Long before The Last of Us and Sonic the Hedgehog helped prove that video game adaptations could actually be good, the genre was a chaotic graveyard of misfires punctuated by the occasional sincere effort. Somewhere in that uneven era sat Christophe Gans’ Silent Hill (2006): an overstuffed, lore-heavy film that tried to juggle too much … Read more
There was a stretch of American history not so long ago when the country seemed unable to look away from the most harrowing stories involving children. The 1990s and early 2000s became a grim procession of names that still carry emotional weight: Jaycee Dugard, JonBenét Ramsey, Polly Klaas, Caylee Anthony, Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, Gina … Read more
The revival of Hijack for a second season, once again anchored by Idris Elba, arrives in a space that will feel familiar to anyone who’s spent time scrolling through prestige streaming originals. It’s sleek, assured in its craft, and periodically tense but also unmistakably designed for consumption rather than contemplation. This is television that goes … Read more
In the wake of the post-lockdown world, films that dwell on solitude and the quiet refuge of screens land with a new resonance. Albert Birney’s “OBEX,” though set in 1987 (a nod made clear by vintage TV spots for Nightmare on Elm Street), hums with the anxieties of our very recent past. The film empathizes … Read more
Adapted from Emily Henry’s wildly successful beach novel, People We Meet on Vacation arrives on Netflix as yet another glossy but hollow attempt to resuscitate the modern rom-com. The film unfolds through a fractured timeline, tracking the restless, high-energy travel writer Poppy (Emily Bader) as she realizes that the life she once dreamed of now … Read more
Dead Man’s Wire is rated R by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) for language throughout In 1977, Tony Kiritsis was running out of money and time. He’d fallen behind on mortgage payments for a property in Indianapolis that he dreamed of turning into an affordable shopping center for small, independent businesses. When he asked his … Read more
It’s hard not to feel a flicker of uneasy fascination when a stranger moves in next door, especially if you live miles from anyone else, and especially if a small, insistent voice in your head begins whispering that this man might once have ruled the Third Reich. My Neighbor Adolf opens on that unnerving premise … Read more