"Poor Things," rich text

Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things.

My Washington City Paper review of Yorgos Lanthimos’s Poor Things, one of 2023’s most rewarding films, is here.

"Napoleon:" Not Dynamite!

Once more into the breach. (Apple)

Sir Ridley Scott, the tireless 85-year-old director of two sci-fi landmarks, a classic feminist road movie, one Best Picture-winning epic and a lot of other stuff, has notched another middling megaproduction with Napoleon. My Washington City Paper review is here.

Stuck Like a Pig: "Fat Ham," reviewed.

Greg Alverez Reid and Marquis D. Gibson as a kingslayer and his nephew in Fat Ham. (Margot Schulman)

My City Paper review of Studio’s production of Fat Ham, James Ijames’ Pulitzer-winning Hamlet rewrite, is here. You can also read my profile of the playwright from last May.

A Union of Contradictions: "Confederates," reviewed.

Caro Dubberly and Nikkole Salter in Confederates. (Chris Banks)

My Washington City Paper review of Mosaic Theater Company’s strong production of Dominique Morisseau’s play Confederates is here.

Friedkin Deserved Better: "The Exorcist: Believer," reviewed.

Ellen Burstun with Exorcist: Believer cowriter/director David Gordon Green.

My Washington City Paper review of The Exorcist: Believer, yet another unworthy sequel to one of the great horror films, is here.

A Rogue One: "The Creator," reviewed.

John David Washington and Madeleine Yuna Voyles in an Gareth Edwards film. (Disney)

My Washington City Paper review of The Creator — Monsters, Godzilla, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards’ new sci-fi epic — is here.

"Married to Comics," reviewed.

Reader Beware: From Justin Green’s influential 1972 comic Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary.

I reviewed Married to Comics, John Kinhart’s documentary about the troubled 40-year union of underground comix artists Justin Green and Carol Tyler, for the Washington City Paper.

Talkin' Long Movies on "Weekend Edition Sunday"

Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone in Martin Scorsese’s 3.5-hour historical epic Killers of the Flower Moon. (Apple)

There’re few things I love more than to immerse myself in he richly-imagined world of a movie, but even I can see that popcorn flicks, in particular, have hulked out to dangerous dimensions. I noted this alarming trend on the occasion of Avengers: Endgame in 2019 and again back in May when Martin Scorsese’s 3.5-hour adaptation of David Grann’s nonfiction true-crime epic Killers of the Flower Moon debuted at the Cannes Film Festival. Weekend Edition Sunday host Ayesha Roscoe had me and my pal Bob Mondello on to refute, which great respect, her assertion that movies are too long. According to Bob, what was originally slated for a four-minute time slot was allowed to strech out to a luxurious 7:15, which seems fitting.