Weekend Film Reviews

After decades of unsuccessful attempts to catch Roadrunner using anvils, jet packs, and rockets strapped to roller skates, Wile E. Coyote (caninus litigious) has a new weapon in his arsenal: #BigLaw. But Mr. Coyote is now directing his ire toward the Acme Corporation, which manufactures said devices that always seem to literally blow up in his face. Shawn Edwards, film critic at Fox4 News in Kansas City, says this movie couldn’t have come out at a better time. “Is this movie about Acme, or is this movie about Amazon? I mean, you really can’t tell the difference,” Edwards says. “It’s fun, it’s lively, the animation works, and it totally pulls you into that world.”   “I think it is okay, but I don’t love it,” says Tim Grierson, senior U.S. critic for Screen International. “The live-action actors, Will Forte, and the evil lawyer for the Acme Corporation who's played by John Cena, they're not quite as fun as their animated co-stars,” Grierson says. “The movie eventually becomes kind of a conspiracy/thriller thing where they try to actually prove that Acme's products are ineffective. I think that plot doesn't work so well.”   Edwards and Grierson also review The Dog Stars, Idiots, Buddy, and remember actor Tim Curry, who died this week at the age of 80.  

It’s rarely a good sign if you’ve devoted hours to a horror franchise and you still aren’t sure what it’s about. But film critic Alonso Duralde gave it a try with Insidious: Out of The Further. “I’ve seen five of the six Insidious movies, and I feel like I still couldn’t pass a pop quiz about what ‘The Further’ is and how it works,” says Duralde, the co-host of the podcast Linoleum Knife. “It is a kind of twisted purgatory for people who aren’t able to move on to whatever the next plane of existence is, and it is constantly causing trouble for the protagonists of the Insidious movies.” But Duralde’s Linoleum Knife co-host Dave White says that actually works in this latest installment’s favor. “People might wonder, ‘How do I drop into a Part 6 of something?’ The film succeeds best, I think, in the earlier acts where the confusion is part of the terror,” White says. “We don’t know why this is happening to these people, we don’t know what’s coming next, and that provides scenes of genuine fright.” Duralde and White also review It Ends, Franz, and American Doctor.  

There are a few indispensable ingredients in any stoner flick worth its weight in weed. After drug-addled antics, the most important ingredient could be the friends we made along the way. Cheech and Chong. The Dude and Walter. Harold and Kumar. Stoner comedies seem to always follow a pair of buddies – and those buddies are usually men. That’s not true of The Wrong Girls, which stars Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat as BFFs who get high enough to communicate with their cats. The duo “are perfect,” says Witney Seibold, senior writer for SlashFilm. “I am convinced that there is nothing Kristen Stewart cannot do. If she is starring as the Cheech in a Cheech and Chong comedy, and pulling it off with aplomb, then she’s kind of stretched to every corner of her talents.” Writer and director Dylan Meyer is also Kristen Stewart’s wife. “The film really has this feel of [being made by] people who know what Kristen Stewart can do, who know that Kristen Stewart at home is a gigantic goofball,” says Amy Nicholson, film critic for the Los Angeles Times. Only the cats, voiced by Kumail Nanjiani and Seth Rogen, harshed her buzz. “These cats are talking way too much,” Nicholson says. Seibold and Nicholson also review The End of Oak Street, Union County, and Nimrods.

Anthony Bourdain swears that he used to be unlikeable. That’s hard to believe for many fans of the late celebrity chef, but he wrote frankly about that period of his life in his best-selling memoir, Kitchen Confidential. The biopic Tony looks at the year he spent in Provincetown, Massachusetts, learning how to show up to work on time and, slowly, how to cook. His brattiness is key to the success of the movie, according to William Bibbiani, film critic for the Wrap. Tony is “not all about how amazing the subject was,” he says, adding that “what makes it work is how unafraid Dominic Sessa is to be unlikeable as a character who, later in life, we would pretty much all like.” It’s unclear if Bourdain would have liked the movie, though. “Anthony Bourdain had a complicated relationship to his own celebrity, and the movie probably has a complicated relationship to that as well,” says Alissa Wilkinson, film critic for the New York Times.  Bibbiani and Wilkinson also review One Night Only, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, and White Nights. 

Gregg Araki is one of the most important directors in the New Queer Cinema, the 1990s film movement that put daring and dark LGBTQ stories onscreen and produced household names like Gus Van Sant and Todd Haynes. Araki’s movies The Living End and Doom Generation followed cynical queer teenagers as they wrestled with sex and death in an America that didn’t want or understand them. I Want Your Sex is about a new doom generation – Z, not X. Olivia Wilde plays a boundary-pushing artist who starts a kinky affair with her new employee, a recent college graduate played by Cooper Hoffman. “It’s a really funny movie,” says Alison Willmore, film critic for New York magazine. “Olivia Wilde leans into the most fun, diva aspects of her character.” Shawn Edwards, film critic for Fox 4 News in Kansas City, felt I Want Your Sex wanted to be “too many things” at once to work. “At only 90 minutes, it just felt way too long,” Edwards says. “The juvenile tone just hampered everything.”  

Luis Valdez is widely known as the Godfather of Chicano theater. He directed the 1987 movie 'La Bamba' and the 1981 film 'Zoot Suit.' But Valdez also founded El Teatro Campesino, the in-house theater troupe for the United Farm Workers. His life is now the subject of a new documentary, ‘American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez.’ Film critics Dave White and Alonso Duralde call the film a “well-deserved victory lap.” The pair also review 'Her Private Hell,' 'Motor City,' and 'Sheep in the Box.'

'The Odyssey' discourse has been hard to escape ever since the cast was first announced early 2025. The film finally hits theaters this weekend, but does it live up to Homer’s epic poem? “If you're going to make a film about that work … it has to have such scale and it absolutely does,” says film critic Tim Grierson. Co-critic Angelica Jade Bastién adds “it's a very fascinating film that sometimes touches greatness, but it doesn't quite get there.” The pair also review 'Reading Lolita in Tehran,' 'Horsegirls' and 'Remake.'

'Moana' is the latest Disney movie to get the live-action treatment. Unfortunately, everything about the remake “feels artificial” for our film critics Witney Seibold and Katie Walsh. The pair also share their reviews of 'Night Nurse,' 'Evil Dead Burn,' and 'Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass.'

The Minions franchise keeps growing with its latest installment Minions and Monsters. The film follows the yellow friends as they try to make a monster movie with real monsters. Chaos ensues, but is it a hit? Film critics Christy Lemire and William Bibbiani share their review. Plus: Enola Holmes 3, Young Washington, and Romeria.

Johnny Knoxville and his band of misfits return to the big screen for one more round of gross and outrageous stunts in 'Jackass: Best and Last.' Film critics Alissa Wilkinson and Amy Nicholson review the fifth and last film in the series. Plus: 'Supergirl,' 'The Invite,' and 'Maddie’s Secret.'

Move over, Evil Emperor Zurg, Sworn Enemy of The Galactic Alliance. The latest Toy Story villain is an electronic tablet stealing a child's attention from her toys.

In Disclosure Day, a government whistleblower and a local journalist race to expose the existence of aliens and the conspiracy to cover it up. Shawn Edwards, film critic for FOX4 News in Kansas City and co-founder of the African American Film Critics Association, calls this the third act in Spielberg's “space invaders” trilogy, dating back to Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial. “Unlike those two previous films, Disclosure Day has much loftier ambitions, and Spielberg, who’s the master of making small stories ginormously big, doesn’t quite stick the landing,” Edwards says. “It isn’t groundbreaking, but it works for the images you see on screen.” Angelica Jade Bastién, film critic for New York Magazine, loved it. “I thought it balanced action with a spiritual and existential curiosity,” Bastién says. “I found it visually elegant, and one of the greatest aspects of the movie to me is it reawakened my belief in what a good blockbuster can do.” They also review The Furious, Find Your Friends, and The Little Sister.  

'Masters of the Universe' is Mattel’s latest adaptation. The company is banking on the film to be a big hit like 'Barbie,' but critics Alison Willmore and Tim Grierson say He-Man’s return is a big mess. Plus 'Scary Movie,' 'Carolina Caroline,' and 'The Currents.'

The new World War II movie 'Pressure' tells the true, but not well known story of a British meteorologist who tries to predict the weather ahead of D-Day and warns Eisenhower of a pending storm. Does it add anything to the World War II film canon or is it a bust? Film critics Alonso Duralde and Dave White share their review. Plus, 'Backrooms,' 'Power Ballad,' and 'The Last Viking.'

'The Mandolorian and Grogu' is the first 'Star Wars' film in seven years to play in theaters. Will Baby Yoda (aka Grogu) be enough to pull in audiences? Film critics Shawn Edwards and Katie Walsh review the film. Plus 'Saccharine', 'I Love Boosters,' and 'Tuner.'

In the new film 'Is God Is,' two sisters are sent by their mother on a mission to kill their abusive father. Film critics Witney Seibold and William Bibbiani dub the directorial debut from Aleshea Harris "bold and exciting." Plus: 'The Wizard of the Kremlin,' 'Decorado,' and 'Obsession.'

Angelica Jade Bastién and Alissa Wilkinson review 'Billie Eilish - Hit Me Hard and Soft: The Tour (Live in 3D),' 'Sheep Detectives,' 'Maintenance Artist,' and 'Mortal Kombat 2.'

'The Devil Wears Prada' hit theaters 20 years ago and the sequel is finally here. Does it still capture the magic that made the first movie so iconic? Film critics Alonso Duralde and Dave White review the film along with 'Hokum,' 'The School Duel' and 'Two Pianos.'

The new Michael Jackson biopic follows the pop superstar from his youth until his late ‘80s tour for his hit album, “Bad.” Michael’s family and his estate were heavily involved in making the film and the King of Pop is even played by his real-life nephew, Jafaar Jackson. Tim Grierson and Christy Lemire share their verdict on the film. Plus: 'I Swear,' 'Blue Heron,' and 'Over Your Dead Body.'

In the new drama ‘Erupcja,’ Bethany (played by Charli XCX) breaks away from her boyfriend’s romantic vacation plans to reunite with an old friend. Sapphic chaos ensues. Film critics Alison Willmore and Witney Seibold review the film along with 'Lee Cronin’s The Mummy,' 'Normal,' and 'Mother Mary.'

What if you were stuck in an endless subway tunnel with no clear way out? That’s the premise of the new liminal horror movie ‘Exit 8.’ Film critics Alissa Wilkinson and William Bibbiani review the film calling it the “best video game adaptation,” full stop. Plus 'Faces of Death,' 'The Christophers,' and 'Hamlet.'

Film critics Tim Grierson and Shawn Edwards review the latest releases: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, The Drama, Yes, and Kontinental ‘25.

In 'Forbidden Fruits,' a new hire at a mall store joins a secret witch cult run by her co-workers. The film is part 'Mean Girls,' part satire on faux feminist sisterhood, and part horror. Does it work? Film critics Christy Lemire and Angelica Jade Bastién review the film along with 'They Will Kill You,' 'Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice,' and 'Alpha.'

In ‘Project Hail Mary,’ Ryan Gosling plays a science teacher who travels to space to stop an alien microorganism from consuming the sun. Film critics Dave White and Alonso Duralde review the sci-fi flick based on Andy Weir’s best selling novel. Plus: 'Ready or Not 2: Here I Come,' 'Late Shift,' and 'Miroirs No. 3.' 

In A24’s ‘Undertone’ a paranormal podcast host receives ten creepy recordings from an anonymous source. Film critics Alissa Wilkinson and William Bibbiani review the new horror film along with 'Reminders of Him' and 'Slanted.'  Plus, the two share their take on who will win Best Picture at the Oscars this weekend. 

Flying sharks, animal kings, pond rules. The new animated Pixar film ‘Hoppers’ channels Looney Tunes energy. Alison Willmore and Witney Seibold review the film along with ‘The Bride!’, ‘Dolly,’ and ‘Heel.’  

The 'Scream' franchise started 30 years ago as a clever take on horror movies, but the latest sequel just isn’t that interesting. Film critics Alonso Duralde and Dave White review 'Scream 7,' 'Dreams,' 'A Body to Live In,' and 'Space Cowboy.'

Film critics Tim Grierson and Jourdain Searles review How to Make a Killing, Midwinter Break, Redux Redux, and Kokuho. 

Is Wuthering Heights worthy of your Valentine's Day weekend plans? Film critics William Bibbiani and Angelica Jade Bastién review the film along with Crime 101, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die, and By Design. 

Film critics Alison Wilmore and Alissa Wilkinson review Dracula, Pillion, A Useful Ghost and The President’s Cake.

Film critics Alonso Duralde and Dave White review the dark comedy Send Help, Charli XCX’s highly anticipated mockumentary The Moment, the European thriller Islands, and the Columbian fable A Poet.

The animated sci-fi film Arco tells the story of a boy from a peaceful future who travels back in time to the year 2075 to find a world in danger. Critics Shawn Edwards and Witney Seibold review the Oscar nominated movie. Plus: H Is for Hawk starring Claire Foy, the AI thriller Mercy, and the German drama Sound of Falling. 

Ralph Fiennes returns as Dr. Ian Kelson in the brutally gory 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple. It's the latest installment in the post-apocalyptic 28 Days Later franchise. Film critics Amy Nicholson and Christy Lemire both agree it's not for the squeamish. The pair also review Night Patrol, a movie that imagines the LAPD as vampires, and French language films A Private Life and Young Mothers.

Gerard Butler returns to a post apocalyptic world in Greenland 2: Migration as a dad on a mission to protect his family. The first film came out in 2020 during COVID. Was the sequel worth the wait? Film critics Tim Grierson and Witney Seibold review the film along with Primate, Dead Man’s Wire, and All That’s Left of You.

Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson star in Song Sung Blue as two down on their luck musicians who form a Neil Diamond tribute band. Film critics Dave White and Alonso Duralde both agree even if you don't care about the music, you just might get swept away. The duo also review Marty Supreme starring Timothée Chalamet, The Testament of Ann Lee, and the Korean thriller No Other Choice.

The Housemaid, starring Sydney Sweeney and Amanda Seyfried, has it all. Hunky husband, hot maid, and an unhinged wife. What could possibly go wrong?  Film critics Monica Castillo and Katie Walsh review the new thriller from director Paul Feig. Plus: Avatar: Fire and Ash, Is This Thing On? and The Voice of Hind Rajab. 

Dust Bunny, starring Mads Mikkelsen and Sigourney Weaver, is billed as a family-friendly horror movie...if that's even a thing. Film critics Shawn Edwards and Alison Willmore share their take on the movie along with Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, Ella McCay, and Scarlet.

Film critics Witney Seibold and Tim Grierson review the latest releases: Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, The Chronology of Water, The Secret Agent, and Fackham Hall.

Film critics Alonso Duralde and Dave White review Hamnet, BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions, The Things You Kill, and Palestine 36. 

Film critics Amy Nicholson and William Bibbiani review Wicked: For Good, Sisu: Road to Revenge, Rental Family, and Reflection in a Dead Diamond.

A new Noah Baumbach movie tries to channel Federico Fellini with a story about an aging movie star questioning his life choices.

Oscar bait, and a surprisingly good Predator sequel. Witney Seibold and Christy Lemire weigh in on this week's releases.

Some people complain movies are too simple these days. A new Dracula adaptation is an exception.

Shawn Edwards and Katie Walsh review Bugonia, Hedda, Shelby Oaks and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere.

Film critics Amy Nicholson and Monica Castillo review the latest releases: Black Phone 2, Frankenstein, The Mastermind, Good Fortune and It Was Just an Accident. 

Film critics Witney Seibold and Alison Willmore review the latest film releases: Tron: Ares, Orwell: 2+2=5, After the Hunt, and A House of Dynamite.

Film critics William Bibbiani and Christy Lemire review the latest film releases: The Smashing Machine, Are We Good, Play Dirty, and Good Boy.

Critics Tim Grierson and Shawn Edwards review the latest film releases: One Battle After Another, Eleanor the Great, Predators, and Dead of Winter.  

The latest film releases include Him, A Big Bold Beautiful Journey, Where to Land, and Happyend. Weighing in are Alonso Duralde and Dave White, film critics and co-hosts of the movie podcast Linoleum Knife.

The latest film releases include The Long Walk, The History of Sound, Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale, and Spinal Tap 2: The End Continues. Weighing in are Katie Walsh, film reviewer for the Tribune News Service and the Los Angeles Times, and Witney Seibold, senior writer at SlashFilm and co-host of the podcast Critically Acclaimed Network.