“Sometimes it was overwhelming in all the best of ways. There was just so much possibility. When you’re just in the zone and in there with your camera, you have to take the opportunity to trust your eye as a filmmaker.”
– Olympic Dreams director Jeremy Teicher

The first narrative feature to be allowed to shoot inside the Olympic Athletes Village, Olympic Dreams is a strong, emotionally-pure indie drama that took my breath away.

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is more than a historical romance. It is more than a feminist drama drawing a metaphorical line from the distant past to the here and now.

This Little Women kept me on my toes, and even though I’ve read Alcott’s novel multiple times and have watched Armstrong’s sublime adaptation on numerous occasions, I still felt like I was experiencing this tale for the first time while watching Gerwig’s film.

Queen & Slim is a nightmare romantic thriller ripped straight out of today’s headlines

Last Christmas has the potential to make a lasting imprint with a lot of viewers, and even if my heart wasn’t always into it that doesn’t mean I’m ready to dismiss the film entirely.

While I didn’t like Playing with Fire the kids in the audience did. Maybe that’s enough.

I had a great time watching Maleficent: Mistress of Evil come to such vibrant, colorfully intoxicating life, and as magic tricks go this is one moribund franchise I’m glad to say has risen from the ashes of its predecessor and found fiery new life as its own, captivatingly idiosyncratic animal.

Outside of its Academy Award-nominated theme song (beautifully sung by Lionel Richie and Diana Ross), I will never understand the enduring appeal of 1981’s Endless Love. It is an anemic adaptation of Scott Spencer’s novel, and in my opinion is arguably the worst motion picture the great Franco Zeffirelli ever directed.