole Rivelli/Sony Pictures Entertainment)

'It Ends with Us' is a soapy fantasy of heartbreak and resilience

Director-star Justin Baldoni’s hotly anticipated adaptation of Colleen Hoover’s beloved bestseller stars Blake Lively as a Boston florist caught in a toxic relationship. The film "leans shamelessly — and not...

Arts & Culture

Aug 8, 2024

Matt Damon and Casey Affleck in "The Instigators." (Courtesy Apple TV+)

Despite the star-studded cast, heist comedy 'The Instigators' falls flat

Director Doug Liman's Boston-set film stars Matt Damon and Casey Affleck as a couple of knuckleheads thrown together for a poorly planned heist job. "Sometimes a movie can have all...

Arts & Culture

Aug 1, 2024

Izaac Wang in writer-director Sean Wang's "Dìdi." (Courtesy Focus Features/Talking Fish Pictures, LLC)

Sean Wang's 'Dìdi' is a wise and funny coming-of-age film

The writer-director's heartfelt and all-too-true tale follows a 13-year-old boy named Chris during the seemingly endless summer before high school begins. The film is set in 2008 in a predominantly...

Arts & Culture

Jul 31, 2024

A still from director Agnieszka Holland's film "Green Border." (Agata Kubis/Kino Lorber)

'Green Border' is a harrowing depiction of Poland's migrant crisis

Director Agnieszka Holland’s film is a "harrowing yet unexpectedly hopeful in its depiction of human decency during the direst of circumstances," writes critic Sean Burns.

Arts & Culture

Jul 25, 2024

Director Sofia Coppola with Rashida Jones and Bill Murray on the set of "On the Rocks." (Courtesy Apple TV+)

The Brattle celebrates summer with Sofia Coppola retrospective

From the staggeringly assured "The Virgin Suicides" to the dream-like "Lost in Translation," the series features all eight of the director's films, screening every Wednesday from July 24 through Aug....

Arts & Culture

Jul 23, 2024

From left, Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell in "Twisters." (Courtesy Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Amblin Entertainment)

'Twisters' is 'pretty good' for what it is

The “Twister” sequel stars Daisy Edgar-Jones and Glen Powell as a scientist and YouTuber whose teams collide while chasing storms. Film critic Sean Burns writes its "certainly an improvement on...

Arts & Culture

Jul 18, 2024

The cover of Susan Seidelman's new memoir "Desperately Seeking Something." (Courtesy St. Martin's Press)

'Desperately Seeking Susan' director Susan Seidelman reflects on her singular career

Seidelman shares anecdotes from her life in her new memoir "Desperately Seeking Something." She will be at the Brattle Theatre on Thursday, July 18, to sign copies and talk about...

Arts & Culture

Jul 17, 2024

"American Gigolo," starring Richard Gere, kicks off “Hot Summer Nights,” a six-week retrospective showcasing nearly 30 steamy movies from the 1980s and ‘90s. (Courtesy IFFBoston)

IFFBoston is bringing sexy back to the Somerville Theatre

“Hot Summer Nights” is a six-week retrospective showcasing nearly 30 steamy movies from the 1980s and ‘90s, back when sex was still a selling point for mainstream studio pictures.

Arts & Culture

Jul 10, 2024

The West Newton Cinema, pictured in 2020. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

West Newton Cinema has officially been saved

The West Newton Cinema Foundation drummed up $5.6 million to purchase the movie theater ahead of the Aug. 10 deadline set by the developer that purchased the property.

Arts & Culture

Jul 1, 2024

Left: Dakota Johnson in director Christy Hall’s “Daddio." (Courtesy Phedon Papamichael/Sony Pictures Classics) Right: Zoe Ziegler and Julianne Nicholson in director Annie Baker's "Janet Planet." (Courtesy A24)

'Janet Planet' and 'Daddio' mark the arrival of serious cinematic talents

Two movies by female playwrights making their directorial debuts open in the Boston area this weekend. "Janet Planet” is the first film from Pulitzer Prize-winner (and Amherst’s own) Annie Baker,...

Arts & Culture

Jun 27, 2024

Singer Luther Vandross performs at the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois in 1987. (Raymond Boyd/Getty Images)

What to watch at Roxbury International Film Fest, a celebration of people of color

In its 26th year, the festival offers 10 days of film screenings, panel discussions, live script readings and filmmaker hangouts. "We want to uplift voices, individual stories and organizations that...

Arts & Culture

Jun 19, 2024

A still from Crosby Tatum's film “The People, United." (Courtesy Crosby Tatum/Triceptus Studios)

7 film festivals to check out this summer

From the Woods Hole to Roxbury, WBUR film critic Erin Trahan shares options for uniting around independent film in Greater Boston and beyond this summer.

Arts & Culture

Jun 11, 2024

Keanu Reeves and River Phoenix in Gus Van Sant's 1991 film "My Own Private Idaho." (Courtesy Fine Line/Photofest)

The Coolidge celebrates Pride month with queer film retrospective

Co-presented with Wicked Queer, the theater takes a look back at six trailblazing titles from the 1990s New Queer Cinema. "Scrappy, confrontational and blessedly unconcerned with respectability politics, these pictures...

Arts & Culture

Jun 3, 2024

The Coolidge Corner Theatre on Harvard Street in Brookline. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)

Coolidge Corner Theatre staff plan to unionize

Employees at the historic Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline have announced plans to unionize. Concessions and box office workers cite inadequate wages, no benefits, and a lack of clear communication...

Arts & Culture

May 30, 2024

Anya Taylor-Joy in George Miller’s “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga." (Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures)

'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga' is stranger and more sorrowful than its predecessor

George Miller's new film is a sprawling, 148-minute picaresque split into five chapters spanning 20 years in the life of the title character. It replaces the high-octane excitement of "Mad...

Arts & Culture

May 23, 2024

Ethan and Maya Hawke on the set of "Wildcat." (Courtesy Oscilloscope Laboratories)

Ethan Hawke on his film 'Wildcat' and making a life in the arts

The actor will be at the Coolidge Corner Theatre May 23 and 24 with his film "Wildcat" starring his daughter Maya Hawke as writer Flannery O’Connor. WBUR critic Sean Burns...

Arts & Culture

May 22, 2024

Lisa Rivo, left, and Sharon Pucker Rivo at the National Center for Jewish Film. (Erin Trahan for WBUR)

Mother-daughter duo preserves — and exhibits — endangered Jewish films

National Center for Jewish Film co-founder Sharon Pucker Rivo began collecting and preserving films related to the Jewish experience in 1976. Her daughter Lisa Rivo joined in 2006, and each...

Arts & Culture

May 10, 2024

Writer-director Jane Schoenbrun on the set of "I Saw the TV Glow." (Courtesy A24)

Writer-director Jane Schoenbrun honored as Coolidge's Breakthrough Artist

The filmmaker, who will receive the award Saturday, May 11, interrogates not just the roles screens play in our lives but the roles we play while projecting ourselves onto them,...

Arts & Culture

May 9, 2024

A still from "Evil Does Not Exist." (Courtesy Sideshow/Janus Films)

'Evil Does Not Exist' explores the disharmony in our relationship to nature

On the surface, director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi's film is a story about a close-knit forest community outside of Tokyo that comes together to try and fight off a “glamping” site being...

Arts & Culture

May 8, 2024