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Film Reviews

Feature film review: THE BEAST

A filmmaker's compelling ideas get a bit tangled in references to his creative influences.
By Scott Renshaw

Beavers and Spiders and Thieves, Oh My

Three new films cover a wide range of styles.
By Scott Renshaw

Girls State, Wicked Little Letters

Special screenings include Tumbleweeds, Screendance, Nicolas Cage festival and more
By Scott Renshaw
Feature film review: THE BEAST
Feature film review: THE BEAST

Feature film review: THE BEAST

A filmmaker's compelling ideas get a bit tangled in references to his creative influences.
Every artist stands on the shoulders of giants, and comes to the act of creation having been inspired by those who came before.

By Scott Renshaw April 17, 2024

Reflections on the Godzilla movie history
Reflections on the Godzilla movie history

Reflections on the Godzilla movie history

Making movie monsters great doesn't mean making them real.
It probably sounds like a kind of self-mythology for a film critic to suggest that some of the first movies he fell in love with as a kid were foreign films.

By Scott Renshaw March 27, 2024

RIDDLE OF FIRE writer/director Weston Razooli
RIDDLE OF FIRE writer/director Weston Razooli

RIDDLE OF FIRE writer/director Weston Razooli

Park City native filmmaker talks about influences on his kid-venture movie
Is fantasy/adventure about three children who encounter danger while on a quest for ingredients for a special pie for one of their sick mothers.

By Scott Renshaw March 20, 2024

Movie Reviews: New Releases for March 15
Movie Reviews: New Releases for March 15

Movie Reviews: New Releases for March 15

The American Society of Magical Negroes, Arthur the King, Love Lies Bleeding
Writer/director Kobi Libii concocts the kind of satirical premise that easily could have tipped over into pedantic self-importance, but emerges with a deft enough touch to end up both entertaining and urgent.

By Scott Renshaw March 13, 2024

Prop bets for the 2024 Academy Awards
Prop bets for the 2024 Academy Awards

Prop bets for the 2024 Academy Awards

How to make things interesting beyond picking the category winners
The 2024 Academy Awards are ready to roll on Sunday, March 10, offering an event that's kind of like the Super Bowl for movie nerds.

By Scott Renshaw March 6, 2024

Feature movie review: DUNE: PART TWO
Feature movie review: DUNE: PART TWO

Feature movie review: DUNE: PART TWO

Building a saga that actually deserves additional chapters
In this particular case, it's hard not to concede that the mission is accomplished.

By Scott Renshaw February 28, 2024

DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS feature movie review
DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS feature movie review

DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS feature movie review

Ethan Coen's solo project has a unique vibe, for better or for worse.
The artistic separation of Joel and Ethan Coen has been hard on the kids—and by "the kids," I mean cinephiles who have adored their films for nearly 40 years.

By Scott Renshaw February 21, 2024

Movie Reviews: Bob Marley One Love, The Taste of Things, Adam the First
Movie Reviews: Bob Marley One Love, The Taste of Things, Adam the First

Movie Reviews: Bob Marley One Love, The Taste of Things, Adam the First

Three very different kinds of love stories for a Valentine's Day weekend
In a post- Walk Hard world, it is to the credit of director Reinaldo Marcus Green and his screenwriting team that their film biography of reggae legend Bob Marley (Kingsley Ben-Adir) doesn't make all the mistakes represented in the now-classic genre satire; instead, they mostly make a bunch of new ones.

By Scott Renshaw February 14, 2024

Film Reviews: The Teachers' Lounge and Suncoast
Film Reviews: The Teachers' Lounge and Suncoast

Film Reviews: The Teachers' Lounge and Suncoast

Plus special screenings for February
At times, co-writer/director Ilker Çatak's drama feels like a thoughtful character study, and at times it feels like a piece of social criticism

By Scott Renshaw February 7, 2024

Sundance Film Festival 2024 roundup
Sundance Film Festival 2024 roundup

Sundance Film Festival 2024 roundup

Catching the buzz of watching great movies together, in person
Beyond the movies themselves, the Sundance Film Festival is a vibe—and for the first time in four years, that vibe felt something like it did pre-COVID.

By Scott Renshaw January 31, 2024

2024 Sundance Film Festival first weekend highlights
2024 Sundance Film Festival first weekend highlights

2024 Sundance Film Festival first weekend highlights

Three top contenders for the best of the fest
It's impressive that Eisenberg makes something so raucously funny and simultaneously so sweet about trying to connect with suffering across generations, across cultures, or even just across the hotel room you're sharing.

By Scott Renshaw January 24, 2024

Slamdance Festival Director Taylor Miller interview
Slamdance Festival Director Taylor Miller interview

Slamdance Festival Director Taylor Miller interview

First-year Slamdance director discusses her new role
The Slamdance Film Festival also returns to Park City in 2024, with a new festival director, Taylor Miller.

By Scott Renshaw January 17, 2024

Film Review: AMERICAN FICTION
Film Review: AMERICAN FICTION

Film Review: AMERICAN FICTION

A stinging satire, and the sensational family drama that it reminds us we should have more of.
Is it possible for a movie to be too good at what it's trying to do?

By Scott Renshaw January 10, 2024

Feature movie review: Society of the Snow
Feature movie review: Society of the Snow

Feature movie review: Society of the Snow

A new adaptation finds new power in a 50-year-old event.
That sounds nice, sorta winter-cozy, like it's a twee Hallmark Christmas movie. But this movie is anything but

By MaryAnn Johanson January 3, 2024

Best Movies of 2023
Best Movies of 2023

Best Movies of 2023

Past Lives, May December, Asteroid City, Poor Things and more
It's always overly simplistic to try to sum up a movie year, but I think it feels fair to say that 2023 was ... fine. That probably doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement as the lead-in to a list of my favorite movies of the year, and that's not an unfair perception.

By Scott Renshaw December 27, 2023

Christmas week movie releases
Christmas week movie releases

Christmas week movie releases

Poor Things, The Iron Claw, The Color Purple
Many classic films have been driven by this satirical concept: We take for granted certain things in our world which, if viewed from a perspective seeing them for the first time, are clearly ridiculous

By Scott Renshaw December 20, 2023

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