<em>Dune: Part Two</em> exceeds expectations in every way &mdash; except humanity ARTICLE

Dune: Part Two exceeds expectations in every way — except humanity

There’s something bracing about a blockbuster epic in 2024 that doesn’t care what you think of it, that is primarily concerned with being the best possible version of itself.

<em> Dune</em> and <em>The Lord of the Rings</em> POST

Dune and The Lord of the Rings

In my reviews of Dune: Part One and now Dune: Part Two (filed and pending publication; stay tuned!) I’ve written a bit comparing and contrasting Dune with Star Wars. Here I’d like to consider Star Wars in relation to The Lord of the Rings and J.R.R. Tolkien’s larger legendarium.

Ethan Hunt&rsquo;s second act and Tom Cruise&rsquo;s third: The unending impossible mission ARTICLE

Ethan Hunt’s second act and Tom Cruise’s third: The unending impossible mission

What the Mission: Impossible series discovers in this moment is this: Imperfect stunts can be more thrilling than perfect ones, and an unflappable superman who always knows exactly what to do and does it perfectly is less exciting than a fallible, vulnerable action hero — one who can be caught by surprise, who hesitates and has misgivings, who is forced to improvise, sometimes miscalculating and even getting hurt.

<em>Indiana Jones</em> movies and <em>Raiders of the Lost Ark</em>: Why the original still stands alone ARTICLE

Indiana Jones movies and Raiders of the Lost Ark: Why the original still stands alone

Eight years earlier, The Exorcist offered a gut-wrenching morality tale about, among other things, the spiritual dangers of messing around with Ouija boards and demons. The climax of Raiders offers a complementary warning about trifling with the no less terrible power of the holy.

The Lourdes Effect: <em>The Miracle Club</em> director Thaddeus O&rsquo;Sullivan on Irish trauma and miracles ARTICLE

The Lourdes Effect: The Miracle Club director Thaddeus O’Sullivan on Irish trauma and miracles

Laura Linney stars in an Irish comedy set in 1967 about a group of women confronting their past on a pilgrimage to Lourdes. The director talks about the trauma that Irish movies set in this timeframe tend deal with, and what he calls the “Lourdes Effect.”

An <em>Elemental</em> misstep: Does Pixar still need &mdash; or benefit from &mdash; anthropomorphic fantasy? ARTICLE

An Elemental misstep: Does Pixar still need — or benefit from — anthropomorphic fantasy?

What if the four elements had feelings? Pixar filmmaker Peter Sohn’s gentle, compassionate storytelling may have something to offer family audiences … if he can break away from what has become a rut in Pixar thinking.

<em>Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse</em> is an incomplete triumph ARTICLE

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is an incomplete triumph

What I can tell you at this point about Across the Spider-Verse is that I want to see it about ten more times.

A deep dive: <em>The Little Mermaid</em> then and now ARTICLE

A deep dive: The Little Mermaid then and now

There’s something profoundly melancholy about Disney returning, in its present state of creative exhaustion and corporate decadence, to The Little Mermaid — the nucleus from which the entire Disney renaissance exploded, in a way along with everything that has followed.

Science fiction and transcendence: <em>2001: A Space Odyssey</em> and the elusiveness of awe ARTICLE

Science fiction and transcendence: 2001: A Space Odyssey and the elusiveness of awe

Released 55 years ago, Stanley Kubrick’s iconic masterpiece — honored on the 1995 Vatican film list — has often been likened to “a religious experience.” Why do some of its successors capture this better than others?

The spirit of <em>Rocky</em> lives on in the <em>Creed</em> trilogy ARTICLE

The spirit of Rocky lives on in the Creed trilogy

Sports movies are among the most durable of genres, and nostalgia sequels and long-running franchises have become almost the norm for popular movies from the past half-century, but the legacy of Rocky is unique.