The Best Movies to Watch From United States of America on Paramount+
It’s easy to feel like you’ll know exactly what you’ll get once you see stills from Guy Ritchie’s MobLand, which stars Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren. But while it features cliches of the mafia genre, MobLand is far from boring. Plenty of things are happening all at once, and in lesser hands, these […]
Hollywood loves its fair share of bad guys, but it’s not easy to call the titular robber one. For starters, he’s portrayed by the very charismatic Channing Tatum. But secondly, Jeffrey Manchester is introduced in a compelling way. Even as he’s robbing a McDonalds, he does his best to get the startled workers to calm […]
If you’re expecting a documentary about the particular U2 concert in Sarajevo, to focus exclusively on U2, you’re not really going to get it in Kiss the Future. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. In fact, it’s probably the best approach for this particular documentary, as it focuses more on the way Sarajevans found […]
Much like creator Taylor Sheridan’s other works (notably Yellowstone), Landman is a sweeping epic about the modern American dream that doubles as an intricate family drama. It mostly succeeds on the former front: Billy Bob Thorton and Jon Hamm go head to head as the gritty roughneck and the slick billionaire, respectively. The series is […]
Combining elements of a police procedural with other action-thriller quirks, Tracker stands as a familiar but nevertheless competently made drama that sits snugly between easy viewing and harder-edged entertainment for adults. With only a few episodes out at the time of this writing, the jury’s still out on whether Tracker will be able to focus […]
Except for the fact that it’s a genderswapped reboot starring the Kathy Bates, Matlock is hard to distinguish from the rest of the legal dramas airing on network TV. It follows the same formula shows like Suits, Law & Order, and The Good Fight do, where each episode is dedicated to an interesting case that […]
In a sea of self-serious legal dramas and police procedurals, The Good Wife spin-off Elsbeth stands out for its quirky and delightfully sunny approach. Like Columbo or (more recently) Poker Face before it, it reveals the killer right at the start. And since the hook is knowing how the crime is solved, not who does […]
The 2000s film Sexy Beast, is already a niche entry in the crime comedy genre, so if you’re going to make a prequel about it, it better be good. This 2024 series unfortunately is not it. Whereas the film’s performances were explosive and dynamic, the show’s were derivative and cartoonish. Fans of the original will […]
Documentaries about people suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s, or other neurodegenerative diseases will always occupy a bit of an uneasy space—how much consent can they really provide in their condition? At what point does presenting their struggles become exploitative? Maite Alberdi’s The Eternal Memory doesn’t entirely assuage these concerns, but it certainly knows better than to […]
Fans of the iconic crime series 24 will find much to like in Rabbit Hole, not least because Kiefer Sutherland reprises a similar role as an above-average agent embroiled in high-profile criminal cases. Despite the years between those two shows, Sutherland still turns in a top-notch performance each time, regardless if he’s in a high-stakes […]
Knowing better than to dwell on its title character’s early life in bondage, Lawmen: Bass Reeves grants him his freedom early on and establishes him as a man of inherent dignity and complex emotion. Even in the first two episodes watched for this review, Reeves (thanks to a stellar performance by David Oyelowo) is defined […]
You don’t have to be an avid fan to enjoy Let the Canary Sing, which presents itself as a joyous blast to the past and an enlightening account of How to Make a Superstar in the ‘80s. Lauper had some help from the industry of course (not that she always listened) but she was a […]
There is a world where all of Little Wing’s ideas make thematic sense, as a story about a young woman reeling from the difficulty of her home life. But as it is now, the film just isn’t tightly woven enough, with various characters and subplots making little effect on the whole and major conflicts barely […]
If Special Ops: Lioness seems like one of the many muscly, male-targeted shows out there but, you know, girlified, that could be because it’s created by Taylor Sheridan, the mastermind behind such hypermasculine epics as Yellowstone, Tulsa King, and Mayor of Kingstown. Lioness could have been a chance for Sheridan to prove his versatility by […]
Every now and then, you get a romantic comedy that feels just right. The romance isn’t overdone, the comedy isn’t used as a crutch, and there’s no desperate need to lean into cliches. Instead, you have pure chemistry, which in turn fuels an endearing awkwardness and a natural sort of love. That’s what happens in […]
Though it’ll likely have more to offer for those who enjoyed the original Nickelodeon series that ran from 2014 to 2018, The Thundermans Return still does mournfully little with its feature length. There are some promising ideas here relating to what one’s responsibility should be as members of a family, but any heart in the […]
Even with its occasional technical hitches and structural rough edges (maybe because of how personal it is), Last Flight Home makes for a difficult but important look at the process of assisted death. The most important insight this documentary offers is how often and how certainly family patriarch Eli Timoner gives his consent to his […]
After loyally covering up for his mafia bosses and serving 25 years of jail time, Dwight Manfredi (Sylvester Stallone) is surprised to discover he’s been kicked out of his New York turf and transferred to Tulsa “middle of nowhere” Oklahoma. It takes a while, but Dwight eventually (and funnily) finds his footing in town, establishing […]
After struggling to recapture the magic of the first few Star Trek series for the better part of two decades, the franchise has finally returned to its original formula of self-contained space adventures, progressive politics, and an unabashedly hopeful tone—all to magnificent results. Strange New Worlds is classic Trek in every sense: from its truly […]
If you have the patience to get through its rocky first season, Star Trek: Lower Decks proves itself to be an adult animated series that’s deeply committed to getting significantly better with every season. What started as a sort of budget Rick and Morty riff with grating humor and stiff animation has turned into an […]
Focusing on the personal over the global, 76 Days serves as a valuable reminder for generations to come, of the catastrophic human cost of a pandemic. The film’s directors (including one or more filmmakers who have had to keep themselves anonymous) take an entirely boots-on-the-ground approach in Wuhan, China. Together they find both humanity and […]
There are two seasons of Why Women Kill, and though the first—an anthology set in three different decades—is fun and soapy, the second is what solidifies it as a good show to watch. The latter is set in a single decade, the ‘60s, and follows a soft-spoken housewife named Alma (Allison Tolman) as she tries […]
This thriller is about a modern-day Catholic “assessor” who investigates supernatural cases to see if an exorcism is needed. Don’t believe it? Neither does his partner, a prosecution psychologist. The two join forces because, according to the assessor, “possession looks a lot like insanity”, and she can help him distinguish between the two. The heavy […]
Warning: this workplace series takes everything you hate about corporate life and mirrors it back to you with alarming clarity. It takes place in a morally corrupt multinational called Hampton DeVille, and we mostly follow “junior executives in training” Matt and Jake in their daily goings-on in the office. Sometimes, they’re able to cope by […]
There is a chance we will be known as the generation that perfected mixing the two mediums of movie and theater. Think Hateful 8, Horace & Pete, Wild Tales, and Fences! A movie not only packed with Broadway talent, it’s also based on a Pulitzer-winning play by August Wilson. The play element is both strong […]
In a global movie industry of children’s entertainment that often feels like it isn’t even trying, this little Peruvian bear coming to England is a wonderful reminder that films aimed at younger audiences aren’t inherently limited. If anything, Paddington challenges itself to come up with a far more creative (and effective) way to talk about […]
From a 1926 play to the iconic 1975 stage musical to Rob Marshall’s 2002 extravaganza, Chicag0 has had a strong hold on popular culture. In a way, it’s existed almost as long as cinema itself and its transformation across mediums and modes of expression has been well documented. The film carries all the marks of […]
Influenced by classic episodic sitcoms but blazing its own trail with a (generally) more progressive outlook, Broad City stands as a particularly noteworthy example of a show that fully allows its female protagonists to be as messy and gross and fully in charge of their own failures as they should like to be. Though its […]
The award-winning third feature by director Ava DuVernay, Selma, was released around the 50th anniversary of the historically significant marches (Selma to Montgomery) that aided the civil rights movement’s efforts to assure African-American citizens can exercise their constitutional right to vote, harassment-free. The film has been celebrated not only as an artwork, but also as […]
British director Adrian Lyne (9 1/2 Weeks) is famous for his uncompromising treatment of seedy eroticism and charged stories. Fatal Attraction is a staple of the erotic thriller genre and with good reason, it’s steamy and very 1980s in the best possible way. Like a good vintage, it has the whiff of old times, but […]
Labyrinth is a fantasy film starring a young Jennifer Connelly as Sarah Williams, a teenager who wishes her infant brother away to the goblins. Immediately regretting her decision, she pleads to the Goblin King, played by David Bowie, for his safe return. He agrees, but only on the condition that she escapes his massive, trap-filled […]
When citizenship and rights can only be achieved through federal service, you have no choice but to militarize. Johnny Rico is young, impressionable, but noble; in other words, he is an archetypal hero even if he initially enlists just to be close to his girlfriend Carmen (Denise Richards). From then on, Starship Troopers unfolds as […]
There are comfort food movies, and then there are films like Big Night: comfort food movies about comfort food. Stanley Tucci and Tony Shaloub are brothers running a failing Italian restaurant. Their last chance to save it from foreclosure is to throw a colossal dinner bolstered by a dubious promise of a visit from singer […]
Based on Michael Lewis’ 2011 non-fiction book, The Big Short follows several disparate Wall Street insiders who predicted the housing market crash of 2007-2008, and bet against the market for huge financial gains. It’s a fascinating look into the inner workings and disrepair of the modern banking industry. A great cast of big names (Bale, […]
The 2008 film Doubt offers a haunting peek into the crisis of pedophilia within the Catholic church. Featuring an all-star cast of Amy Adams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Viola Davis, it is more than just a fictional tale. With performances that will make you question your intuition and cast a shadow of doubt […]
Though it paints in overly broad strokes and takes a while to get going, this tale of broken people finding each other eventually reaches an irresistibly feel-good conclusion. Like many good sports movies, Seabiscuit isn’t really dependent on the final outcome of a matchup between underdog and high-profile contender. What becomes important, then, is the […]
