Movies

It’s not good critical practice to date a film review to a certain time and place. A film review should be evergreen, to exist outside of a specific setting or era. It should be able to grasp anyone, anywhere. But criticism is also subjective, and so it’s almost impossible to ignore the ways in which the silly L.A.-set comedy “One of Them Days” takes on new resonance in the wake of the devastating destruction wreaked by wildfires in Los Angeles this month.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has once again delayed the announcement of nominees for the 97th Academy Awards due to the ongoing Los Angeles wildfires, which have caused widespread devastation and claimed at least 25 lives. Originally set for Jan. 17 and previously pushed back to Jan. 19, the nominations will now be unveiled on Jan. 23.

Spokane, and the Inland Northwest, has had its fair share of screen time over the years. In 1985, there was the Matthew Modine-led “Vision Quest,” and in 1993, there was “Benny and Joon,” starring Johnny Depp and Mary Stuart Masterson.

Awards season marches on — and "Wicked" has proven to be popular indeed. The nominations for the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced Wednesday, with the gravity-defying musical helmed by Jon M. Chu leading the pack among the film nominees.

Mike Leigh movies feel like a magic trick. Observational, wry, funny, devastating and always rooted in character, Leigh allows us to take in some of the most fascinating people, the milieu they inhabit, those around them, their idiosyncrasies in the way they move about the world (cheerfully, as in “Happy-Go-Lucky”; chaotically in “Naked,” to name a few notable examples). Then suddenly, a confession, a conflict, a conversation becomes a revelation, and the whole thing blossoms, unfolding to reveal the tender inner petals of life.

The title of “The Brutalist,” Brady Corbet’s big swing of an American epic, refers to many things. Any builder who works in the imposing minimalist school of post-World War II architecture known as brutalism. The movie’s architect hero, László Toth (Adrien Brody), a Hungarian Jew and Holocaust survivor who comes to the United States after the war and through force of personality battles to complete his vision of a masterpiece on a hill. László’s patron and opposite number Harrison Lee Van Buren Jr. (Guy Pearce), an aristocratic Philadelphia businessman who represents everything the Land of Freedom means to László and everyone who wants to keep him out.

On Sept. 13, 1978, the producers of the game show “The Dating Game” broadcast a particularly noteworthy episode. It turns out that one of the trio of bachelors who was vying for a date with the single woman contestant was a serial killer.

The "Final Reckoning" for the "Mission: Impossible" series, Paddington's trip home to Peru and an even "Freakier Friday" are all on top as Hollywood heads into 2025.

The McCallisters may have been les incompetents parents, but “Home Alone” director Chris Columbus is finally debunking a theory surrounding one of the most enduring Christmas movies..

Humans have made sex so complicated it’s a wonder anyone gets born. We wrestle with what we want, what we think we want, and what we want other people to think we want. (Not to mention what we think they want, which is how busybodies spend their time.) Our species puts itself under so much scrutiny that desire gets subverted by irony and shame, like someone who decides she’s too embarrassed to dress up for Halloween as a sexy nurse and instead goes as a sexy nun.

It’s a “Happy” holiday for Adam Sandler and Netflix. The first teaser for “Happy Gilmore 2” was released Christmas Day and shows Sandler’s unlikely hero back on the golf course and clashing with old nemesis Shooter McGavin.

One of the most poignant things that any newspaper can offer is a look at the past. Over the years The Spokesman-Review, for example, has on occasion run photos of old Spokane, with someone – often Jesse Tinsley – providing the historical background.

The saltwater crocodile who made a shocking star turn in “Crocodile Dundee” has died in Australia. Burt the croc died at Crocosaurus Cove in Darwin over the weekend, the park posted on social media. The croc “passed away peacefully” and was “estimated to be over 90 years old.” “Burt was truly one of a kind,” Crocosaurus Cove wrote on Instagram. “He wasn’t just a crocodile; he was a force of ...

Don't let the new "Superman" trailer fool you: Krypto isn't nearly the good boy the teaser will have you believe — at least according to James Gunn.

Film director Pablo Larrain has become a specialist at documenting the lives of famous women.

The thing about the “Sonic the Hedgehog” movies is that they continue to surprise — with how humorous, self-referential and even insightful they can be. Since the first movie defied expectations in 2020 (the creative team redesigned the character after online backlash to a first look), the third film now cruises into theaters, and the series shows no signs of stopping.

Who's the top gun now? Actor and producer Tom Cruise was awarded the U.S. Navy's highest civilian honor Tuesday, a nod to his support of the military in films including "Top Gun," "A Few Good Men" and "Born on the Fourth of July."

Barry Jenkins truly is a miracle worker. The Oscar-winning director of the intimate indie “Moonlight,” the romantic period drama “If Beale Street Could Talk” and the Amazon series “The Underground Railroad” isn’t the first filmmaker who comes to mind to tackle the prequel to Jon Favreau’s poorly received 2019 remake of the beloved animated feature “The Lion King.” And yet, somehow, Jenkins and his creative team make magic.

Most Trekkies will tell you that “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” is the north star of the franchise - the 1982 sci-fi adventure that wasn’t just an audience smash, but as close as Gene Roddenberry’s utopian space epic got to Shakespeare. The legacy of “The Wrath of Khan” was further cemented Tuesday morning, when it became the first Star Trek movie selected for the Library of Congress’s National Film Registry.