"Anora," a film containing such graphic sexual content that it can arguably be categorized as pornographic, was honored as 2024's Best Picture at the 97th annual Academy Awards ceremony March 2. The movie's writer-director, Sean Baker, took home three other Oscars while Mikey Madison, who played the title role, won as Best Actress.
A globe-trotting adventure awaits in "Paddington in Peru" (Columbia), the third film in the series featuring the red hatted and blue duffle-coated talking bear (voice of Ben Whishaw) that kicked off in 2014.
The mind-control plot driving "Captain America: Brave New World" (Disney), the fourth film in the current series about the Marvel Comics character, drains it of any suspense. Whether that's a drawback, of course, depends on what viewers expect from such a movie.
Roses are red... and so is the flood of gore that mars the Valentine's Day-themed slasher flick "Heart Eyes" (Screen Gems). That's a shame because a more circumspect approach to mayhem might have made director Josh Ruben's film a reasonably engaging thriller.
Despite being billed as a romantic comedy, "You're Cordially Invited" (Amazon MGM) showcases more spite than genuine love. Throw in a heavy dose of off-color dialogue -- as well as some wayward values -- and the upshot is a mirthless, even dispiriting, experience.
The year just passed was an ordinary one for Hollywood. In a sense, that's good news since the film industry is still on the rebound from the pandemic and a double whammy of strikes.
Oregon, it can safely be said, features some of North America's most scenic landscapes. In the tense, hard-edged horror film "Wolf Man" (Universal), however, the Beaver State's natural beauty is contrasted with occult ugliness in a manner that only the sturdiest fans of the genre may find palatable.
Film buffs will easily recognize that the atmospheric horror yarn "Nosferatu" (Focus) is both a variation on and an homage to the eponymous 1922 silent genre classic helmed by F. W. Murnau. Unlike that foundational film, however, the newcomer is both artistically flawed and, ultimately, morally unbridled.
Timothée Chalamet convincingly portrays storied musician and songwriter Bob Dylan in "A Complete Unknown" (Searchlight), a well-crafted recreation of the early years of the iconic performer's career. Both mature subject matter and salty vocabulary, however, mark the film as suitable for older moviegoers only.
You don't have to be Dr. Dolittle to understand what the animals are saying in the musical adventure "Mufasa: The Lion King" (Disney). That's because director Barry Jenkins' prequel to the popular franchise uses the same technology employed in the 2019 remake of the 1994 animated kick-off of the series to enable them to talk.
