Quickies to Catch Up: West Side Story, Don't Look Up, Nightmare Alley, House of Gucci

by Nathaniel R

It's that time of year when it is literally impossible to keep up. Most weeks have one maybe two if we're lucky films of interest opening. But in December it's like 10 high profile movies per week or something outrageous. So much can get lost in the shuffle which is always sad.

Here are some quick thoughts on four recent high profile screenings though we'll do full reviews when they open...

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Streaming Review: "Pen15" (Hulu) Ends With Season Two

By: Christopher James

"Pen15" comes to a close with the seven episode batch that was released Friday, December 3rd.Saying goodbye to Pen15 feels a lot like writing a long note in a friend’s yearbook at the end of eighth grade. There are lots of laughs, lots of tears and you are full of complicated emotions that you don’t fully know how to process. In just two (actually three) seasons, Pen15 perfectly encapsulated the isolating growing pains of middle school, both in terms of navigating changes in social dynamics and one’s own body.

Does it stick its landing in the final seven episodes, now available on Hulu?

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A "Wolf" in Men's Clothing

by Jason Adams

There is an unfinished quality to the actor George Mackay's face, as if he's a first-draft in putty, not quite defined into full features yet. That quality makes him a perfect fit for Wolf, writer-director Nathalie Biancheri's new film about a young man who believes himself to actually be, under all that pretty pink skin, a you-guessed-it wolf. Mackay naturally seems permanently half fixed, like he's trapped in the middle part in a werewolf  transformation montage -- his impermanence putting this character's indeterminate selfhood right there written over his taut cheekbones.

I wish the rest of Wolf, which sees Mackay's character of Jacob shuffled off to a mad doctor's experimental psychological retreat/prison for, you know, "his own good," worked as well as Mackay does...

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Regional Critics Groups Round 1: Belfast, Cyrano, Dune

by Nathaniel R

First three regional critics groups to announce follow. Washington DC, Detroit, and some California critics have now had their say with Belfast, Cyrano, and Dune picking up Best Film prizes. Since NBR went with Licorice Pizza and NYFCC with Drive My Car we're off to a wild start with no repeats for the top prize. This is the way we always hope it will be since there's no point in multiple orgs and associations if they all agree. The full list of winners from three groups after the jump...

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27th annual Critics Choice TV nominations

The Critics Choice Association used to be two separate associations, one honoring film and one honoring TV and they merged once they decided to have their show together.  Nevertheless the voting is separate and the TV wing of the association announces their nominations first. (Those of us on the film side, don't start voting until tomorrow.) The new third season of Succession led the nominations with 8 while Mare of Easttown and Evil are in second place with five each. 

The nominations are after the jump...

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