This biopic about the life and career of Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, a Mexican-American singer who was tragically killed at the age of 23, feels too reverential for its own good. But it has a lot of heart and energy, and a wonderful star-making performance by Jennifer Lopez.
This uplifting movie about an aspiring country singer has all the requisite tropes – scrappy origins, raw talent, inner demons and hard-won redemption – but manages to soar thanks to some different story beats and an electrifying performance from Jessie Buckley.
I’m not sure why I seem to be onboard the horror movie train right now, but I’m enjoying the ride! This 1982 sci-fi horror classic from director John Carpenter takes the old “scariest thing is what you don’t see” wisdom and rubs its face in blood and guts.
After Don’t Look Now, I was clearly in the mood for more 1970s horror movies with twist endings starring Donald Sutherland. Though this one is more of a straightforward sci-fi, with a lot more alien goo and Leonard Nimoy.
A haunting adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s novella, Don’t Look Now only turns into true chilling horror during its shocking conclusion, but that’s not to diminish the film’s ability to get under your skin (and make Venice, of all places, feel truly creepy).
“Man buys a sex doll on the internet” is an unlikely premise for a sweet, affecting and life-affirming story, but this quirky movie with early-day Ryan Gosling (before the world decided he was hot) somehow pulls it off.
I felt like something different, and this deeply strange and haunting 1972 film by Werner Herzog about the doomed 16th-century expedition into the Peruvian rain forest definitely hit the spot. It’s the kind of film that you’re never sure you liked in the conventional sense, but one that gets under your skin.
