MY SUMMER OF SUMMER MOVIES

An image from SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE shows Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy sitting upside down on a ledge looking over the city.
FILM REVIEWS

SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE (2023)

Across the Spider-Verse is a masterpiece: nearly overwhelming in its creative stimulation of the senses, but with a real emotional and narrative method to the madness.

Sophie Thatcher as Sadie in THE BOOGEYMAN
FILM REVIEWS

THE BOOGEYMAN (2023)

My Summer of Summer Movies gets underway with a derivative (but reasonably effective) monster-under-the-bed movie from director Rob Savage.

Posters for upcoming movies arranged in a grid.
BLOG

MY SUMMER OF SUMMER MOVIES, 2023

After a long sabbatical, I'm returning with a vengeance, and an insane plan to see and review every movie released between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

Brittany Ferrell in WHOSE STREETS
FILM REVIEWS

WHOSE STREETS? (2017)

Sabaah Folayan and Damon Davis' infuriating and empowering new documentary about Ferguson is essential viewing for every American.

LOGAN LUCKY (2017)
FILM REVIEWS

LOGAN LUCKY (2017)

Steven Soderbergh is back—but have we really missed him?

ANNABELLE-CREATION (2017)
FILM REVIEWS

ANNABELLE: CREATION (2017)

Like the rest of its dishonorable and disposable ilk, Annabelle: Creation is just a fairly efficient machine for generating meaningless jump-scares.

Halle Berry in KIDNAP
FILM REVIEWS

KIDNAP (2017)

Luis Prieto's KIDNAP, starring Halle Berry, is a cheap and ugly grindhouse film for the soccer-mom set.

STEP (2017)
FILM REVIEWS

STEP (2017)

Amanda Lipitz's documentary is a rare and inspiring celebration of the love, beauty, and optimism of disadvantaged black communities.

Idris Elba in THE DARK TOWER
FILM REVIEWS

THE DARK TOWER (2017)

Nikolaj Arcel's quick and pointless adaptation of Stephen King's sprawling epic is a tepid, paint-by-numbers picture.

Nathan Davis Jr. in DETROIT (2017)
FILM REVIEWS

DETROIT (2017)

Simplistic, reductive, and perversely exculpatory, Kathryn Bigelow's DETROIT is well-executed torture-porn that irresponsibly exploits the destruction of black bodies.

Holly Hunter in STRANGE WEATHER (2016)
FILM REVIEWS

STRANGE WEATHER (2016)

Holly Hunter is always good, but Katherine Dieckmann's road-trip movie drives her down some frustratingly contrived roads.

THE EMOJI MOVIE
FILM REVIEWS

THE EMOJI MOVIE (2017)

I do not seem to have the appropriate catalog of symbols on my app to adequately express my feelings about The Emoji Movie.

Charlize Theron in ATOMIC BLONDE
FILM REVIEWS

ATOMIC BLONDE (2017)

Charlize Theron can do no wrong, but Atomic Blonde needed to either be a whole lot smarter, or a whole lot stupider, to be any fun at all.

The Bad Batch, The Little Hours, A Ghost Story, and Lady MacBeth
MOVIE LISTS & ROUNDUPS

THE BAD BATCH, THE LITTLE HOURS, A GHOST STORY, LADY MACBETH

In my attempt to see and review every new movie this summer, I've fallen a little behind. Here are shamefully quick takes on films that didn't get full reviews, including The Bad Batch, The Little Hours, A Ghost Story, and Lady Macbeth.

Regina Hall, Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, and Tiffany Haddish in GIRLS TRIP
FILM REVIEWS

GIRLS TRIP (2017)

Funny, fearless, and full of genuine feeling, Girls Trip is the best American comedy of the summer.

Mark Rylance in DUNKIRK (2017)
FILM REVIEWS

DUNKIRK (2017)

Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk masterfully captures a key moment of human triumph, but it is not a film that's remotely interested in human beings.

Joey King in WISH UPON
FILM REVIEWS

WISH UPON (2017)

Someone should have wished for a better movie.

13 MINUTES (2015)
FILM REVIEWS

13 MINUTES (2015)

Oliver Hirschbiegel's latest film is an imperfect but intriguing exploration of a forgotten resistance hero.

FILM REVIEWS

THE JOURNEY (2016)

Nick Hamm's painfully contrived, preposterous film reduces the complexities of the Irish Troubles down to an unconvincing marital spat.

Sally Hawkins in MAUDIE
FILM REVIEWS

MAUDIE (2016)

Like its subject—embodied in a fantastic performance by Sally Hawkins—Aisling Walsh's film finds joy and color in unexpected places.

FILM REVIEWS

DESPICABLE ME 3 (2017)

The latest entry in the animated franchise is crowded, uneven, and deeply silly. But it has enough cleverness, humor, and heart to make it worthwhile.

Jason Mantzoukas, Will Ferrell, and Amy Poehler in THE HOUSE
FILM REVIEWS

THE HOUSE (2017)

Great comedies pose important questions. So, coincidentally, does this one.

Tom Holland in SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING
FILM REVIEWS

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017)

The iconic hero's introduction to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is light to the point of flimsiness, sacrificing both narrative power and emotional depth.

The Ornithologist (2017)
FILM REVIEWS

THE ORNITHOLOGIST (2017)

João Pedro Rodrigues' beautiful but increasingly frustrating film is a slow descent into surreality and obscure religious metaphor.

Jai Courtney and Lily James in THE EXCEPTION
FILM REVIEWS

THE EXCEPTION (2017)

An unconvincing love story married to a silly spy thriller, David Leveaux's The Exception is a forgettable costume drama.

FILM REVIEWS

THE BEGUILED (2017)

Sophia Coppola's beautiful but shallow remake leaches all life out of a tale that once teemed with repressed emotion and kinky Southern Gothic melodrama.

FILM REVIEWS

THE BIG SICK (2017)

Based on the real experiences of Kumail Nanjiani and his wife, Michael Showalter's film is a smart, grounded comedy about funny people dealing with serious situations.

Ansel Elgort and Lily James in BABY DRIVER
FILM REVIEWS

BABY DRIVER (2017)

Edgar Wright has channeled his pop-music, pop-culture obsessions into the perfect summer movie.

BAND AID (2017), starring Zoe Lister-Jones and Adam Pally
FILM REVIEWS

BAND AID (2017)

Zoe Lister-Jones' feature debut is a harmless enough ditty, but it's a little too shallow and slight to be a truly great love song.

Salma Hayek in BEATRIZ AT DINNER
FILM REVIEWS

BEATRIZ AT DINNER (2017)

A good director and an excellent cast can't quite rise above a script that lacks the sophistication, subtlety, and insight needed to do its premise justice.

Sam Elliott in THE HERO
FILM REVIEWS

THE HERO (2017)

It's only taken Sam Elliott 50 years to become an exciting new movie star.

FILM REVIEWS

ALL EYEZ ON ME (2017)

Reducing Tupac Shakur's legend to a series of sensationalistic incidents, All Eyez on Me is a denigrating takedown clothed as a tribute.

FILM REVIEWS

THE BOOK OF HENRY (2017)

Colin Trevorrow's new movie is horrible in unique, unfathomable, nearly unprecedented ways.

FILM REVIEWS

ROUGH NIGHT (2017)

Tired, tedious, and tame, Lucia Aniello's Rough Night (2017) lacks the courage of its pretended coarseness.

FILM REVIEWS

47 METERS DOWN (2017)

Johannes Roberts' murky, oxygen-deprived shark movie is dead in the water.

FILM REVIEWS

CARS 3 (2017)

Once, Pixar made a movie about talking cars, and it made a lot of money. So, they made another one. Now, they've made a third one.

FILM REVIEWS

I, DANIEL BLAKE (2016)

Heart-warming and soul-crushing in almost equal measures, Ken Loach's new film is a furious, funny, unfailingly humane masterpiece.

FILM REVIEWS

MIDDLE MAN (2017)

Existing at a curious nexus of buddy-comedy and crime-thriller, writer-director Ned Crowley's dark debut feature is uneven but promising.

FILM REVIEWS

IT COMES AT NIGHT (2017)

Trey Edward Shults both explores and exploits our fears of the unknown, in a stark, harrowing, disturbingly intimate horror film.

FILM REVIEWS

MY COUSIN RACHEL (2017)

Roger Michell's adaptation of du Maurier's novel is a stately exercise in indecision, and something of a cinematic Rorschach test.

FILM REVIEWS

MEGAN LEAVEY (2017)

Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite and star Kate Mara bring remarkable restraint, sensitivity, and authenticity to a feel-good story about a soldier and her dog.

FILM REVIEWS

THE MUMMY (2017)

I don't expect The Mummy to be the worst movie I see all year, but it's a banal mediocrity that bodes ill for Universal's interconnected "monster" franchise.

FILM REVIEWS

DEAN (2017)

Comedian Demitri Martin's feature debut is not a completely insufferable movie, but it is a completely insubstantial one.

FILM REVIEWS

BUSTER'S MAL HEART (2017)

Sarah Adina Smith's ambitious second feature is a provocative, harrowing, and haunting film, if a slightly too-perfect vehicle for star Rami Malek.

FILM REVIEWS

CHURCHILL (2017)

Not since the Blitz has Winston Churchill been forced to suffer through this kind of bombing.

FILM REVIEWS

WONDER WOMAN (2017)

Rest easy, well-wishers—and suck it, haters—Wonder Woman is a major triumph.

BLOG

MY SUMMER OF SUMMER MOVIES

The Unaffiliated Critic—somewhat recklessly—announces his plan to see and review every single movie that opens between Memorial Day and Labor Day.