Thanks to a certain current blockbuster film, almost everyone is now familiar with J. Robert Oppenheimer, the so-called father of the atomic bomb. And while Christopher Nolan’s film starring Cillian Murphy does indeed touch upon the fact that Soviet spies worked alongside him at Los Alamos, what became of those spies is not discussed in “Oppenheimer.” However, “A Compassionate Spy,” the new documentary from Steve James (“Hoop Dreams"

As critics, we must review a film’s cinematic merit first and its politics second. In my film reviews and articles, I always try to do just that.  Alejandro Monteverde’s runaway box office hit “Sound of Freedom” wants the opposite. This is a film that wants viewers to focus on its politics first and any cinematic value second. Or maybe even third. Or maybe it is just interested in its own politics.

The screenplay (co-written by Rod Barr

At DC/DOX last June I saw “Kokomo City,” which details the lives of four Black trans sex workers facing multiple hardships. Director D. Smith, a trans woman and a Grammy nominee, spoke with me via phone during DC/DOX—and with the film now set to play in theaters this weekend, our conversation has been reposted.

How did you decide to make this documentary?

To do something like this, you really have

“Fear the Night” is a new action/thriller starring the always watchable Maggie Q as Tess, an alcoholic Iraq War veteran who is forced to battle violent and murderous home invaders.

With its well-worn action genre plot in place, the film becomes (occasionally) something more interesting than it should be thanks to its writer/director Neil LaBute.

LaBute was once

It’s not often that a film without superheroes or Tom Cruise leaping from cliffs is shown in IMAX, let alone on 70mm film stock (remember film?). “Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s much-anticipated, nearly three-hour solipsistic walk through J. Robert Oppenheimer’s complicated, extraordinary life demands to be seen on the largest screen possible: The IMAX experience not only makes the staging of the atomic bomb test that much more

“PRUNING” Director: Lola Blanc

In this psychological horror short, Madeline Brewer (“The Handmaid’s Tale”) stars as an agitprop right-wing commentator in the model of Tomi Lahren, who will seemingly press any button in order to generate outrage. “Pruning” shows that Brewer’s character knows better than to say what she does but still going ahead

Oh, to live in a time when there was almost always a Western playing at the local cinema. While the once respected genre has been almost completely put out to pasture, we are graced by the occasional treat of a new “oater”. Brian Skiba’s “Dead Man’s Hand” is the latest.

While filmmakers such as Kevin Costner and Walter Hill can still get their Western excursions in cinemas, 99% of today’s westerns are made

Given his notorious history of heists one might assume that Gerald Blanchard would stay out of sight. Or at least keep his mouth shut. Yet Blanchard’s narcissism, for it can be labeled as nothing else, will not allow him to stay mum about his life of crime. Thankfully, filmmaker Landon Van Soest gives Blanchard just enough rope to air out his dirty laundry for the whole world to enjoy in the new documentary “The Jewel Thief,” premiering this week on Hulu.

Ondi Timoner’s father Eli died in 2021 after an incredible career as a business executive. Even after a stroke in middle age—which resulted in his being exiled from the very airline he founded—Eli pressed on and lived his best life, leaving behind several children and grandchildren.

Eli’s final years were difficult as he was in constant pain and suffering from COPD and congestive heart failure.

The twenty five year-old title character in Carolina Cavelli’s debut feature “Amanda” is something of a heroine.

Played by Benedetta Porcaroli, Amanda is from an upper-middle-class family who are cold and seem to fear any semblance of emotion who are closed off from the world, safe in their country manor. Every relationship between the women of the family overflows with conflict.