One of the more engaging figures in Ondi Timoner’s 2022 documentary, “The Last Flight Home” — about the decision of her 92-year-old father, Eli Timoner, to use California’s end-of-life option — was the director’s sister, Rachel. A rabbi, Rachel Timoner brought a pastoral warmth and spiritual insight to the sorrows and joys, rites and spiritual […]

The kid’s gonna be fine. It’s the parents who are not all right in “Spellbound,” a straight-to-Netflix computer-animated fairy tale with a smart concept (what’s a girl to do when her home life is shattered?) and its heart in the right place. If only the movie were transparent about its premise from the outset, as […]

Latino actors have long been outspoken about the types of roles they are frequently relegated to in most American productions: criminals, migrants, housekeepers. On that front, the romantic comedy “Say a Little Prayer” succeeds at defying the status quo by presenting professionally accomplished American Latino characters (who own enviable homes) in a plot that doesn’t […]

While most nonfiction filmmakers remove themselves from the narrative equation of their work, never explicitly addressing their personal investment nor including their image or voice on screen, Chinese documentarian Nanfu Wang has forged her career doing exactly the opposite. The way her narration factors into each of her features, she has enmeshed her own experiences […]

In “The Wizard of Oz,” there can be no doubt which witch is the worst witch: That would be the one with the army of flying monkeys, who melts upon contact with water. But in “Wicked,” the green-skinned spell-caster turns out to be far more sympathetic than Glinda, her ostensibly “good,” oppressively pink rival. Loosely […]

Hidden behind a strip of gay bars in downtown Palm Springs, an unmarked door opens into a modern-day speakeasy called The Evening Citizen. The walls are black, with dark velvet accents, and the lighting is low, except for a spotlight behind the bar that shines on the portrait of a man who could be the […]

If the Warner Bros. logo was a badge, as opposed to a shield, Clint Eastwood would be the man behind it: the tough, rule-bending guy who sticks to his guns, à la Harry Callahan. So why is the studio doing him dirty on “Juror No. 2,” Eastwood’s 40th — and quite possibly last — stint […]

Magical realism meets a grand family saga in “Pedro Páramo,” the directorial debut of cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto. As the man responsible for lighting and lensing countless renowned films — including “Barbie,” “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Brokeback Mountain” — Prieto brings a keen eye to one of Mexico’s most influential novels. A tale of […]