The Chinese title of Jia Zhangke’s mesmerizing “Caught by the Tides,” a masterfully poetic and pioneering fusion of the old and the new, can be translated in several ways. Jia himself suggests “The Drifting Generation,” but it can also mean “The Romantic Generation” with the etymology of “romantic” lying in the Chinese words for wind […]

In the Canadian cities of Montreal and Winnipeg, a futile tension exists between French and English speakers — doubly silly, since the country is officially bilingual. In his gently satirical “Universal Language,” writer-director Matthew Rankin imagines a rather fanciful solution, where Farsi is now the region’s dominant tongue. Taking his cues from such Iranian classics […]

"Scénarios" has the feel of a minor but purefied late-period work, like a Matisse paper cutout. What’s fascinating about it is that this one is explicitly offered as a summing-up statement from Godard to the world. He completed work on "Scénarios" the day before he died, and watching the film now it’s like seeing a message from the beyond.

With science denialism and theocratic politics both on the rise, it’s an opportune moment to revisit the life of Galileo Galilei, whose discoveries about the cosmos four centuries ago were considered a threat to the authority of the Catholic Church. But there are probably better ways to broach the subject than “Galileo: A Rock Musical,” […]

Closer in tone to the sharp adult series “BoJack Horseman” than to Illumination’s bland “Sing” franchise, Netflix’s “Thelma the Unicorn” avoids being rendered completely unoriginal by its overly familiar premise thanks to consistent splashes of acid humor and a plethora of wacky supporting characters. Reimagined from the popular 2015 children’s book by Aaron Blabey, this […]

Straying from the hotheaded “Taxi Driver” style that has dominated much of his career, Paul Schrader pays ruminative and respectful tribute to his late friend, novelist Russell Banks, who gave the writer-director the raw material for one of his best films, “Affliction” — and now, for one of his best films in years. Adapted from […]

Memo to anyone who “isn’t really into the Dead” but has been cajoled by a friend or loved one into attending an upcoming Dead & Company concert, as a plus-one: Your chances of enjoying the show just went up by approximately 10,000%. Let’s not stop there, though. If you’re a faithful Deadhead with tickets for […]

When Zayn Malik introduced himself as a member of One Direction — one of the most popular boy bands in history — he did so under the guise of being the broody and mysterious one. The Bradford-born singer very rarely spoke at length in interviews, and was the first to announce his departure from the […]

A hot, strong summer wind is the overriding soundtrack to “Three Kilometers to the End of the World” — the kind of dry, whirring weather that swallows conversations held even a short distance away, and carries stray, light objects far from where they meant to land. For 17-year-old Adi, however, it’s not loud enough to […]

The transgender subjects of “The Belle from Gaza” speak with a disarming frankness. This in turn implies the approachable and intimate nature of its production, but any dangers posed to its subjects — the risk of revealing their identities or drawing too much local attention — is verbalized far more than it’s depicted or felt. […]

Chronicling the eponymous Navy flight squadron across a season of demonstrations, “The Blue Angels” easily ranks near the top of the many Hollywood films to be considered “military propaganda” for their glowing depiction of the activities of U.S. men and women in uniform. Whether or not that’s a good thing may come down to one’s […]

(Baby) It’s cold outside. Strings of gaudy rainbow lights twinkle from gables. In cozy living rooms, grandmothers and great aunts doze in their chairs while middle-aged siblings bicker and booze it up around the dining table. Little kids squirm in makeshift beds trying to stay awake for Santa, while truculent teenagers sneak out into the […]

A radical vision of Indian womanhood collides with scattered storytelling in director Konstantin Bojanov’s “The Shameless,” a provocative queer drama laid low by its oblique narrative. Following two women destined for a life of sex work, the drama is lucid in its politics, but often opaque in its drama — a dynamic embodied by two […]

If the best revenge is living well, it is a truism that has not yet taken root for Hamid (a riveting Adam Bessa), the dark, scarred heart of Jonathan Millet’s brooding, gripping “Ghost Trail.” Outside his soon-to-be-revealed mission, Hamid barely has a life at all, placing him firmly in the genre tradition of the taciturn, […]

What a great season for music this is, if you’re someone who has an old-fashioned thing for albums that really feel like albums. And it’s not because of any wave of old-timers ganging up with each other to show off their concept-record chops. It’s a trifecta of megastar divas who really want you to hear […]

There’s a place in the world, and sometimes a vital one, for a movie like "Bird," which recalls the spirit of early Arnold films like "Fish Tank." So forgive me if I say that Arnold isn’t just making a coming-of-age drama of lost lives — she’s mainlining neorealist glumness.

While much attention is paid to the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panther Party hasn’t been as closely examined in popular culture. Apple TV+’s “The Big Cigar” is adapted from Joshuah Bearman’s 2012 article of the same name. (Bearman also penned the 2007 article that Ben Affleck’s 2012 film, “Argo” was based on.) The series […]

A chilling historical drama rendered with impeccable sleight of hand, Rithy Panh’s “Rendez-vous avec Pol Pot” (“Meeting With Pol Pot”) reveals its political dimensions through layers of obfuscation. While based partially on real events (and on the writings of American war journalist Elizabeth Becker), it crafts a fictitious tale of three French journalists attempting to […]

In the long-gestating, career-encompassing allegory that is “Megalopolis,” director Francis Ford Coppola puts his name above the title and, in the film’s lone act of modesty, the words “A Fable” beneath it. To call this garish, idea-bloated monstrosity a mere “fable” is to grossly undersell the project’s expansive insights into art, life and legacy. Here, […]