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Movie Reviews Reviews of new movies, classic and art films, foreign films, and popular movies. Featuring Bob Mondello, Kenneth Turan, David Edelstein, and Mark Jenkins.

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'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a feast of inside jokes

Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman in Marvel's Deadpool & Wolverine. Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios/Marvel hide caption

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Jay Maidment/20th Century Studios/Marvel

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a feast of inside jokes

In the highly meta Deadpool & Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman finally meet up for their own big movie. Deadpool is still smarmy, Wolverine is still tragic, and they have to get together to save the world. Along the way, Deadpool continues his usual routine of endless wisecracking. The movie is jam-packed with fan service and Easter eggs. But how will casual Marvel fans like the movie?

'Deadpool & Wolverine' is a feast of inside jokes

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Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones play rival storm chasers in Twisters.

Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones play rival storm chasers in Twisters. Universal Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment hide caption

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Universal Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures & Amblin Entertainment

'Twisters' swirls an old-fashioned rom-com into an effects-happy action movie

This follow-up to the 1996 blockbuster Twister updates the original by making its heroine — not its hero — the center of gravity, but alas, the script doesn’t let her be a whole lot of fun.

'Twisters' swirls an old-fashioned rom-com into an effects-happy action movie

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'Twisters' has us spiraling

Glen Powell in Twisters. Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal hide caption

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Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Twisters' has us spiraling

Twister was one of the biggest disaster movies of the '90s. Now, it's finally got a sequel — one with an all-new cast, state-of-the-art effects, and a whole lot of tornadoes. The new film stars Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones as rival storm-chasers who have a habit of running into tornadoes while everyone else is fleeing. Twisters was directed by Lee Isaac Chung, who also directed the Oscar-nominated Minari.

'Twisters' has us spiraling

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Longlegs

Lauren Acala plays a girl who encounters the satanic serial killer known as "Longlegs." Neon hide caption

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Neon

'Longlegs' is a terrifying serial killer — who never touches his victims

Nicolas Cage plays a satanic murderer, and Maika Monroe is the clairvoyant FBI agent on his trail, in this tense and frightening horror movie.

'Longlegs' is a terrifying serial killer -- who never touches his victims

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'Longlegs' is a (satanic) panic

Maika Monroe in a scene from Longlegs. Neon hide caption

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Neon

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Longlegs' is a (satanic) panic

They're calling it the scariest movie of the year. The new horror film Longlegs follows FBI special agent Lee Harker (Mika Monroe) tracking a serial killer in the 1990s. If that sounds like familiar ground, consider this – the clues she follows hint at the involvement of the occult in general and Satanism in particular. And the killer in question: Nicolas Cage, uncaged.

'Longlegs' is a (satanic) panic

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'Fly Me to the Moon' soft launches Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum

Channing Tatum in Fly Me to the Moon. Apple TV+ hide caption

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Apple TV+

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'Fly Me to the Moon' soft launches Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum

The cheeky new romantic dramedy Fly Me to the Moon stars Scarlett Johansson as a NASA publicist at the height of the space race. She must stage a top-secret fake version of the moon landing as backup, just in case the real attempt fails. No one else at NASA can know about it — especially the upstanding launch director, played by Channing Tatum. The pair clash (and flirt) as they prepare for Apollo 11 to launch.

'Fly Me to the Moon' soft launches Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum

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We recommend three great sports documentaries

Lance Armstrong celebrates during the Tour de France in 2004. He is the subject of the documentary The Armstrong Lie. Doug Pensinger/Getty Images hide caption

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Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Pop Culture Happy Hour

We recommend three great sports documentaries

Sports aren't just games. They're intertwined with epic stories about struggle, human behavior, historic greatness and grand emotions. In other words, sports make for great documentaries. And if you're looking for some good ones, we've got recommendations: Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks, The Armstrong Lie, and Athlete A.

We recommend three great sports documentaries

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'Despicable Me 4' serves up 90 minutes of bankable mayhem

Steve Carell voices Gru in Despicable Me 4. Universal Pictures hide caption

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Universal Pictures

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'Despicable Me 4' serves up 90 minutes of bankable mayhem

Despicable Me 4 is the latest film in an animation franchise that made household names of reformed supervillain Gru (Steve Carrell) and his army of nattering Minions. The franchise has grossed billions of dollars, and the latest movie topped the weekend box office. But are these films growing up with their audience, or continuing to cater to young kids? And does that matter?

'Despicable Me 4' serves up 90 minutes of bankable mayhem

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Lupita Nyong’o as “Samira” in A Quiet Place: Day One from Paramount Pictures.

Samira (Lupita Nyong’o) and her cat Frodo try to avoid alien attack in A Quiet Place: Day One. Gareth Gatrell/Paramount Pictures hide caption

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Gareth Gatrell/Paramount Pictures

This 'Quiet Place' prequel is a little too mum on backstory

In the Quiet Place films, blind aliens attack, hunting anyone who makes a sound. But the details of the premise are fuzzy, and this prequel neglects to give a clearer picture of the global invasion.

This 'Quiet Place' prequel is a little too mum on backstory

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'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

Mia Goth and Halsey in MaXXXine. Justin Lubin/A24 hide caption

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Justin Lubin/A24

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'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

The new movie MaXXXine stars Mia Goth as an adult-film actress who gets her big break in Hollywood, only to be revisited by horrors from her past. Set in 1985 Los Angeles, it's the final film in director Ti West's beloved horror trilogy that began with the movie X. MaXXXine also features performances from Kevin Bacon, Elizabeth Debicki, and Giancarlo Esposito.

'MaXXXine' closes a grisly trilogy in style

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In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

Lupita Nyong'o in A Quiet Place: Day One. Gareth Gatrell/Paramount Pictures hide caption

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Gareth Gatrell/Paramount Pictures

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In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

In the post-apocalyptic world of A Quiet Place, aliens kill anyone who makes a sound, forcing humans into a near-silent existence. The new movie A Quiet Place: Day One takes us back to the beginning, but this time through the eyes of a terminally ill cancer patient played by the excellent Lupita Nyong'o.

In 'A Quiet Place: Day One', Lupita Nyong'o makes silence golden

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In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

Emma Stone in Kinds of Kindness. Yorgos Lanthimos/Searchlight Pictures hide caption

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Yorgos Lanthimos/Searchlight Pictures

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In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

Kinds of Kindness is a weird, dark, and bleak film. It's directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things) and it re-teams him with Emma Stone and Willem Dafoe, along with Jesse Plemons. Each actor plays different characters in three different stories — which all involve someone going to extreme measures to regain something they've lost.

In 'Kinds of Kindness,' the cruelty is the point

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Mother and daughter Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) share a slow New England summer in Janet Planet.

Mother and daughter Janet (Julianne Nicholson) and Lacy (Zoe Ziegler) share a slow New England summer in Janet Planet. Courtesy of A24 hide caption

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Courtesy of A24

Sharply funny 'Janet Planet' perfectly captures the feel of a long, hot summer

Writing and directing her first film, playwright Annie Baker exhibits uncanny powers of observation. Not much happens in this mother-daughter movie, but something momentous seems to have taken place.

Sharply funny 'Janet Planet' perfectly captures the feel of a long, hot summer

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Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

Lilly Gladstone in Fancy Dance. Apple TV+ hide caption

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Apple TV+

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

The new film Fancy Dance offers something all-too-rare on screen: contemporary Indigenous perspectives, front and center. Lily Gladstone plays a woman trying to keep it together under stressful circumstances. Her sister's gone missing, and she steps in to look after her young niece (Isabel Deroy-Olson). The pair take what turns out to be a rocky road trip and a unique bonding experience.

Lily Gladstone's 'Fancy Dance' is a road trip worth taking

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Jesse Plemons plays three different characters in Kinds of Kindness — an effort that won him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Jesse Plemons plays three different characters in Kinds of Kindness — an effort that won him the Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival. Atsushi Nishijima/Searchlight Pictures hide caption

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Atsushi Nishijima/Searchlight Pictures

Yorgos Lanthimos exhausts his ideas, and his audience, in 'Kinds of Kindness'

Fresh off of Poor Things, director Lanthimos' three-part dark comedy about domination and free will feels like a lazy and self-admiring riff — punctuated by the occasional crude shock.

Yorgos Lanthimos exhausts his ideas, and his audience, in 'Kinds of Kindness'

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June Squibb's 'Thelma' is the wrong grandma to mess with

June Squibb and Fred Hechinger in Thelma. Magnolia Pictures hide caption

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Magnolia Pictures

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June Squibb's 'Thelma' is the wrong grandma to mess with

Financial scams are an unfortunate phenomenon, but what happens when a fraudster messes with the wrong grandma? The very fun action-comedy Thelma imagines exactly this scenario. The movie stars June Squibb as a woman scammed by someone pretending to be her grandson. She then enlists her old friend (the late Richard Roundtree) to help get her money back.

June Squibb's 'Thelma' is the wrong grandma to mess with

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We debate the sweatiest movie of all time

Is Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing the sweatiest movie of all time? Anthony Barboza/Getty hide caption

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Anthony Barboza/Getty

Pop Culture Happy Hour

We debate the sweatiest movie of all time

Whether they're lightly perspiring, gently glowing, or soaked through from sweltering, people in the movies sweat a lot. But what movie has had people sweat the very most? With summer underway, we are debating what is the sweatiest movie of all time — including Do the Right Thing, Dog Day Afternoon, Y tu mamá también, and Body Heat.

We debate the sweatiest movie of all time

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