‘Cruel Intentions’ (1999) a timeless manipulation story
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): The standout young cast also makes the film a tasty time capsule of 1999.
Teen Drama
‘Cruel Intentions’ (1999) a timeless manipulation story
Jonah Hill creates beautifully ugly, sometimes harrowing time capsule of the ‘mid90s’ (Movie review)
The brilliance of “mid90s” (2018), now available on Amazon Prime, is in the details. Writer-director Jonah Hill, known for his comedic acting roles, grew up in this time, and he has a great ear for […]
‘Marvel’s Cloak & Dagger’ Season 2 wades into murky drug war
First episode impressions (TV review): The strong title characters carry “Cloak & Dagger” into dark territory.
‘Varsity Blues’ (1999) smartly parodies teen sports flicks
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): “Friday Night Lights” didn’t become a movie until 2004, yet 1999’s “Varsity Blues” plays like a sharp parody of it.
Despite being from her point of view, ‘Summer ’03’ keeps teen’s world at a timid distance (Movie review)
“Summer ’03” (2018) had the misfortune of coming out the same year as “Eighth Grade,” which showed new blood can be wrung from the stone of coming-of-age dramedies. Stacked against other entries in the genre […]
John’s top 10 movies of 2018
The dominant genre of 2018 continued to be superheroes; even with the “X-Men” Universe and DC Extended Universe releasing only one film each, the three Marvel Cinematic Universe movies were impossible to overlook. Still, this […]
Moretz shines in ‘The Miseducation of Cameron Post,’ a portrait of a recent time that seems long ago (Movie review)
Politics follow predictable historical cycles, but even political science experts must be amazed by how quickly mainstream public opinion has switched from “Gay people have a problem that needs to be fixed” to “Someone’s sexual […]
Can we talk for a moment about how the heroes on ‘Chilling Adventures of Sabrina’ are Satan worshipers?
TV review: It’s fascinating how much this Netflix comic adaptation is allowed to get away with in Season 1.
‘Big Mouth’ is the next iteration of Things You Can Do on Television – and it’s also darn funny (TV review)
Netflix’s “Big Mouth” – which recently released its second season — marks the latest sea change in Things You Can Do on Television, as it chronicles 12- and 13-year-olds entering puberty. But unlike “The Simpsons” […]
First episode impressions: ‘All American’ (TV review)
In “All American” (9 p.m. Eastern Wednesdays on The CW), Spencer James (Daniel Ezra) gets a chance to move from gang territory to a safe neighborhood to play football, coached by a former NFL player, […]