Formerly Known As Cinema

Official Teaser 'Marty Supreme'; A24; Written and Directed by Josh Safdie; Starring Timothée Chalamet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Odessa A'zion, Kevin O'Leary, Tyler Okonma, Abel Ferrara, and Fran Drescher

Thrill Ride Featurette 'Eenie Meanie'; Directed by Shawn Simmons; Starring Samara Weaving and Karl Glusman

Official Trailer 'Eden'; Directed by Ron Howard; Starring Jude Law, Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Daniel Brühl, and Sydney Sweeney

Frieze: Venice Film Festival 2025: The Must-See Films; Jude Law portrays Vladimir Putin in Olivier Assayas’s latest, while Kathryn Bigelow presents her first film in eight years

Vanity Fair Throws in the Towel, Fires Movie Critic and Correspondent, Will Retire Online Categories, Concentrate on Parties and Film Festivals

Spike Lee Says “Major Priority” Is Finally Making His Joe Louis Biopic Penned by ‘On The Waterfront’ Screenwriter Budd Schulberg; Deathbed promise to make film

Roman Polanski’s ‘An Officer and a Spy’ Finally Opens in the U.S. Six Years After its Venice Premiere; Grand Jury Prize at the Venice Film Fest and 12 César Award noms; Many reviews reflect personal critiques of the artist

Fine Artist Julian Schnabel’s New Film ‘In the Hand of Dante’ Leaks Online Weeks Before Venice Premiere; 150-minute epic; Starring Oscar Isaac, Martin Scorsese, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, John Malkovich, Gerard Butler, Al Pacino; Who leaked the film online?; "Leak couldn’t have come at a worse time."; Backstage drama

CELEBRATING CREGGER

Video Review by The Critical Drinker: 'Weapons,' A Superb Horror Mystery

NYT: 'Weapons' Review: These Classmates Are Not All Right; “Weapons” has a grabber opening and a shocker of a finale that's so outlandish — and so shrewdly staged, shot and cut — that you laugh-gasp

'Weapons' Ending Explained: Director Reveals the Origins of Amy Madigan’s Creepy Gladys; “The last chapter of this movie is straight-up autobiographical,” filmmaker Zach Cregger says

‘Weapons’ Prequel on the Table as Zach Cregger Mulls Future; Horror hit has cemented Cregger as one of the most in-demand filmmakers in town, with his future options including a DC Studios movie and the original sci-fi script 'Flood.'

Official Teaser 'Jay Kelly'; Directed by Noah Baumbach; Written by Noah Baumbach and Actress Emily Mortimer; Starring George Clooney, Adam Sandler, Laura Dern and Billy Crudup

Wild Historical Rescue Thriller 'Donji Rescue'; From the Director of 'Black Dog'; Starring Staring Zhu Yilong, Wu Lei, Ni Ni, and Yang Haoyu

Official Trailer 'Adulthood'; Devilishly comic neo-noir from actor-director Alex Winter; Starring Josh Gad, Kaya Scodelario, Billie Lourd, Alex Winter and Anthony Carrigan

Doc Film Trailer 'A Savage Art: The Life & Cartoons of Pat Oliphant'; Savage work of the political cartoonist

New from Swedish Filmmaker Lasse Hallstrom, Trailer, 'The Map That Leads To You'; Directed by Lasse Hallstrom; Based on the bestseller; Starring Starring Madelyn Cline, KJ Apa, Josh Lucas, Madison Thompson and Sofia Wylie

Worth a Neo-Noir Look: Official Trailer for 'Hollywood Grit' Feat. Max Martini, Tyrese Gibson, Linda Purl, Patrick Duffy, Nikki Howard, Linc Hand, David B. Meadows, Caylee Cowan, and Benito Martinez

Spy Thriller Series; Official Trailer 'Butterfly'; Starring Daniel Dae Kim, Reina Hardesty, and Piper Perabo

Film School: Our Critic Justin Tanner Recommends You See This Classic!

“This Was a Woman” (1948)

Sonia Dresdel gives an astoundingly visceral performance as Sylvia Russell, the power-mad matriarch of a prosaic British family who, in order to amuse herself (and keep from going quietly mad), engages in psychological torture as a default form of motherly love.

When she’s not destroying her daughter’s marriage or plotting against the family dog, she’s reading up on toxicology just in case she might need to poison someone.

The movie suffers from a bit of Freudian armchair psychoanalysis, the literate screenplay occasionally shows its stage play roots and one could wish for less of Mischa Spoliansky's repetitive score.

But the crisp chiaroscuro lighting, with its rich greys and impenetrable blacks, provides a cloak of creeping dread that penetrates every frame. And the performances are all pitch perfect.

And Dresdel’s chilling final scene where she gloats with an almost sensual delight about her bottomless love of power is a chilling, twisted barnburner. ~ Justin Tanner

Full Film: “This Was a Woman” (1948)

Review: ‘She Rides Shotgun’; Taron Egerton and An Excellent Cast Propels An Equally Flawless, Gritty Neo-Western

Full Trailer for Action Thriller 'She Rides Shotgun'; Directed by Nick Rowland; From Edgar Award-winning novel from Jordan Harper; Starring Taron Egerton and Ana Sophia Heger