The Spy Who Fed Me: "Black Bag," reviewed.

Black Bag boasts a killer cast of trained killers.

My City Paper review of Black Bag, the second David Koepp-Steven Soderbergh collaboration this young year, is here. Good movie!

Anthony Mackie, Agent of Shield: "Captain America: Brave New World," reviewed.

No cherry blossom trees were harmed in the production of this major motion picture (Disney)

My apologies to Shira Haas and to Tim Blake Nelson, both of whom were cut for space my Washington City Paper review of the extremely busy, half-successful Captain America: Brave New World.

"Guac," reviewed.

I struggled with Guac, anti-gun-violence activist Manuel Oliver’s tribute to his son Joaquin “Guac” Oliver, who was one of seventeen people murdered in Parkland school shooting on Feb. 14, 2018. My Washington City Paper review is here.

Lupine Intervention: "Wolf Man," reviewed.

Julia Garner, Christopher Abbot, and Matilda Firth have a wolf problem. (Blumhouse)

Leigh Wannell’s 2020 Invisible Man was so strong that I had high hopes for his next update of a Universal Monsters classic. But his new Wolf Man is oddly toothless.

Bigger, Longer, and Uncut: "Gladiator II," reviewed.

Pedro Pascal and Paul Mescal get down to it. (Paramount)

“Gladiator was the one where Ridley Scott revived the sword-and-sandals genre that had been dormant for decades while also managing to suggest that our addiction to spectacle—one he himself had then been nurturing for 20 years—might not be altogether healthy, for individuals or democracies. 

“Gladiator II is the one where he throws in a CGI shark. “

My Washington City Paper of the unlikely 24.5-years-later sequel is here.

Mid by Midwest: "Babbitt," reviewed.

Matthew Broderick in Babbitt. (Teresa Castracane)

My Washington City Paper review of Babbitt, a Matthew Broderick-anchored adaptation of a Sinclair Lewis novel that premiered at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse last year ahead of its current STC engagement, is here.

"Megalopolis," reviewed.

Adam Driver and Nathalie Emmanuel in Mr. Coppola’s opus. (Lionsgate)

My Washington City Paper review of Megalopolis, the opus Francis Ford Coppola has been contemplating for more than half his 85-year life, is here. Not the last version of this film we’ll see, I expect.

Ripley's Eleven: "Alien: Romulus," reviewed.

When you're smiling, the whole world smiles at you. (20th Century Studios)

My Washington CIty Paper review of Alien: Romulus, the 45-year-old franchise’s first legasequel, is here. Lest anyone fear I have not had enough to say about these slimy, sweaty movies that I so love, even when they’re bad. Which this new one is not!