Take Two

A dark social satire from South Korea, “Parasite” was the winner of this year’s top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. Director Bong Joon-ho (“Okja”) is a leader of the Korean New Wave. Susan and Russ let us know if the film lives up to the hype.

Joaquin Phoenix portrays Batman’s mad nemesis in “Joker,” undoubtedly one of the more controversial and provocative movies of the year. This character study serves as an ultra-violent origin story. Writer/director Todd Phillips, who is best known for his broad comedies like “Old School” and the “Hangover” trilogy, makes an unorthodox approach in this drastic change […]

Fans of the PBS TV series “Downton Abbey” finally have a big screen to get their fix. In this episode that picks up where the series ended, the King of England travels to Downton to pay a visit. Most of the cast members have returned, including Hugh Bonneville, Michelle Dockery, Elizabeth McGovern and Maggie Smith. […]

Jennifer Lopez (TV’s “World of Dance”) and Constance Woo (“Crazy Rich Asians”) play strippers who rip off their Wall Street clients during the financial crisis of 2008 in the drama, “Hustlers.” Based on a true story, “Hustlers” was written and directed by Lorene Scafaria (“The Meddler”).

Renée Zellweger gets the role of a lifetime in “Judy,” the story of the last sad months in the life of entertainment legend, Judy Garland. The movie is an adaptation of the  Broadway play End of the Rainbowby Peter Quilter. The film also features Jessie Buckley, Finn Wittrock, Rufus Sewell and Michael Gambon in supporting roles and is directed by Rupert Goold (“True Story”).

Susan and Russ take a look at a documentary focusing on one of the most popular recording artists of all time. “Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice” is a musical overview of the singer whom Bonnie Raitt described as “the Beyonce of her day.” Talking heads include Raitt, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Peter Asher, […]

Comedian Jillian Bell (“Sword of Trust”) gives an impressive performance as an overweight Manhattan party girl who makes some dramatic lifestyle changes in the comic drama “Bittany Runs a Marathon.” The cast also includes Michaela Watkins (TV’s “Transparent”) and Lil Rel Howery (“Get Out”).

Two of America’s finest actresses offer an English language remake of an acclaimed 2006 Danish film, “After the Wedding. Michelle Williams (“Fosse/Verdon”) and Julianne Moore (“Gloria Bell”) star in the gender-flipped adaptation directed by Moore’s husband, Bart Freundlich (“The Myth of Fingerprints”).

Shia LaBeouf (“Transformers”), Dakota Johnson (“Fifty Shades of Grey”), Bruce Dern (“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”), John Hawkes (“Winter’s Bone”) and Thomas Hayden-Church (“Sideways”) are the ‘name’ cast members of “The Peanut Butter Falcon,” an indie drama from newcomers Tyler Nilson and Michael Schwartz. But the title role belongs to Zack Gottsagen, a newcomer […]

“Maiden” is a documentary about Tracy Edwards and the first all-female crew to enter the harrowing and dangerous Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race in 1989. Many thought they wouldn’t survive, let alone finish the grueling race.